Thank God for Fat Quarters and Books.

There are two places in the world that I can lose myself in, a book store or a fabric store.
When I was a little girl my Grandma would take me every year to a place in San Francisco called the City of Paris. The city of Paris was a huge department store that had a gigantic Christmas Tree right in the middle of the Store, it was thrilling to me to see this tree. My sister and I were allowed to go and pick out whatever we wanted for Christmas. The store had a large book selection and I remember running right to the books and spending what seemed like hours trying to pick out one book. They would have to drag me out of there and I can remember my older sister getting upset with me and telling me to hurry up! I can still remember the first book I ever got there, it was called, The Three Spies.
I was not the happiest little girl but when I was with my grandma and grandpa I felt like a thousand bucks. I also learned to fall into books and I think I lived in a fantasy during all my school years.
Books helped me survive a terrible school experience and great feelings of inferiority. The ironic thing is that I had a terrible case of dyslexia but I loved to read.
Books and fabric make me happy and I'm hoping to pass that onto the girls when we open Nana's House.
I picture a reading area with a lot of comfy pillows, quilts and lots of books..

I also dream of being a person like my grandma and grandpa were to me. They were such an encouragement and I knew they loved me just the way I was with all my quirks and faults. They really did make me feel important and protected like every child should feel.

We are praying for the girls that will be coming to Nana's House. We are praying that it will be a safe haven for some hurting children, a place filled with wonderful childhood experiences.

A Blanket Is Forever.

Every child should have a special blanket. A quilt or a soft throw blanket is so comforting and can last a life time.

I don't sew that well but I love to make quilts and throw blankets. I have done this for years and love to give them as gifts. When my children were sick or feeling down I loved to make sure they had that perfect soft blanket or quilt to be comforted by and kept warm.

I want to give every girl that comes to Nana's House their own personalized blanket. Some girls will only be with us until their mother or father get out of prison or can get back on their feet and support a family again. I want them to be able to take their special blanket with them when they leave. Other girls will be with us until they are adopted or turn eighteen. I think a special quilt or throw blanket would be a great thing to send them off with as a good memory. A blanket is warm, cozy and full of love just like I'm hoping the memory of their stay will be.

If you would like to make a blanket you can contact me at:
maryjohansen2@yahoo.com

Some of you like emailing me better than leaving comments.
I love comments though : )

It has been a very busy almost overwhelming time. We have been meeting with government officials which can be quite intimidating to me. They kept putting new requirements on us and that was difficult but I'm so happy because we are done. Nana's house is a legal organization and we will actually be working hand in hand with the government.
They are thrilled and we are too.

I have to make a list of everything we need to furnish a house. I'm heading over to chfweb.com to have those ladies help me out with the list as soon as I get time.
I would like to start with the bedrooms and kitchen. I know it sounds simple to make a list but one of our main supporters asked me for the list so I want to make sure I don't forget anything.

Today I have to drive to Puerto Vallarta to get my husband from the airport. I love the drive but it is dangerous so if you think of me pray for safety. It's not that the road is so bad, it's that there are a ton of curves and CRAZY DRIVERS. They pass on curves and driving in Mexico can be quite interesting.

This month is really busy. We have a camp coming up with over 200 youth and I'm one of the cooks. We also have some teams coming in from the States.

I promise to post something of interest in the next few days.
These blogs can seem kind of lonely but I keep getting emails from people who tell me they are reading it so I will continue on here when things settle down.

Blessings,
Mary Jo

WE HAVE A HOUSE!

We have a very nice home being offered to us for the girls home. It is in a great neighborhood with several parks and areas where the girls can ride bikes and be safe while doing it. This is very unusual since a lot of Tepic neighborhoods either have heavy traffic or dirt roads.

We have a lot of church outreach teams coming down this summer. We will have a lot of work for them in building bunk beds and painting rooms.

I will post a picture of the house soon.

MAD WORSHIP

I love blunt, honest people. Yes, I love them until their bluntness hurts my feelings.

Today I was the worship leader in our morning service. I love this job and really it is the highlight of my week. I love organizing the music, working with the singers and leading people in song.

There is something very vulnerable about leading music in a church service. As a singer I'm dependent on musicians and sound guys hoping everything blends into something people can follow and understand.

We do two services and after the first service my blunt friend had a few constructive criticisms about the way I was doing things. The first one was fine but when he brought up three, my feeling were hurt.

I should be happy and encouraging as a leader but today I was mad! I was standing up in front of hundreds of people trying to encourage them to participate in worship and at the same time trying to fix my own attitude.

Thoughts were running through my head like,

"I would like to see him get up here and do this"

" He wouldn't be able to handle any criticism"

" How dare he say those things" , blah, blah, blah!

I went home after service and pouted! I pouted until I really thought about what my friend had said. To be honest he was right about two of the things and on the third he was kind of being a musical knit whit so why was I was worrying about any of it?
I can be blunt too!

Sometimes a moment like that can become a really big deal and get blown way out of
proportion in my mind. A fear sets in and that can cause a kind of mental torment.

That fear kept me bound for so many years and I have no room to live like that anymore

The most freeing thing I ever did in my life was deciding not to be bound by what others thought of me. I want to walk in love and love is not insecure.


Being free from fear is where I want to be for the rest of my life.
My friend meant no harm and to be honest his direct honesty is the best thing about him. I certainly would not want him to change that because of a silly insecurity.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear"

The Proper Way To Weigh Yourself

Losing weight, yuck who wants to even think about that?
It has to be the hottest topic in the United States and that is above immigration, the elections and sex!

People are obsessed with weight but fatter than ever.
I was fat most of my life. I was not huge but just enough overweight to make me a traumatized child, adolescent and adult woman. I was just always pushing the edge of chubby and hated myself for it.

I remember right before high school I decided to lose weight. I went on a starvation diet and that was the beginning of a huge ordeal with an eating disorder for the next twenty years.
I lost about twenty pounds and was running about 5 miles a day and I was feeling pretty hot.

I went to a camp with my girlfriend Karen Christensen and met a boy that I was crazy about. My best friend Karen decided she would try to help me out by letting the cat out of the bag and spreading the rumor that Mary Jo liked Jeff. Jeff sent a quick message back that I was too chubby for him.

I was beyond devastated, hid in my cabin with the lights out playing sick so I could cry all night long. I was sure I was the most unattractive girl that God had ever made and quickly spiraled downhill into a depression and a horrible case of binging and purging.

This lasted all through high school into my early twenties. I never felt worthy and knew my weight was the reason for all my despair in life. If only I could lose weight I knew happiness would come my way and my prince would come riding on a shiny white horse to save me from all my sadness and loneliness.

When I was twenty I gave my heart to the Lord and my life radically changed but there were two things in my life that did not change. I was a chain smoker and still struggled with bulimia.

I went into a missionary training school when I was 22 and I had to give up smoking simply because it was not allowed but my eating disorder was still lurking around.
Living at the missionary base was a good time in my life. It brought a lot of structure and the structure brought peace and things began to change.

Then I met my best friend Dwight and fell in love. We got married and life was better than it had ever been but still my eating was out of order.

For many years it was just up and down and God did touch me and heal my bulimia but things were just not a 100%. I still felt inadequate, chubby and not good enough. I always had a hard time believing I was attractive enough for my husband even though we have a great marriage. This thing still plagued me causing me to be insecure.
Last year I decided I was done with worrying so much about what I looked like. I asked God to fill me with peace and security and even began to take risks in the way I dressed and have fun.

I decided I was not going to run to food for comfort and I wanted this thing broken in my life for good.
I decided to eat way less. I knew a diet would not work for me so I just ate what I wanted to but ate half.

I used a smaller plate, I let myself feel hungry at times and started doing exercise. I not only could not do a diet I had to do fun exercise. I danced and I walked and tried to do things I enjoy.

This worked for me! I lost about 35 pounds and feel way better. I wish I could say all my insecurities flew out the window but they didn’t and that is Ok. God can even use our little inadequacies in life and he can also take them away when we are willing to let them go.
I can say that God has given me a new peace that surpasses all understanding and I’m just having fun not having to run to food for comfort. Losing weight has been good and since I have the love of my life who loves me through thick and thin I do not have to worry about a Jeff telling me I’m just a little too chubby.
Mary Jo

THE HEART OF MEXICAN MUSIC

Aida Cuevas

She's it! This is true Mexican music at it's best.
Her deep, natural voice is awesome.
Listen to the little screams in the background Ayyyyyiiiii, the horns and the thump of the base and the whistles, it's all so Mexico.

Really this is great! Give it a try.