We were on the Dove Awards with Third Day!!!!

Can you believe it we were on the Dove Awards with Third Day while they preformed "Children of God"? You ask how did we get there? Well, I will tell you how it happened. About a month ago Third Day put out a notice on their Facebook page that they were in search of people that had adopted or were adopted. If so, simply take a photo with the person that had been adopted holding a sign that said "ADOPTED". So we got our little family together and Papaw took the photo with Mary Beth holding the sign and we sent it in. Third Day posted on their Facebook page yesterday that you could click on the link and you could see them performing "Children of God" at the Dove Awards. I just had to click on the link just to see if they were using the photos and much to our surprise they were and you could see our photo (almost in plain sight).

If you click on the link (the link is below in orange - the link will say Johnston Family with Third Day at the Dove Awards) you will see Third Day (lead singer Mac Powell and his wife have two adopted children (not sure where their children were adopted from)) performing with Mark Hall the lead singer for Casting Crowns (who has a daughter adopted from China) and Steven Curtis Chapman (who everyone knows has three little girls adopted from China - one, Maria who is living in Heaven with Jesus). This song is an amazing song - it has been one of our favorites from the first time we both heard it and it has such a STRONG message. I can't see how anyone can listen to this song and not feel God's love from it! He is such an AMAZING God and I am so glad to know him, love him, praise him and worship him!!

We hope you will listen and receive the message from listening to this song and watch really close because you will see our photo (below) in the back ground on the big screen.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tpQUQzpeCA&feature=share


Love to all!!

Mary Beth lost her 1st tooth

It is official - our little girl is now a big girl. She has passed through yet another growing up threshold! This was something that I had prepared myself for since Mary Beth talks about her friend Riley losing so many teeth, but poor daddy was not ready for this. It took him by great surprise last night when we came in with a loose tooth. I stopped by to pick Mary Beth up from school yesterday and her teacher Ms. Daphnea asked if my child had a loose tooth that morning when we left home. I told her no we didn't - she said well now you do and it is almost ready to come out. Mary Beth was all excited and couldn't wait to show her loose tooth to us. We talked about if it would hurt and how she would pull it on the way home. It was priceless I have to say! She is so full of questions and she really thinks her questions out before she starts to ask. I mean these questions have depth to them. WOW - God is good all of the time and it is a wonderful thing to see it in our child!! Charles and Mary Beth went to church last night and while I was laying on the heating pad from my very sore back I finished her tooth fairy pillow. When she came home from church she wanted to know where her pillow was and if I had finished it. I told her yes and to go look in her room. When she came back I asked her if she wanted to try to pull it and she said she did. I gave her a tissue and she started working it back and forth and trying to pull it straight up. She played around with it for about 5 minutes and I told her to wiggle it from side to side instead of front and back and to keep pulling up on it and boy when she did out it came. It was so wonderful to see her pull her first tooth. (You can see with the attached video how excited she was to pull her first tooth) She was very excited this morning when she awoke to her money in her tooth pillow. The first thing she did was looked at me and said "Mommy can I go buy some new nail polish with my money"? I told her that we would go and see what we could find for her! I have also attached photos that I took and some that Ms. Daphnea took at school. You will see Riley and her little sister Sophie talking and consoling Mary Beth in one of them. It is so sweet!!! We are very thankful to have a wonderful school and wonderful teachers that make sure we do not miss out on these precious moments in our children's lives!!!

Mary Beth's first reading book

Mary Beth received her first reading book from Ms. Kelly today and she proves to us that she can read.