Baby's room!!

I'm so excited about our baby's room! Craigslist.com has been a lifesaver....we found this dresser and a matching changing table on there, as well as his crib bedding!

We also had our first baby shower over Labor Day weekend, and many sweet friends and family helped fill baby's room with all kinds of goodies, clothes, diapers and other great items! Here is a picture of his closet so far:It's so fun preparing for him to arrive. I can't believe that he will be here in around 3 months!!

Here is the most recent picture of baby boy in my belly....this is 27 weeks and 3 days:

Yuki

If you get our newsletters, you'll hear this story again, but I couldn't wait to tell this wonderful story about a Japanese exchange student here at UNC-W....ENJOY!

Mary, there are no pictures in the Bible...but this makes sense to me! Mary Ann sat quietly studying when Japanese exchange student Yuki stopped by to tell her about the life changing lunch he just had.

Yuki came to UNC-Wilmington for 5 weeks last spring with the English as a Second Language program,. While in Wilmington, many students involved with Campus Crusade befriended him including Mary Ann. One day over dinner, Mary Ann asked Yuki what he believed about God. Everyone Yuki knew back home in Japan was Buddhist, so he told her that’s what he believed as well. Yuki continued to come to CRU events throughout his short 5 weeks stay in America, and after going home he bought a Bible corresponded with Mary Ann about his studies of Christianity . Over the summer, Yuki decided to come back to Wilmington, and emailed Mary Ann to tell her he would return as an exchange student for the whole fall semester! Mary Ann remembers Yuki emailing and asking “Can I join Campus Crusade when I return to Wilmington? I am not a Christian, but I am really into it!.” Of course, Mary Ann invited him to come back, and he was reunited with his American friends.

On August 31st, Yuki sat down over lunch with his Campus Crusade Bible study leader, Riley and staff member Chad. Throughout their lunch conversation Riley and Chad were able to clearly communicate the gospel message to Yuki. They explained and drew diagrams that would bridge the communication barriers, and over lunch Yuki understood Jesus and the gospel for the first time! He decided right there that he wanted to become a Christian!

Yuki is excited about his newfound faith. He even asked Mary Ann to take a picture with him on the day he gave his life to Christ. As the picture snapped, Yuki held up the picture diagram Riley and Chad used to explain Jesus to him. It was evident that Yuki wanted to remember what his friends had done to point him to Jesus.

Belly!

We are at 25 weeks, but it's been hard getting pictures up to date and on the blog. So, here is a week 23 picture in the meantime :)

First week at UNC-W and the Swine Flu :(

It's the second week of school, but it feels like we've been going for months now! We love Wilmington, and it's been a fun and tiring transition to a new campus with new students and a new way of doing ministry! We've already begun our freshman Bible Studies in Graham and Hewlett dorms (we both were assigned to reach out to the same dorm!) and it's been so fun meeting with freshmen!

Here are a few pictures of a way we tried to meet freshmen---we did a raffle for FREE rainbows! It was so fun and funny to see how students reacted to our larger than life Rainbows we displayed at our raffle table. (thanks to Hot Wax Surf Shop!)
Brittany (my Bible study co-leader) and I at the giveaway table in Graham-Hewlett dorm!

Reece with his Rainbow next to the BIG Rainbows :)

Another fun thing the first week of school was we threw a Pig Pickin out at Carolina Beach State Park. The first weekend of school, freshmen are always looking for something to do, and people to meet. We wanted to offer some fun, games and pig for those sweet freshmen...and upperclassmen too! Here are some pics of the preparation:
How ironic that just days after we were eating delicious pig, the swine flu rolls onto the scene here in Wilmington. I don't know many people at UNC-Wilmington yet but I know at least 6 people who have come down with the swine flu in the past 48 hours...no joke. And somehow I've managed to be with 3 of them the day before they found out they had it. YIKES!

Please pray for us....and baby Johnson...that we won't get sick!!! It's a big deal getting the swine flu while you're pregnant and I'm praying that I will somehow avoid it. thanks!!

We're in our house and the belly is growing!

We have been in our house for over a week now! The paint is on the walls and the boxes are mostly unpacked....thanks to our wonderful family and friends down here in Wilmington! Tomorrow we head off to our leaders retreat with the student leaders with Cru at UNC-Wilmington...please pray that it would be a refreshing time for the students and that we would train and equip these students to reach out to their peers this year.

We'll leave you with a recent pregnancy picture... I'm currently 22 weeks, but this is from week 20!

Baby Boy Belly

Week 9!

Week 12!

Week 17!

Week 18!


I'm at 20 weeks now, so I'll add more pictures as we go!

It's a BOY!!!!

That's right....we're PREGNANT! Sorry for the lateness of this news, but life has certainly been crazy lately. On Easter, we found out that we were expecting and now we are almost halfway through with the pregnancy. Last week we went to our doctor's appointment and found out that we'll be having a baby boy around December 11th! It's going to be a CRAZY Christmas this year!!

So far everything has been great...I really couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy. People tell you that you'll have a pregnancy like your mom and my mom was sick the whole pregnancy. So, obviously I was pretty nervous finding out that I was pregnant before our summer in Sweden. It would have been so difficult to be sick while being overseas, but God really protected me from that. I'm so thankful!

We also have other changes in the works as well...we're moving to Wilmington! In August, we will begin working at UNC-Wilmington with Campus Crusade. We are really excited about this new adventure, but also pretty nervous about moving to a new location during this crazy time of life change. Here is a picture of our new house that we'll be moving into next week: