This is THE ANSWER:

"If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves,
and pray,
and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

That says it all!!

Poor, pitiful Jack

Oops. (and ick and gross)

Jack got left out in the rain, on our porch, and was forgotten,,, for a few days.

He was a sad pumpkin before.  Now he's REALLY SAD.

Noelle saw him, frowned and tipped her head to the side and said, "AWwwwwwww" in a voice heavy with pity (for him, not her - lol).

(Notice the chin drool-- a nice touch, I think.)

A Sweet Good Morning

Eric had to leave the house early this morning, before Noelle and I were awake, to drive to a church activity in Knoxville. When I opened the fridge to get the milk, I found a sweet note and a prayer from my hubby! Awwww!! 'Put a happy-silly grin on my face, I tell ya. :>}

Just FYI-- I put some adoption updates on our Taiwan Blog today.

Please Pray For This Young Girl--

One of the ladies in our Tuesday prayer group shared this story/prayer request: about a girl who lives in another state:

Last Friday a 15 year old girl went to an abortion clinic to abort her baby.  She did not want to go through with the procedure, but she lives in an overly crowded house with relatives who cannot affort the money or space for a baby.  They wanted her to make a choice:  the baby or your home with us.  So the teen did go to her appointment at the clinic.  She tried to follow through.  But she ended up running out of the place without having an abortion!!! 

I was and am deeply moved at this amazing show of courage.  This girl is in such a difficult situation and faces losing her home...yet she bravely chose life for her unborn baby!!  All of us ladies found ourselves weeping as we spent several minutes in prayer for these two precious lives.

The director of the local crisis pregnancy center opened her home to the teen for a few days until they could figure out what to do.  She (the director) has asked us to pray for God to intervene in this situation.  The young lady has been in much physical discomfort and had an ultrasound which showed the baby has a very weak heartbeat.  Please pray for her heath and the baby's.  But on the positive side, the relatives are now possibly reconsidering their initial untimateum.  It looks like may be able to stay with them during the pregnancy.  There are still many unknowns, however, and anything could change. 

I will be seeking updates about this young lady and will let you know how things go.  Just please, please pray for her and for God's best plan.

Taiwan Adoption UPDATE

Stop by our other blog for the latest news posted today:
www.johnsonfamilyadoption2.blogspot.com

Chattanooga Cupcakes - yummy yummy!!

Eric and I had a rare Thursday afternoon date today.  My parents volunteered to watch Noelle, so Eric took part of the day off from work so we could have some 'quality fun'. :-) 

The fun included exploring downtown Chattanooga on foot...  Which brought us to a brand new shoppe: Chattanooga Cupcakes on Broad Street.  The sign in the window said they would be opening on Monday.  But the lights were on and we saw scrumptious looking cupcakes on display! 

http://www.chattanoogacupcakesonline.com/

The door opened at our touch, so we ventured inside.  The gal behind the counter introduced herself as Sonia.  She said they we not open for business yet, but would we like to try a free cupcake...as a sample?

Would we!??!  Of course!!

She was giving the delectible treats away to test them on the public.  We were quite willing to be test subjects.  The choice was difficult, but Eric went with the carrrot cake with butter cream frosting and pecan bits.  I chose the chocolate cake with white chocolate truffle frosting.  She packed them carefully in a to-go box, and we walked back to our car.  Eric thought we should drive to another destination to get something to drink and then eat our treats at the park. 

Thing is, my cupcake didn't last that long.  It was gone before I got out of the car! 

Ohhhhhhh people! Our taste buds were in heaven!!  You've got to try some of this lady's moist, decadent cupcakes.  Stop by her place at 500 Broad St - Chattanooga, TN.  These are tough economic times, but I sure hope her business thrives.  Everyone needs a sweet pick-me-up from time to time, right? 

BTW-- Eric said he would pay 5 whole dollars for one of these babies.  That is high praise, indeed. ;-)

Noelle Pix --- for your viewing enjoyment

Just a bit o' news from our life lately...

I had a special treat for Noelle when I picked her up from preschool Monday...

Candy!!! 

As a reward for participating in gymnastics class that morning.

And yes, bribery was involved.  Sweets are always a good incentive for our munchkin!

Cuz even though standing on her head was fun, ish...

...THIS contraption scared the heck out of her last week (her first gymnastics class).  Her buddy, Teagan, was just ahead of her in line and performed some fancy whirly twirly technique (Teagan has been taking evening lessons for some time).  Noelle watched and decided being a future olympian wasn't "all that".

 

Bouncing on a mini trampoline into a somersault is extra fun!

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Squeaky-clean and oh so cute!

Our silly girl!

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"EEERRRRR UUUGHHHHH!!!  If I turn it juuuuust right, I should be able to lift this thing..."

Noelle had been asking for several weeks to get a "jack-o-lantern pumpkin". 
Last week we obliged and drove to Linda's Produce a few blocks from our house.  It's not a pumpkin farm, but Noelle enjoyed it.
The pumpkin farm came that weekend (pix to follow)...
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After finding a pumpkin, we spent some time at the local bookstore.  Eric and I took turns reading kids books aloud.  And you can see that Eric is really getting into it. ;-)

  

 My big cutie and my little cutie

Noelle:  the growling voice of the Big Bad Wolf
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Grammy's scarecrow isn't very scary.  Noelle thought it was a big doll and wanted to carry it around.