Moving Right Along!

I think it’s time for another update! Things have been happening so fast. God is definitely on the move here. On April 25 we took that giant leap of faith and made an offer on a (third!) home (which was accepted within 90 minutes of our signing the papers!) before selling our house. Have there been nights with little sleep and knots in our stomachs at times? I would be lying if I said “no”. Believing we were walking in obedience we continued moving forward. On May 2nd we had the home inspection done, the sewage system checked out and had an underground oil tank sniffed out and located by a trained dog (!).

On the morning of May 3rd we received a call from a realtor wanting to show our house at 1:00. That evening we received an offer on our home!!! Our home had been on the market just 3 weeks and a day! That could almost be classified as a miracle in the suburbs we live in! Only one home in a one-mile radius has sold in the past 3 months. On May 10 our home had its inspection. We don’t have the results yet but are praying there are no big surprises.

Yesterday I got an email from our lender saying that by May 15 the appraisal on the home we’re buying will be complete. Lord willing we will be able to close by our May 24th closing date. Sooner would be even better☺ The house is not occupied. We are hoping to be able to paint the entire interior and then get moved in before we climb on the plane June 2. That’s asking a lot but God is moving in all of this!

Until the appraisal of our current residence is complete we can’t start whipping out boxes and getting down to serious business so we’re trying to find things to do that won’t make messes…. sort, give away, get bids, choose paint colors (spent a long time on Skype with Will and Mandy last night, the artists in the family, trying to decide what color of roof and exterior paint would not compete or look awful with our next door neighbors – not such a simple task!), make hard decisions about what can’t go with us because there won’t be enough room, and so on.

As I look back on the past month I don’t know how I/we’ve been able to do all the “house stuff” – meeting the realtor again and again, signing papers again and again, being there for the inspection, going to the bank several times to sign forms, keep the house “perfect” for showings and open houses, helping our housemate with some of her packing to move, all while John was involved in many meetings related to the accreditation process at WPC and we attended the awards and Honors chapels and an evening of presentations by five Religion and Christian Ministry majors, a music student’s recital, student-directed One Act plays, W.A.R.M. (Western area ministers’ meetings), WPC Board of Directors dinner where the same five RCM students told stories about their internships, played our regular Thursday night volleyball at church, played in/attended the WPC Jazz Concert, attended a friend’s funeral (John spoke) out of town, went to the baseball game of one of our church’s youth, had the Missions class over to our home for their last class of the semester, had meetings with our Germany trip team, including a meal planned, shopped for and prepared by them at our home, attended the Bridgetown concert (an amazing WPC male students’ musical group), helped serve breakfast on campus Sunday night (yes, breakfast at night!) before finals week, attended the commissioning of the graduating Education majors, hosted a Religion & Christian Ministries party at our home (thank goodness a wonderful staff person took care of the food!), attended a reception on campus for the graduating seniors and their families, drove down to Eugene to attend part of the Church of God Spring Celebration, attended (Gwen played trumpet, John introduced a student speaker) WPC graduation, made the rounds to several graduation parties and joined our former Sunday School class for a pitch-in Sunday after having taught our last class with the college aged students this school year, not to mention John’s preparing final exams, giving finals, having exit interviews and then grading everything, turning in grades and doing department-related administrative stuff, preparing for the fall and dealing with the ticketing and logistics for the trip to Germany. (A huge prayer request: we are dealing with a ticket that had a mis-spelled name. It is a difficult and “stomach in knots” situation for John…please pray for it to be resolved so that we can all travel together and without having to spend tons more money.)

Perhaps you get the picture and more fully grasp the reason why we want to be within walking distance of campus! And why we need your prayers for strength and for this “move” and the process to continue to go smoothly. Please join us in praying that the appraisal of our home will be at the agreed-upon purchase price.

Stay tuned for the next update. Now, moving on to the tasks of the day while thanking God for His moving in all of this…!

Downsizing…simplifying… YES! On the move AGAIN!

Knowing us, how could you expect anything else? In one month we will have tied our record for the longest time living in one house (5 years, 2 months) during our almost 33 years of marriage. Does that explain the restlessness we have both been feeling for the past year? We don’t know. We only know that we have both been feeling like there was something new coming down the road … God was preparing us for something.

A little history… grab a cup of coffee or tea and journey with me.
We were home for two months in the summer of 2005 (from Guam). After the Wednesday night service at North American Convention in Anderson John told me that God had spoken very clearly to him. If we ended up at Warner Pacific College in the future we were to live 5-10 minutes from campus. Fast forward to February 2006, just weeks after John got the call in China offering him a teaching position at WPC in Portland. We were leaving Guam, moving back to the US, and had a stopover in Portland. We rented a car and drove all around the neighborhoods near campus. Houses were very expensive and old (charming, unique and very interesting as well!). To make a long story short, we ended up buying a home 18-21 miles from campus. It was much more affordable, it was brand new, and it was near extended family. Once the school year began it took very little time to figure out that we were way too far from campus to do what God had called us to do and to stay sane. Within two months of having settled in our new home John spotted a For Sale sign on the street next to campus. That began a search for a home closer to campus. In March 2007 we purchased a smaller home 5 miles from campus, moved in, and had two mortgage payments for a year (minus one week). We also lost quite a bit of money in making the move as the housing market had started its decline. Somehow God provided so that we could manage both payments. As soon as our other home sold those extra speaking invitations, etc. dried right up! It was amazing.

We have loved living in this almost 1700 sq. ft. single level home; the cul-de-sac is quiet, we have wonderful neighbors, a beautiful, peaceful yard complete with huge covered deck, a waterfall, gorgeous flowers, bushes and trees and just a few minutes of mowing, and we are only 2 streets away from church. What more could we want?
                           Our current home on a quiet cul-de-sac five miles from campus.

(Insert here…most of you know that I do a bit of speaking on decluttering and simplifying our lives and our living spaces. This we try to do on a regular basis. We have been very intentional. Just over a year ago we downsized to one car. We often commented on the fact that we weren’t using all of our space unless we had company -which we do quite a bit, but not daily! So last June, having both just read the book “Radical”, we invited one of our WPC alums to move in with us so she could afford to make her student loan payments. There was even room in our garage for her car since we now had only one! We made necessary adjustments in closets and bathrooms. We had promised our housemate she could stay with us through the end of this summer and then we would re-evaluate. However, she recently got word that she has a job with Americorps and will be leaving us in May. This is a part of the puzzle to keep in mind as you continue.)

Ok, so CLOSER to campus is what we continue to desire. We want students, faculty and staff to be able to walk to our home and we want to walk to campus. I want to feel free to go to campus several times/day if need be and not always have to carefully plan and try to limit my trips to coincide with other errands. We also want to downsize again. (Keep in mind our lifestyle – lots of travel and no children or grandchildren nearby.) I don’t want as much house to clean. We want to be free to travel and not tied down to a large house with a large yard. We experienced the freedom of living in a small house on Guam with basically just the things we needed. I had a lot of free time and it didn’t take long to clean house! We didn’t have a dining room but that didn’t prevent us from having friends over. We have learned some things by living overseas for 24 years!

Now to the present…. We decided to DO something! I have been feeling very detached from our home and our neighborhood. I believe that is God at work, preparing me/us for something different. We decided we were serious about moving over by campus, pretty much whatever the cost. We tried this over a year ago for a few months but at that time we weren’t willing to lose more money. This time it’s different. As we look back we realize that if we are honest with ourselves, we were not obedient. We should have trusted God over human wisdom and logic and made every effort to live near campus. God has been very gracious to us and blessed us abundantly in spite of this, but there have been consequences.

We began looking at homes within walking distance of campus this month. In less than a week we put offers on two homes. The people/realtor from the first one, a short sale and fixer upper, never responded to our offer! The second one, move-in-ready, had multiple offers the day it went on the market. Our offer ended up being chosen second. So we continued to look. Houses in the WPC area are selling like hotcakes, some even selling six hours after going on the market! You can’t snooze or you will lose! On Wed. night our realtor sent us a link to a home that went on the market that day. We checked it out online and liked what we saw. I met the realtor at this home at 11:45 Thursday morning, looked around and told him we wanted to make an offer. John and I met him there at 5:15, we looked around, signed the papers and left. Before 6:30 we received the call saying our offer was accepted!!! Another offer was coming in that evening at 8:00 but they accepted our offer and didn’t wait for others. We are thrilled! It’s a 973 sq. ft. ranch with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, hardwood floors, a very open floor plan, lots of light, a single car garage, a gas fireplace, a nice but not-too-large yard and it’s a beautiful 12-minute walk or 3-minute drive to campus! If I’m “stuck” in the kitchen I can be engaged in conversation with people in the living room, dining room and family room! And, unlike our present home, this one is within walking distance of various ethnic restaurants and supermarkets.

Our house has been on the market for a couple weeks. This Sunday there will be an Open House from 1-3. Please join us in praying that we will get at least one offer at or close to our asking price and sell this house before we close on our new home! We have taken a giant step in faith, in what we believe is also in obedience, and we are so excited to see what God will do.

Timing… if all goes well we will close on our new home on May 25. We and five WPC students head to Germany on June 2. We hope to paint the entire inside of our home and move in before leaving! I just finished swimming laps at the Community Center this morning so I’m not sure if my head is swimming because of that or LIFE! We are on an adventure!

Introducing GG and Papa John… and Levi Martin Davy!

Well, we have entered that new role in life called GRANDPARENTS! What a grand thing it is, too! I know, I know… all my friends who have beaten us to this stage have told us how wonderful it is. But until you experience it for yourself you can only nod and pretend you know what they’re talking about.

As I wrote in our Christmas letter I bought a second plane ticket to Indiana 12 days earlier than our original departure date of Dec. 21.  Jonni’s doctor assured her this little guy wouldn’t wait that long.  I purchased a ticket for Dec. 9 so I could get back to Indiana before (hopefully!) this little guy arrived on the scene… Jonni was still experiencing higher blood pressure than her doctor was comfortable with so it was decided at her Dec. 14th appointment (that was also her last day of work!) that Jonni would be induced on Friday, Dec. 16. While having dinner out with Kyle’s parents and brother that evening the contractions began to come on a regular basis. By 10:30 that evening Jonni and Kyle decided they should head to the hospital – with the doctor’s blessing, of course. Jonni encouraged me to stay home and get some sleep. Sleep is not exactly what I got … I kept waking up throughout the night and texting Jonni to see what was happening, if anything. I ended up going to the hospital at 5:30 the next morning. This little guy wasn’t going to let someone else determine when he came on the scene!!! He arrived at 10:31 am on Thursday, about 24 hours before Jonni would have been induced.

By the time this little guy, still un-named, arrived, there were a number of family members sitting in the waiting area ready to meet the new addition to the Davy family.  What a joyous moment it was when we were introduced to Levi Martin Davy. He weighed in at 6 lb. 15 oz. and was pushing 19” in length. He had quite a head of dark hair and a bit of a cone head (the cord was wrapped around his hand and he was hanging onto it so the doctor had to use the little vacuum / suction to pull him out). He was beautiful with long fingers and toes. Precious beyond description….

“Mommy, take me!”

All cleaned up, almost ready for visitors!

Born on Thursday, home on Saturday.   I was privileged to have morning duty so Jonni could go back to sleep after feeding Levi.  That usually meant sitting in front of the fireplace in the hickory rocker with Levi in my arms, sometimes for 2-3 hours!

Jonni and Levi, special moments at home…

Papa John, Uncle Will and Aunt Mandy arrived from Portland and Tokyo on Dec. 22. There was certainly no lack of willing hands to hold that little bundle or even change a messy diaper! Jonni and Kyle and Levi were real troopers to have so many people in and out of their home over the holidays. We celebrated our family Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 24 with brunch and opening of gifts. Then the kids and spouses went to their in-laws for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Christmas night we gathered at John’s parents’ home with Will, Mandy and her family, Jonni, Kyle, Levi, Don Deena and Don and Betty Jo for soup and salad and some hilarious charades.

Papa John finally gets to hold this little guy!

It’s true… Levi’s aunties are awesome!!  One came all the way from Tokyo, Japan and another from Fredericksburg, Virginia to see the little guy!  And one is lucky enough to live in the same town!

Mandy and Will get their first glimpse of their first nephew!

Proud Dad,  Mom and Grandma Gwen (GG) can’t get enough of looking at this

bundle of joy.

Great Aunt Don Deena, the auntie who lives in town:)

The new Davy family on Christmas Eve morn

GG can’t stop gazing and marveling at this first grandchild

Uncle Will and Aunt Mandy are definitely lovin’ this little guy!

“I think I have my mommy’s baby nose… at least until Papa John changed the shape of it with a softball!  I’m not so sure I want to play catch with my Papa!”

It doesn’t get much sweeter than this!

Well, maybe it does a little!  Jet lag has hit Uncle Will pretty hard.

Once again Levi proved that the timing of certain things was not in his parents’ hands… it took his cord over 5.5 weeks to fall off; in fact, it fell off just the night before they were going to have blood work done to see if there was a reason it was still hanging around!  Thank goodness it fell off during the night… saved  Mommy the trauma of watching her baby get pricked!  In the long in-between time there were lots of sponge baths in front of the fireplace …

I think there is some communication going on  here…

We were able to get everyone in the family together on a number of occasions to eat, play games and enjoy being all together, something we don’t often experience. It was a wonderful vacation.  God’s timing was perfect.  By the time family arrived from out of town Jonni, Kyle and Levi were out of the hospital,  Jonni was past the first few difficult days and as far as I can tell, pretty much able to enjoy the festivities.

On John’s last morning in town the Johnson family gathered at Jonni’s at 9 am to surprise Kyle (a week earlier than his actual birthday). He was still in bed sleeping so we prepared the table with donuts, milk and fruit and then all quietly paraded thru the house, down the hall and into the bedroom. Will then got up on the bed (camera in hand) and woke Kyle up while we all yelled “Surprise” and sang “Happy Birthday!” His first response after opening his eyes, seeing everyone standing there staring at him and singing Happy Birthday, was “This isn’t my birthday.” True as that was, it was the only time we could all be together to celebrate, so celebrate we did!  After the party Jonni, Kyle, Levi, Will, Mandy and I piled into the Davy car and took Papa John to the Indy airport.

On Will’s and Mandy’s next to last day in country we had a baby shower for Jonni with friends and aunts from as far away as Virginia and Maryland as well as from just across the street. The refreshments and decorations were amazing thanks to Mandy’s artistic flair and we all had a great time. Of course the best thing was that the little guy was already born and present at the shower so everyone could see, hold and enjoy☺

Baby’s eyes are open!  Auntie’s eyes are closed:(

Great Aunt Greta came all the way from Fredericksburg, VA for the baby shower.

“Ah… soakin’ in  my tub… my first real bath!”

Not sure what game they’ve been playing but it obviously tired them out!

Precious…

This grandma has been back home in Oregon for almost two weeks now and her arms are feeling a bit empty.  Thankfully Jonni is supplying me with pictures on my phone and computer and we’ve skyped once. We  have already booked our tickets back to Anderson for spring break on March 2!  Levi is already 10 pounds and 21″…. who knows how big he will be by the time we get there!

There won’t be any grass growing under our feet between now and then (although the tons of rain we’re having may prove me wrong in one sense!).  Our schedule is packed with good things.  But that’s another story, another day…

Update on family in Japan and beyond

This update is long overdue, the result of a very packed schedule since our trip to Tokyo for Christmas break.  Upon our return we hit the ground running and haven’t stopped.  Many have e-mailed and facebooked asking about Will and Mandy and other family members in Japan so I’ll begin there…

The earthquake and resulting tsunami  affected a number of the Johnson family members.  Will had just returned home from a school obligation about 15 minutes before the major earthquake struck Japan.  We’re grateful he and Mandy were together.    Twice they left the apartment and joined neighbors on the street below.   (They had talked about going downtown that afternoon but Will’s school obligation prevented them from doing so.  Had they gone they would have been stuck downtown since trains were stopped.) Although they’re more than ready for the aftershocks to stop they are okay as far as the earthquake goes.

Don Deena, John’s eldest sister, was sitting on a plane at Narita airport in Tokyo just minutes from pushback from the gate when the earthquake hit.  There was a lot of rocking and rolling!  After sitting on the plane for more than 6 hours they were finally able to take off.  She has since arrived safely in Indiana where she is staying with Cheryl, John’s other sister, who continues her battle with renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), while Bernie, her husband, is back in Tokyo for school graduations and other meetings.

Bernie was scheduled to fly to Tokyo last Friday morning, less than 12 hours after the earthquake.  Flights to Tokyo were cancelled so he ended up flying out of Indianapolis on Sunday instead.  Bernie has a very full schedule with junior high and senior high graduations, preaching on Sunday and other meetings before heading back to Indiana on Monday.

Will and Mandy and Don Deena are all scheduled to go to the Asia/Pacific missionary retreat on Guam later this month.  Will and Mandy had already planned on going to Guam prior to the retreat since their school year has ended and this is vacation.  Will is looking forward to going back to Guam where he spent his junior year of high school and showing Mandy his old stomping grounds.

The big question now has to do with radiation and how far and wide the effects of all this will travel…

Speaking of Japan, we had a wonderful time over Christmas break.  Jonni and Kyle flew in to Tokyo from Indiana and the four of us met up at Narita airport.  Will and Mandy surprised us and met us at the train station near Bartons’ apartment.  Don Deena joined us for most of our activities and we got to see Bernie a few minutes here and there. We were all together for Christmas breakfast before Bernie headed to the airport.

Will, Gwen and Mandy in the Johnson’s Tokyo apartment – happy to be together!

Will at his desk at Tamagawa Seigakuin, Tokyo

Where 7 of us spent many cozy hours – Will and Mandy’s living room

Christmas morning in front of the roaring fire… feel that warmth?!

Will, Mandy, Kyle, Jonni, Don Deena and Gwen in a bamboo forest

New Year’s Day after visiting Meiji Shrine, before Jonni and Kyle headed back to Indiana

We did quite a bit of sightseeing, enjoyed walking around, rented bicycles in one town, went to a really neat public bath, played tons of games and just enjoyed being together.  Since Jonni has written a blog about our time in Japan I won’t reinvent the wheel.  She did a fine job and you can check it out at http://davydoings.blogspot.com/! You’ll also find news about their house hunt and other adventures.

We returned from Japan on Jan. 4. After getting the first week of the semester under our belt we flew to Indiana on Jan. 14. We joined the entire extended Johnson family from China, Guam and Japan, minus Will and Mandy, in Anderson, to spend time with Cheryl and Bernie as well as Jonni and Kyle and John’s parents, Don and Betty Jo.  While there we got to do a bit of house hunting with Jonni and Kyle and visited with many of our friends.  We enjoyed seeing and playing with Little Ben and Hosanna, our great nephew and great niece, from China (and their parents, Stephanie and Donald, and uncle Ben, too!).

On Jan. 12 I had the privilege of presenting “deCLUTTER, deSTRESS and BLESS” to 65 persons at Mt. Scott Church of God.  I was scheduled to  present this at the annual “How To” conference in Albany at the end of the month. However, since we were going to be in Anderson with family at that time, they videotaped the Mt. Scott presentation and used it in Albany.  As a result of the video presentation I have received several more invitations to speak in churches in or near Portland.  (Maybe I should just send the video around! ha)  In February I was invited to speak to the women at Oak Park COG in Salem and recently spoke in two classes on campus as well.   I am grateful for and amazed at the doors God is opening for this ministry.

The new WPC Living Simply club is up and running this semester.  As advisor I really enjoy working with students who want to simplify their lives.  Three club members and I recently decluttered and reorganized several storage spaces on campus.

I was playing with the jazz band up until the concert in February and then I had to bow out.  My time was then consumed with the planning of and carrying out what became a huge clothing swap event at church on March 2.  I had an awesome team of helpers and the evening was a lot of fun.  It included live music, refreshments, a fashion tips program and free shopping.  One of our goals was to reach under-resourced women in the community and provide them with free clothing.   Although we had about 60 women attend we didn’t reach as many under-resourced women as we had hoped to.  We concluded that the location of our church is one of the reasons and if we do this again we will do it elsewhere. Another goal, however, was definitely reached – encouraging women to go through their clothes and accessories and weed out what they don’t wear, use or need in order to bless others!  We ended up with more clothing than most consignment shops!

The upcoming Missions@WP garage sales (April 15-16 in Happy Valley and May 13-14 on campus) are the next big things on the schedule.  We are getting many donations as a result of “The 100 Day Challenge” launched at the Jan. 12 presentation.  We also have tons of clothing and accessories left from the swap shop.

John is …. busy!!  Busy with department chair responsibilities, grading papers, organizing the 3 different Missions@WP trips in May, getting visas, booking tickets, advising students, preparing for and teaching his 4 classes, grading papers, preaching/speaking in churches (Mt. Scott on March 6 and Vancouver last night), presenting two sessions at W.A.R.M. (ministers’ meetings held in Sacramento, CA), and serving on several search committees on campus and… oh, did I mention grading papers?!  You will find a light on at our house many mornings at 4 a.m. where you would see this professor diligently reading and reacting with students on the pages and pages of written assignments.

Other big news relating to John… he received his new contract and learned that he was granted “full professorship”! Mabruk, ya Dr. John!

In spite of our busy lives we do find time many evenings to play board games.  Most recently we’re on a roll with Scrabble, Wahoo and Chinese Checkers – all 3, one after the other.  We have put our TV away and, though we didn’t watch much TV anyway, find that we have time to read and play more.  We’re also, at least for a few months’ trial period, downsizing to one car.

TODAY we are heading east for spring break.  We’ll be driving once again from Portland to Anderson, Indiana to spend time with family there.  Jonni and Kyle will be taking over our Ford Focus and we’ll fly back to Portland and experience life with one car.  We are looking forward to that.  While in Anderson Jonni and Kyle should close on their first home☺  We will, no doubt, be involved in yet another move!  We are excited for them and happy that we can help.

If you have made it through this novel you deserve… I’m not sure what, but something!! Thanks for hanging in there with me.  It’s been a busy first quarter of 2011.

Enjoying life,
Gwen

Thanksgiving: Connections

Written Wed., Nov. 24, 2010

As Thanksgiving looms ever nearer (as in VERY near!) I have been reflecting on this past year and all that I have to be grateful for.  At the top of my list is friends… we are rich in friends and this has been a year full of opportunities to connect with many!

A year ago we were preparing for our Dec. 27 trip to New Zealand with 5 Warner Pacific College students and an admissions counselor.  In Auckland we connected with the our  missionaries – Beisleys and Davenports, an Anderson University School of Theology alum, Milan Dekich, who was on the Tri-S missions trip to Peru in 1979 with us just a few weeks before our wedding, other friends and acquaintances from Oregon and Washington, folks from the church in Auckland and Prayer Summit participants from the USA. Facebook and e-mail help us stay connected.

Friends from the past… Milan Dekich and Chad Davenport

I took on a part-time administrative assistant job with SHAPE NW  February 1.  This was a wonderful opportunity to connect with more pastors and spouses in OR/WA/ID.

We have had speaking opportunities in Oak Grove, LA; Phoenix, AZ; Anderson, IN, Portland, Newberg and Roseburg, OR.  In each location we have reconnected with friends from the past (Paul and Gussie Ninemire in Oak Grove ; Craig and Leatha Frank, John and Debbie Frick, John and Mary Davy, Randy and Sandy Irwin, Bob Johnson in Phoenix;  Steve Kufeldt and Bob Hazen -visiting his son- in Roseburg) and made new friends.   (Please forgive my middle-aged brain if we reconnected and you aren’t mentioned in this update!)

God is opening up more and more doors for me to speak about my passion for helping others declutter so they have time for the important things in life.  This next week I will be speaking in John’s Spiritual Formation class about Decluttering: Stewardship of Your Stuff.  I’m also in the initial stages of trying to form a new club on the WPC campus that will focus on living simply.  More connections!

Our spring break drive back to Anderson, IN gave us an excuse to stop and connect with long-time friends in Casper, WY (Lynne, Jim and Matt Horne and others at Highland Park Community Church) and Omaha, NE (Ray and Nina Martin).

I was privileged to be able to spend 2 months back in Indiana (March 19- May 24) to attend 11 very important family life events:  Jonni’s doctoral project presentation to all the PTs and OTs at Ball Memorial Hospital, her graduation from the University of Indianapolis and her graduation reception, Will’s and Mandy’s Senior Art Exhibition, senior paper readings, wedding shower, graduation from Anderson University, graduation party, wedding rehearsal dinner, wedding and receptions!  There was certainly no shortage of opportunities for connecting with family from China, Japan, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia… and friends!  We welcome our beautiful new daughter-in-law, Amanda Jo (Mandy) Coplin, to the family!  The wedding was beautiful, worshipful and fun.  The receptions reflected the two very talented artists who just married!

The happy couple – May 22, 2010 – Anderson, Indiana

Stealing a kiss at the evening reception for family and wedding party

Heading off to a new adventure – Mr. and Mrs. Will and Mandy Coplin!

While in the Midwest I headed east to Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia connecting with friends from my home church in Mansfield, OH, my sisters and brother-in-law, and the Laytons, friends from our early Korea days.

After the wedding we began the long drive back to Portland, once again stopping in Omaha and then connecting with our Missions@WP team of 4 WPC students and professor Roger Martin and our good friend, Ed Breeden, (from Anderson, IN) in Allen, South Dakota for two nights/days.

Shortly after our return I once again found myself on an airplane headed for Colorado Springs where I connected with pastors and SHAPE administrative assistants.  There were many folks around the room whom we have been connected to over the years – college classmates, Living Link pastors, and so on.  And while in the Springs I was able to connect with long time friends  – Anita Roland  from our Cairo, Egypt days and Carol and Ernie Taylor from our Seoul, Korea days.

As soon as I returned home from this trip we reconnected with loyal friends and the three WPC students who would be traveling to Tanzania with us in July to prepare for another big Missions@WP garage sale.

Then it was time to head back to Anderson, IN for North American Convention and another opportunity to connect with friends from “way back when” to the present, friends from near and far, not to mention our four kids, John’s parents and extended family members.J

We had three days to get ready for our trip to Tanzania once we got home… again.  Our Tanzania experience was fantastic.  We reconnected with missionary friends Mike and Heather Webb, living in their home in Dodoma all but 3 nights of our stay.  John had the opportunity to connect with many pastors and laypersons while teaching inductive Bible study methods in Dodoma as well as several small villages.  The three WPC students (an Indonesian-Chinese-American, a South African and a COG “missionary kid” born and raised on Guam!) and I worked at the tailoring school in Dodoma.  Truly beautiful things happened during our stay and wonderful connections were made with the tailoring school staff, the girls, the translator, Mike and Heather and a number of folks from the churches.  We had plenty of opportunities to connect as the WPC students taught business principles and English in churches as well as at the tailoring school.  We also spent a night at a game park and bounced around for 6 hours in an open safari truck trying to find the lions.  While we weren’t successful in that endeavor we did see a lot of wildlife and enjoyed the experience.  We can’t say enough about the great job our students did under less than ideal circumstances.  We had a middle-of-the-night cancelled flight in Addis Ababa, an unplanned overnight stay there with 3 hours of sleep, and then two of the three students’ suitcases which contained all their clothes and many of their teaching materials and crafts didn’t arrive for days (one didn’t come until just 2 days before we left Dodoma to head home!) They were great troopers, sharing clothes and making necessary adjustments in lesson plans.  They connected so well with the girls and church folks.  (By the way, our food and lodging experience was awesome – Mike and Heather were exceptional hosts!)

 

Mike and Heather Webb, Kelty, Lauren and Dane’ in Dar es Salaam prior to our return home

Within 18 hours after our international flight landed in Portland we were on the road heading up to Double K Ranch in Easton, WA for camp meeting and reconnecting with friends made the summer John was the main speaker at camp.  Then it was home to Oregon state camp meeting that took place on the WPC campus.  John led a couple missions conferences.  More opportunities to connect with our Oregonian friends!

Our good friends Deb and Ed Breeden from Anderson spent a week with us.  We always enjoy connecting with them and appreciate the fact that their visits encourage us to get out and experience new things here in Oregon!

Will and Mandy spent twelve days with us in August on their way to Tokyo, Japan where they are teaching conversational English at Tamagawa Seigakuin, a Church of God girls’ high school and middle school.  We had a wonderful time together playing games, games and more games, spending a night in a Bed & Breakfast in Silverton and a night at the coast with friends.  And we shopped… and shopped….and shopped (actually Mandy and Will shopped and we went along) as they looked for teaching clothes and things they would need in Japan (items such as size 11 shoes are a bit hard to come by in Japan!).  We treasure the time we had together and thanks to a photographer friend have plenty of pictures to remind us of that special time.

Framed forever!  Gwen, John, Will and Mandy in our Portland backyard…

Two pastors’ wives and I  organized a retreat for pastors’ wives in September.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and connecting with pastors’ wives from Washington and Oregon!  My original connection with Janelle Irwin, our retreat leader, goes way back to Anderson College days!

Pastors’ wives from Washington and Oregon

In between our comings and goings we were house hunting!  It has been our desire to be within walking distance of the WPC campus.  Since interest rates are low we thought this was our “window of opportunity” to perhaps get a house close to campus where house prices are much higher.

Will and Mandy also got to look at a few houses with us.  We made an offer and accepted a counter offer on a house just 4 blocks from campus.  Of course it was contingent upon the sale of our house.  So the next day the “For Sale” sign went up in our front yard.

After 2 ½ months or so of no calls we called it quits and have decided to refinance and stay put (a very short version of the story!).    We do like our home and neighbors very much and are content.  And we made a new friend out of the experience  – we had a delightful real estate agent to work with.

I resigned from my SHAPE NW job Oct. 31 in order to devote more time to my organizing “business” and to be even more connected on the WPC campus.  To celebrate reducing the amount of stress in my life I flew to Virginia on November 1 to spend time with my sisters and brother-in-law who are all living in Fredericksburg.  AND I was there to surprise Jonni and Kyle when they drove to Fredericksburg to celebrate Jonni’s 26^th birthday with her aunts.  According to Jonni, “surprised” was an understatement!  How I wish I’d had a video camera or camera to capture the look on their faces!!  After touring the whole house and being shown their bedroom, Greta opened the door to the guest room across the hall from their room and there I was, lying on the bed reading a magazine!  It seems that the light on the bedside table made it difficult for them to see WHO was on the bed – they walked in and saw this body on the bed but until I said something or their eyes focused they didn’t know who it was.  It actually scared (startled, at least!) them.  It has to be one of the best surprises I’ve ever pulled off.   In order to keep it that way I didn’t even tell all our family that I was going out there to visit.

We did a We did a trolley tour of Fredericksburg, visited the Union cemetery with the Sunken Road and did a “Monuments by Moonlight” tour of Washington, D.C.   We also put 3 puzzles together, staying up until 1 am after the D.C. tour to prove Kyle’s  “You won’t finish that before we leave” statement wrong! I think Jonni’s 26^th birthday will be one to remember!

Jonni and Kyle in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia

Jonni’s grandpa (Plough) used to call her “Princess” so her aunts made sure she was princess for a day!

Birthday breakfast at Bob Evans…  Kyle, Greta, Jonni and Gwen

Jonni with Imo Glee and Imo Greta at the beginning of the  Trolley Tour

(“imo” means “mother’s sister” in Korean which is the first word Jonni learned for her aunt Gretawho lived in Seoul when Jonni was a toddler growing up in Korea)

While there I was also able to connect with MaryAnn Litton, a friend from our Cairo, Egypt days whose daughters were in Jonni’s and Will’s classes at Cairo American College; Caity Stuart from Anderson, IN who works with the National Park Services in the Fredericksburg area; and fellow Anderson College lifeguard and friend, Kathy Harp.  Each “reconnect” was special.  Indeed, we are rich in friends!

On Dec. 20 John and I will be heading to Tokyo, Japan from Portland and Jonni and Kyle will be heading to Tokyo from Anderson… arriving, Lord willing, at Narita just an hour apart.  Then begins our long-awaited and much-anticipated Christmas break in Tokyo with Will and Mandy and Don Deena (John’s oldest sister) and Bernie (our brother-in-law who will then head back to Indiana Christmas morning to be with, Cheryl, John’s sister who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Anderson).  The plan was for us all to be together in Tokyo.  We’re really disappointed that Cheryl and Bernie won’t be there.  But we are very thankful that we will be with all our kids for Christmas!

Considering the end-of-semester busyness and our departure for Japan, this will likely be the extent of our holiday (Thanksgiving and Christmas) greetings this year.  May you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!!!

Forever grateful for our friends across the globe and our opportunities to stay connected… and  God who makes it all possible!

Gwen for the both of us

Johnson’s On The Move… Again?

It’s true!  After a spring and summer of being constantly “on the move”, parts of our family are “on the move again”!

On August 7th Will and Mandy, his new bride of 11 weeks, left Anderson, Indiana and joined us in Portland for 11 very full and enjoyable days. A photographer friend came over and took a lot of fun family photos.  We’ll share a handful (or so!) so those of you who haven’t had the opportunity can meet our new daughter-in-law (since we haven’t shared any wedding photos yet).  Hopefully sometime in the future we’ll be able to write about the wedding as well!

The newlyweds, Will and Mandy

A proud mom with her son:)

Dad joins the fun

All together now…!

Can you tell they’re related?

After 31 years 🙂

Framed!

Framed again — close up!

We weren’t having fun…:)

From one generation to the next

Lending a helping hand

Barefoot and fancy free

Couch Cowboys –  Like father, like son!

Getting ready for the summer heat in Japan?

A blast from the past?

Who has the biggest head?

Our time together sped by like the Shinkansen in Japan.  We packed a lot into our days.  There were several shopping marathons.  Seeing as size 11.5 shoes are probably rather scarce in Japan, it takes some time to hunt down just the right shoes for 2.5+ years – teaching shoes, walking shoes, athletic shoes… well, you get the picture.  Shoes weren’t the only thing on the shopping list!

We went house-hunting a couple times.  That’s one of  our “on the move… again” possibilities!  We’ve always desired to live within walking distance of the Warner Pacific campus.  Since interest rates are so low we figured there was no better time to look — although it’s the worst time to sell and, sell, we must, in order to move.  We accepted a counter offer on a home just 3 streets up from campus with the contingency that our home sells within 3 months.  It will take an act of God but we are testing the waters and praying for a clear answer.

We were “on the move” as we gathered with our Oregon family members for a Korean meal one evening, joined Arthur and Judy Kelly for pizza on the patio of their “new” home in Troutdale, enjoyed antiquing in Aurora, spent a night at a Bed & Breakfast in Silverton, took the Max downtown to Saturday Market, drove to the coast, had  lunch at the Wet Dog Cafe and did some sightseeing in Astoria, drove down to Seaside, spent the night with Portland friends vacationing in a beach home, visited WPC’s former president and his wife, and played LOTS of games over the 11 days.  Let it be known that I was the overall grand champion at Settlers of Cattan (don’t you forget it, Will!:) ).

We are extremely grateful for this very special opportunity to spend time with Will and Mandy .   We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and will always cherish the memories we made.

On August 19 Will and Mandy were “on the move… again”.   In the early morning we packed up both of our cars and headed to the Portland airport, helped them get all their bags checked in, made sure they got through Security, and waved good-bye as they began the first step of their new adventure as Special Assignment Missionaries (SAMs) to Tokyo, Japan.    Memories came flooding over us as we recalled our farewell at the Indianapolis airport 30 years ago when we set off for Korea as short-term English teachers…

Jonni and Kyle’s life is “on the move” as well!  Jonni has completed her first 90 days as a physical therapist at St. John’s Hospital in Anderson.  No doubt she’s encouraging patients and helping them be “on the move again” as they go through rehabilitation.   Kyle is assistant coach of the Anderson High School boys’ soccer team and there’s no question he is “on the move” on the soccer field and running from work (“on the move” from school to school as a substitute teacher) to practice, to games, to home.

John is most certainly “on the move” with WPC’s  fall semester beginning on Monday.  Freshmen arrived on campus yesterday and the campus is abuzz with activity and excitement!  He’s been busy preparing for classes as well as upcoming preaching and speaking assignments (WPC chapel on  8/31, Sunday  morning at Mt. Scott on 9/12 and speaking to ministers in Arizona 10/2).

Life hasn’t slowed down for me either.  I am “on the move” with my SHAPE administrative assistant responsibilities which have taken me to Washington, Colorado and Oregon, organizing jobs here and there, keeping the house ready for hopeful house hunters, and the normal stuff. Life is full and very much “on the move”!

On the Road (and in the air) Again!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Believe it or not, we have not fallen off the edge of the earth!  Tomorrow we are heading to Tanzania (from Portland to Dulles to Rome to Addis Ababa to Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam followed by a long bus ride to Dodoma!!! This has to be one of the world’s worst itineraries!) with three Warner Pacific College students.   We will be staying in Dodoma with Church of God missionaries, Mike and Heather Webb.  There our two business majors, Dane’ and Kelty, will be teaching basic business principles to the young girls/women at the tailoring school and Lauren will be teaching basic conversational English.  John will be going out into villages with Mike to teach pastors  (Theological Education by Extension -TEE).  Gwen will be leading the recreation time with the girls, staff and our WPC team as well as helping out wherever needed.

This trip has been “in the making” for over a year now and we are very excited.  We covet your prayers for traveling mercies, for learners’ hearts, for success in building  relationships with the people we meet,  for cultural sensitivity, for wisdom in knowing what and how to best teach these young ladies so that when they leave the school and go back home they will be better equipped to set up a small business, that they will see Jesus in us, for good health,  for meaningful times of worship as well as fun times together.

We have many other life events to share with you but they will have to wait another month or two.   They include:  Gwen taking on a part time administrative assistant job with SHAPE NW Feb. 1, Gwen’s and John’s drive across country (stopping to see friends in Casper, WY and Omaha, NE) during WPC’s spring break, Gwen’s 2-month stay in Anderson (to help with wedding preparation and be present for 11 family events!) with a one-week side trip to the East Coast visiting friends and family along the way, the AU Senior Art Exhibition grand opening April 10 (both Will and Mandy participating), Will’s and Mandy’s senior thesis readings April 13, Jonni’s doctoral project presentation at Ball Memorial Hospital for all the Occupational and Physical Therapists May 2, Will’s and Mandy’s wedding shower, Jonni’s graduation from the University of Indianapolis with a DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) on April 30 and reception May 1, Will’s and Mandy’s graduation from Anderson University with degrees in Studio Art and Visual Communications respectively on May 8, their graduation celebration at Mounds State Park on May 9, a 2-day garage sale in Anderson, the rehearsal dinner on May 21 and wedding on May 22.  Also during this time Gwen gave her “declutter” presentation at Church of God Ministries, took on several organizing jobs between Anderson and Virginia and continued doing her SHAPE work.  John flew back to Anderson twice and after the wedding we drove back to Oregon via Omaha, NE and South Dakota.  We met up with our WPC missions team at Pass Creek Church of God in Allen, SD for two nights/two days and then continued on our way home, arriving May 28.

We spent Memorial Day weekend working in the yard and catching up.  Gwen then headed to Colorado Springs June 1-4 for SHAPE meetings.  The 5^th Missions@WP garage sale took place June 11-12 and June 22 we flew back to Indiana for North American Convention.  We celebrated John’s father’s 81^st birthday June 23 with family from Japan, China, Anderson and friends from Taiwan.  As always we enjoyed seeing friends from around the world and also made plans for future Missions@WP trips.  We returned home Thursday afternoon and tomorrow, Sunday, we leave again.  Perhaps you can now see why I have not had time to send any updates!  We have been on the road and in the air!

After Washington and Oregon state campmeetings the end of July I will try to get a blog written with pictures from these various events.  Each one was blog-worthy:)  Will and Mandy will be visiting from Aug. 7-19 and then heading to Tokyo for 2 ½ years.

We have a lot to look forward to!  I apologize that there is no time to post pictures.  Next time!

Happy Fourth of July!  We’ll be celebrating in the air.

New Zealand, Dec. 27, ’09 – Jan. 10, ’10

Brief updates are not my forte. Certain unnamed family members have accused me of being too wordy. As a result I’ve not written an update on our “normal” activities for a very long time, but believe me, our lives have been very full and active!  It’s time to resume, however, the Johnson/Warner-specific updates. We have returned safely from a 2-week missions trip with 5 wonderful Warner Pacific College students and an awesome admissions counselor (WP alum).  We want to thank those of you who prayed for us.

WPC Group: Jenny, Andrew, Josh, Michael, Gwen, John, Sarah, Brynn

It’s difficult to compare this trip to our “normal” missions trips.  It was not to a third-world country.  It was not a work camp experience. It was not a leadership training conference. We didn’t “suffer” (although there was some sickness and sunburn) from extreme heat or cold (it was summer and the weather cooperated wonderfully) or mosquitoes (just a few chigger bites which bright red nail polish dealt with quite nicely) or other insects and creepy crawlers.

Aloe to the rescue! Sunburned already...

Our goals for this trip were met and the experience exceeded our expectations.  Our group of 8, along with 14 others from Illinois, Alabama, Washington and Oregon, trickled into Auckland between Dec. 29 and the opening of the “Pray It Forward” prayer summit which began at dinner on Dec. 31.  Throughout our 12 days we were joined by various members of Westside Christian Fellowship (WCF) as their schedules permitted.  It was wonderful to meet the different families from WCF, to hike, travel, work side by side, fellowship and share meals together.

US contingent of 22 plus a few from WCF - Auckland

It was very special for us to be back in Auckland to witness the great job that COG missionaries, Chad and Diane Davenport and Doug and Danette Beisley (and their children, Alex, Allison and Robert), are doing, to see the church where WCF meets for worship (since our last visit they have begun a new church plant in a different location) and to be in each of their homes (both families have moved since our last visit). They did a fantastic job of planning this prayer event and taking care of, transporting and feeding this large group.

Jenny, Brynn, Sarah and Josh help lead Sunday worship at WCF

St. Paul's Anglican Church, home of Westside Christian Fellowship

The main purpose of the trip was to join together in prayer for Australia and the islands in the Pacific Ocean, for New Zealand, for Auckland, and for the Te Atatu Peninsula (home of Davenports, Beisleys, and WCF) and for Westside Christian Fellowship.

Praying for the island of Niue in the South Pacific

Cultural performance at opening night

The entire group had the privilege of working at the Auckland City Mission doing a myriad of tasks, to spend a day painting, weeding, trimming, and cleaning up around St. Paul’s Anglican Church where WCF meets, and to help run a  “Family Fun Day” in the main park in Te Atatu. There was a really good turnout and it was a wonderful opportunity for WCF to reach out to their community.

Michael helps load truck at Auckland City Mission, one of several service projects we participated in

Gwen weeding during workday at church

Sarah facepaints at Family Fun Day

Water balloon volleyball in the park

Without writing a book it is impossible to share about all our experiences, the great friendships we made, the beautiful people we met, the gorgeous scenery we enjoyed, the good times of sharing, the many hours spent in the 3 vans that carted us hither and yon, the opportunities to share with Kiwis we met about what this large group of Americans was doing in New Zealand, the day on the beautiful sailboat named Trinity, the lessons learned about the cosmopolitan and Maori cultures of New Zealand, the spiritual lessons we shared, the different foods we ate,  important conversations with students, missionaries and others on the trip, and on and on and on…

Enjoying God's creation from a sailboat

Preparing for our traditional "hangi" dinner

One of many beautiful hikes - Kitekite Falls

WPC group at Kitekite Falls

Although neither words nor pictures can ever do justice to this trip or begin to explain how wonderful the opportunities we had for building relationships were, pictures and this “brief” update will have to suffice.  A huge thank you to all who prayed for us during our travels.  We are grateful to have had the opportunity once again to travel with WP students, to visit our missionaries/friends and to experience  once again the beautiful land of New Zealand.