Seasons

Don’t you just love the change of seasons? Especially from winter to spring or spring to summer.




Summer to fall is always nice here in Georgia. The leaves fall from the trees and the wind blows all day long. Such a refreshing break from 98+ degrees!




Of course, once fall begins so does Daylight Savings Time and then the days are shorter and everyone gets depressed and moody. Then winter comes! It’s the time where we huddle up inside and drink lots of coffee or some other hot beverage and gain some weight…




There are also changes in other types of seasons in our lives. Like developing new friendships or rekindling old ones. Sometimes there’s a fizzling of friendships that once seemed to bloom so beautifully. No real cause for the fizzling except just people going in different directions. Some seasons involve job changes, moving to a new home, changing churches. Some changes are brought about by loss.

Regardless of the season you may be in at this time in your life, I say embrace it. For every change or loss, there is something new around the corner. A change or a loss may be sad or even devastating but it can only get you down – and I mean all the way down – if you let it.

The biggest change to me at this time is that for the first time in fourteen years I am not shopping for new school books. Usually, my summers are spent looking through catalogs and going to conventions, ordering the books and digging into them to plan out the year ahead. In a couple of weeks, I will be finished homeschooling and so I find myself feeling many strange feelings about this new season. I am thrilled to have homeschooled. And I am thrilled to have made it through without quitting. I am also excited to see where the Lord leads me after this and what He does with my children long term as a result of the homeschooling.

My husband and I are also taking the summer to visit around churches in our community other than our own. This has been a change that I didn’t really welcome at first but have now embraced and am enjoying meeting new folks and learning new things. We’ll see where this season takes us.

I don’t really like change – except change for the better. But I have had to endure much of it in my life. One thing that is for sure, God is always, always walking with me through whatever change of season it is. And He always knows what’s best for me and He knows the outcome.

All photos property of Kayla Johnson Photography

My Road to Publication

Many of you have asked me questions like: How did you get started writing? How long have you been writing? How did you find your publisher? Do you have an agent? How long does it take to get published? And the biggest question of all: When is your book coming out?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was about eight or nine, I wrote a story as an entrance exam to a children’s writing institute. I cannot begin to explain to you the joy I felt when I received the acceptance envelope. I am aware now that they probably wanted everyone that took the entrance exam; after all, that was how they made their money, right? The enrollment fee was far more than my family could afford, however, so I was unable to attend. I remember this as one of the most heart-breaking experiences of my childhood.

I did not give up writing, though. In high school, I wrote continuously, and took as many writing and literature classes as my school offered. I had high aspirations of becoming a journalist. I wanted to be the woman sitting in front of the camera doing the evening news or the woman with her own newspaper column. My dream was to go away to a college that had a superior journalism department. Because of my poor grades and a few other issues, I did not attend college, though.

Immediately after graduating high school, I began to work in an office as a secretary. I continued to write on my typewriter at work when there was free time. I actually wrote a 500-page Christian Romance novel but upon its completion decided it was no good. I burned it in the fireplace at home, and have regretted it ever since. You see, this was before the days of home computers and none of what I had written was saved on disk. I consider this one of my greatest professional learning experiences.

I married when I was twenty-one years old and a few years later, I had my first child. I continued to write Christian Romance but publication eluded me. Submitting manuscripts or even simple proposals was a time-consuming and expensive hobby. I took a break from writing for a few years because motherhood (my second child had come along) kept me busy. However, my mind never stopped spinning tales. These ideas gathered in file folders and patiently waited to come out when my children went to school.

My sister once told me: “An author is a writer who refused to give up.” So I held onto that dream.

Then, God called me to homeschool in 1997 and suddenly my plans were postponed for just a little while longer. After I got accustomed to the routine of homeschooling, the writing bug bit me again. Instead of fiction, I wrote articles for homeschool magazines about homeschooling and finally got my first phone call from an editor. I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when that call came in.

So I kept at the writing and got a few more articles published. I took a two-year writer’s course through the Christian Writers Guild and eventually wrote a few Bible studies, which I taught for groups at church. Then I wrote a devotional for homeschool moms, which I self-published. www.sherrijohnsonministries.com

One day, I received an inquiry from a church asking me to speak to a group of women. Never before had I done that, but I went. Looking back, I believe my talk was rather dull and quite long-winded, but God was gracious and I received other calls after that. I have spoken to homeschool groups and church groups for several years now and I enjoy it. However, writing is my love!

So throughout the years of teaching my children, God refined my writing skills. He opened my eyes to things that needed to be perfected in my works. I wrote several more Bible studies. And eventually wrote three novels – and re-wrote three novels. Because of easier submissions procedures, I submitted proposals constantly. Much to my chagrin, the ever-coveted contract never came. I even tried to find an agent multiple times, but had no success. I also tried to quit writing quite often, but had no success at that either.

I attended my first writer’s conference in 2003 and met several editors, who requested to see manuscripts. I have been told that this is the way to go. You have to attend the conferences in order to meet the editors face-to-face. For me, this was a one-time luxury because we were a one-income family. I could not attend conferences every year in hopes of finding a publisher. I left my writing career right where it needed to be – in the hands of God!

One day, I learned about a relatively new publisher, which had “stepped into the marketplace gap to provide dozens of writers with new opportunities…With other publishers choosing to focus on only a few “top name” authors” OakTara was looking for people like me – first-time, undiscovered authors! http://www.oaktara.com.

So I immediately submitted my manuscript for To Dance Once More (my second “first” novel). This novel had made it through revision after revision and I was finally confident that it was ready. One year after submitting the manuscript, I received an email from Jeff Nesbit saying, “To Dance Once More is precisely the type of novel OakTara (then Capstone) is interested in — quality fiction, from a fresh perspective – and we’d like to offer you the opportunity to join Capstone Fiction’s growing stable of authors.” At first, skepticism ran through my body. I wanted to believe it but could not let myself. After doing more research than I have ever done in my life, I discovered they were legitimate and I accepted the contract. So I sat on ready for a while, neglecting practically every other area of my life. But time passed and I did not hear anything further from them and discouragement became a close friend of mine for a while. To make a long story short, the publisher was forced by another publisher to change its name and that put things on hold for at least a year. After the legalities were worked out and the previously published books had been reissued under the new publisher name, OakTara, they were back in business and started issuing new titles.

So you want to know when To Dance Once More will be available. I have been told that everything is moving along and it should be out by early summer 2011. My second novel, Song of the Meadowlark, will be following soon after. My third novel, After the Raging Storm, is still in the crock pot and I will submit it for their review when I have it as it needs to be. In the meantime, I am writing the sequel to To Dance Once More, entitled To Laugh Once More, and hope to receive a contract on it, as well.

The process for me began in 1974 with that first children’s story. 1985 marked the year of the first full-length manuscript, which perished in the fire. 1993 birthed To Dance Once More, which is just now coming to life on the page for you to read. 1997 began my journey through homeschooling and 2011 will forever go down in history as the year that I completed one calling (homeschooling) and launched the ever-awaited career as a writer – I mean, AUTHOR – for I never gave up!

A Roller Coaster Kind of Spiritual Walk

I love roller coasters! I love to feel the wind in my hair and I love to scream and release all my suppressed emotions. My screams turn into uncontrollable laughter as the momentum of the train increases, giving me freedom of expression like I cannot get anywhere else in this world. My heart pounds in my chest at the anticipation of that next turn or loop-tee-loop. It’s hard to believe that a three or four minute ride could lift your spirits so high that you would feel exhilarated long after the ride is over and that you would yearn for the next opportunity to ride again.




Photo compliments of http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/west/usa/slides/rollercoaster430.htm

My walk with the Lord is much like a ride on a roller coaster. Now I don’t mean it is full of ups and downs and high-pitched hills and drastic drops. Well, maybe it is a little of that. But what I mean is – well, let me explain.

You know how when you are riding along on that track and you know that curve or that upside-down spiral that scares you to death is coming up and you are convinced that you that you are about to have a heart attack?

You fear for just a moment, even though you know your thoughts are preposterous, like the train will come off the track? For a minute, you feel like maybe, just maybe, you are about to die. Of course, your fears are totally unfounded. In just a flash of time, you are whipped around that bend or thrust down that hill or twisted like a pretzel and then – finally – you are upright and back on the straight and safe track and you can catch your breath.

Well, that is how I feel about my spiritual walk with the Lord. When I am burdened about something or praying for something to happen in my life and it is just not happening swiftly enough, I get this desperate feeling. An urgency crawls up my esophagus and threatens to choke me. I start to feel like that curve is coming up and my life is going to fly off that track into oblivion. God is not acting quickly enough for my liking and I feel, just for a moment, that He is not going to save me from going off the track or, more specifically, that He is not going to give me what I want.

Here is the thing – as long as I am seeking God’s will for my life, He will not let that train go off the track. He will not let me fall. He will answer my prayers. His answer will be “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” He may allow the ride to go on a little bit longer than I think I can stand, allowing me to experience a few more loop-tee-loops or spirals or mountainous hills and deep valleys. But He is the conductor! He knows at which moment I need to have the things I have prayed for. He knows the perfect time to open that door I have prayed open. He knows when my heart has had all the anticipation it can stand and when I am ready for and in desperate need of that train coming to a bit of safe track.

In the last month, while I was fasting, I got to see the Lord do some amazing things in the lives of some of my friends. He provided house payments. He provided clarity on relationships for some. He provided job interviews for others and even a job for one friend. He provided a way out of addiction for another. He provided financial blessings for my family and even some great news from my publisher for me!

So I kind of like having a roller coaster spiritual walk with my Jesus. My heart gets to pound uncontrollably as I see Him working in my life and in the lives of those I love. My blood pumps ferociously through my body. I get to scream and laugh and even wiggle in my seat as I see His will revealed – even when the answer is not what I wanted or expected. And when that portion of the ride is over and it is time to get off the train, I am ready to stand in line for the next ride because a ride with the Lord is worth all the ups and downs, twists and turns, lunges and lurches. Oh, life is so exciting when you ride a roller coaster with the Lord!

My main blog

If I haven't posted here in a while, you can find new blog posts by me at: http://sherrijinga.wordpress.com/

Always Homeschooling

One thing I love about homeschooling is that we always seem to be in a perpetual state of learning. Even when we don’t think we’re learning and we don’t care to learn, we learn.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband found some eggs hidden in the soil of the garden our church has planted for the community we live in. He brought them home to hatch. Of course, I was sure that they were snake eggs and didn’t want anything to do with them. He placed them in a fish bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, poked a few holes for air, and then just watched them. Nothing happened. Until last night, that is. Suddenly, we discovered little skinks hatching out of them. They were so cute!

This came on the coattails of the fish tank full of tadpoles my husband collected from our pond…

Today, my daughter and I were releasing the little skinks at the edge of the woods by our house when she sat back on the ground onto a yellow jacket!!! We thought she had sat on a pinecone at first. Within minutes she was having an allergic reaction and it scared us to death. Her eyes swelled and she broke out in hives, etc. A few Benadryl did the trick, though. She’s sore and drowzy, but okay.

Tonight while my husband was working in our garden, he found a shrew. Of course, he captured it! He brought it in and my son began playing with it. Until it nipped at him. No blood drawn, so that’s good. We put the little booger in an old hamster cage and fed it some earth worms. It was really cute. When my daughter got in, my son proceeded to show it to her. What an exciting event…until it escaped through the bars of the cage. Praise the Lord we were able to get the cage outside and release the little guy before he turned his teeth on my son again. Imagine if we had gotten up in the morning to find the cage empty!!!!

So, I guess we can just say this is a day in the life of a homeschooler, huh? Even when your kids are 14, 17, and 43, I guess they never stop liking little creatures and exploring the great outdoors…yellow jacket stings and all.

Recycled Mom

Have you ever felt that if one more thing went wrong in your life, you would jump off the planet? Have you ever thought God must have a candid camera and all the saints are having a blast watching you go through your daily life? I know that God does not sit up there waiting to strike us down for every act of disobedience, but He does have a bizarre way of luring us back into His arms.

On a cool September evening in 1999, the phone rang as I sat visiting with my father. The shaky voice of my husband on the other end of the line revealed to me that our lives were about to change. The company he worked for had unexpectedly closed its doors. He was now unemployed. Since we are a one-income family, and we homeschool, the thought of having no income was unsettling. However, the lack of income proved to be the least of our worries. The following Sunday morning our pastor collected a spontaneous love offering that met our financial needs for the next three months. I thought that things would be okay.

The long winter we faced with its short days and seemingly endless nights was a nightmare. As the children and I continued school as usual, my husband spent three miserable months looking for a job, followed by months of agony in a job not suited to him. He suffered a great deal emotionally from the job loss. Although I am by nature quite strong, the extensive months of being a fortress for everyone had become too much. The once pleasurable tasks of being a wife and mother were now tedious. More mentally exhausted than a soldier at the end of a long war (please don’t take offense to this scenario if you have a loved one involved in the war currently), I found my reserve of strength gone. I no longer wanted to be a caregiver.

Spring arrived and I struggled to get through our days of school and rejoiced when our summer break finally came. I resisted even talking about beginning our new school year. I took a break from anything that involved instructing my children. My heart and soul went on vacation. My calling in life had become a prison sentence.

As the hot days of summer languidly passed, a great chasm grew between my children and me. They needed their friends more than they needed me. Their hearts had found a replacement for me. I was blind to the reasons why this was happening. I struggled because I truly felt called to have my children at home, yet that was no longer my desire. Why was I considering a nine-month boarding school with a three-month summer camp? Why could I not face another day at home with my children?

Caring friends often asked me, “What does his job loss and struggle to find another career have to do with you not wanting to be a mother?” I felt angry because no one understood me and because my husband still struggled with what had happened to him. I needed him to be my supporter. It was easy to take my anger out on the kids. Initiating the simplest act of love became suffocating.

What made my dilemma even harder was the lack of support from others. I could not blame anyone. This was my calling. No one can understand a calling unless it is his or her own. I found no comfort from those with whom I spoke. In fact, I sensed that some had even been waiting for this day to come. I felt torn because my desires were to give up and take what I thought would be the easy road. I do not mean to say that having a full-time job and placing children in school is easy, nor do I mean to imply that it is a sin. What I am saying is that if God calls you to do a task, it is a sin if you fail to do it. My struggle was between my will and God’s.

Although I was weary, the only thing I knew to do was to set my start date for school, and trust the Lord to give me back the joy I had lost. Before that could happen, though, I had to ask forgiveness for closing myself off from everyone and for feeling like a martyr. I had to stop expecting anything from anyone and start relying on God totally for my strength.

Our first day of school that fall was awkward. Being back in the classroom, I tried to do more than just go through the motions of teaching. Amazingly, by the third day I felt like I was wearing my favorite pair of sweats. God gently pulled me back into doing what He wants me to do. He used His rod to discipline me. My misery had been part of my punishment.

Throughout the school year, I so often fail to take my burdens to the Lord. I ask advice from everyone I know and try to solve problems on my own. When nothing works, I then turn to God. He says He will make our burdens light, so why do we insist on carrying them ourselves? I see now that if I take everything to the Lord daily, He will give me the strength I need to face whatever He sends my way.

In a sense, I had become a Jonah. I ran from what I knew God wanted me to do, only to return to it in the end. In my rebellion, I stopped teaching my children, and failed to be the kind of mother, wife, friend and Christian sister that I should be. I became a sponge only wanting to receive comfort instead of giving comfort to others.

The next spring, I found myself going through many of the same emotions as in the previous year. At the time, we attended a church where there were no other homeschoolers. We also had spent a winter full of sickness and isolation. Loneliness had gotten the best of me and a longing for normalcy was knocking at my heart’s door. Once again, I considered letting that be the last year I homeschooled. I looked into working for local Christian schools so that my children could attend at no charge.

Once again, I placed my burden in the hands of the Lord. I prayed that if He wanted me to continue on this path, that He would give me the desire to persevere. It seemed like no time at all had passed before I was searching through catalogs for innovative ways to teach my children, buying used curriculum off the Internet, and consulting friends about their techniques. I received much encouragement and advice that truly touched my heart. Unless the Lord creates a new path for our family, I will be teaching my children until they graduate.

Through all of this, God was a gentle shepherd to me. He took His staff and led me along the pathway He wanted me to follow. My trials and my discovery of the blessings of obedience to the Lord were painful, yet necessary journeys.

Originally appeared in Homeschooling Today”s Homeschooling Helper in January 2007.

Homeschooling for a Lifetime

So, I still don’t know how twelve years goes by so fast. It seems like yesterday that I ordered my first box of A Beka books and Saxon Math. We were so excited to be teaching our daughter first grade and our son four year Pre-K. Everyone wanted to know how long we were going to do this thing called homeschooling. You know, we’re strange for doing such a thing, right? I mean, really, aren’t we taking our kids’ lives in our own hands? Quite the contrary. We were taking our kids’ lives out of the government’s hands and placing them into God’s hands.
After the first year, things got tougher. Teaching the curriculum wasn’t so bad, but dealing with attitudes and selfishness and budding personalities challenged me as a teacher. I was quite unprepared for having the kids home all day and having to play teacher. That’s the free spirit in me. I’d rather sit around and read or write or talk or watch movies than have to work. So, I have tried very hard throughout the last twelve years to make work as fun as it can be. Life is too short to be a stiff neck.
Of course, as we got into high school in our teaching phase, I realized that many things needed to be stepped up a bit. I have often felt inadequate and like I was leaving something out where it came to the kids and their education. But I’ve had many homeschooling mentors along the way encourage me to continue to teach and guide the kids to follow their hearts while chasing after God’s dream for their lives.
The reasons I began homeschooling seem to have faded as time has gone on, replaced with newer, more urgent reasons. At first, I wanted to protect my children from the influence of the world. Later, I wanted to make sure they received an education worthy of having. Now, that the first leg of my journey is complete and I am finished teaching my daughter her high school work, I see that there is so much more to teach this budding young woman to prepare her for the future God has in store for her. I see that my role in her life as homeschool teacher of math and english and science and history may be finished, but a teacher I will remain for as long as I live and as long as she is willing to listen. With only a few years left to homeschool my son, I see that there is so much more to teach; so much more to learn. And I fear that it cannot be done in three years. Even after he has walked down the aisle of homeschool graduation, real or hypothetical, he will still need to be guided by his dad and by me.
Even when we’re faced with an empty nest, I seriously doubt that it will remain unvisited by our two. For you see, investing twelve years of your life in a child’s education and maturation, spending every day together, yields rewards that will be seen and heard and felt for many generations to come. Every time I start to think that my kids may have missed out on something like the prom, or being socialized, or being in AP classes, or being class President, I am reminded by a non-homeschooling friend that my kids are pretty great, by nothing more than a casual compliment of how special they are. So, while my kids may have missed out on some of the above, they have been spared from repeated broken hearts, the need to fight for the attentions of the opposite sex, compromised values, bodies soiled by drugs and alcohol, and so much more.
Homeschooling becomes about more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. It becomes about life skills, matters of the heart, discernment, teaching kids to be leaders for the Lord regardless of the rewards or penalties, and so much more. I see that while we do have to get them prepared for the “real world” or working and surviving, etc., our main goal should be preparing them for their life’s call. Although knowing how to solve a trigonometry problem by using the law of cosines is important in trig class, it probably won’t be used much later in life by the average person. Knowing how to diagram sentences will help us all to be better communicators, but if we’re not communicating the message of Christ to the lost and to our wayward friends, then it doesn’t matter how well our words are spoken.
It hasn’t always been easy, but looking back, I can see that it was totally worth it.