Holiday Season - The Calm Before The Storm

So another Christmas has rolled around. Except this time we were on the other side of the world.

For Christmas this year, we began by going to the Streets home on Christmas eve. There we were spoilt rotten by John and his wife who cooked up Cornish hens and vegetables. We all had one hen each! They were cooked to perfection! We all got to know one another better and were thankful to the Lord for the time we had together.

The following day we arose early and headed over to the Hole's place (literally 10 metres away) and had a real American breakfast; donuts. After that sugar hit, we then proceeded to devour more meat than a man should eat. Pork and Turkey cooked perfect by Rod and Helen.

It was a great day!

We played American football in our car park with a few of the TMS men. They can throw but cannot kick to save their life.

We have been meeting more and more people! It is so lovely to be constantly surrounded by people who love the Lord and that love over flows into great relationships. We are thankful for the friends we have made. But don't think for one second that we don't often think of you all everyday! We miss you all so much and sometimes it hits us hard.

The storm is coming.

Seminary begins in just a little while and many people have given us their take on things. They are all taken back by the fact that we are doing this all in 3 years. Most guys do it over 4-5 years. But according to our friend, it is designed as a 3 year course. Matthew takes heart in the fact that JB did it in 3, Rod is doing it in 3 and a few other guys have done it 3 years also.

From what I have been told - it is going to be super, super hard. Thankfully the Lord helps us.

There is a conference on at the college in early Jan that coincides with the start of Seminary, that features Voddie Baucham, Alexander Strauch (author of the books GCBC uses for Elders and Deacons training) and John MacArthur. We have been offered free tickets to go and we will if we are able to. It would be great to hear those guys!

Lisa has also been told by the same friends of ours who offered us tickets, that she can complete some studies at the College also. She is keen to check that out and see what is available. It is a course that is specifically for seminary wives.

We are going car hunting tomorrow (again!), in the hope of purchasing one that is suitable & reliable . This latest car to look at is down by Huntington beach, so we are going to go and make a day of it. So hopefully we'll have some more photo's for you all soon.

Please continue to pray for us, call us on Skype anytime and please don't forget us! :)

We are so very thankful for your ongoing support!

Until next time..........

- The Johnston's

***follow Matthew on Twitter ( I know, I know) by clicking here.

Settling In Slowly

So we have been here about a week now and we are slowly settling in.

In our apartment complex of about 40 or so apartments there are 10 Seminary families. They basically all have children - a few of which are very similar ages to Kyah.

We have been slowly acquiring a few more things for our apartment, which has been good. Eventually it will look and feel a bit more like a home. We really enjoy living in this complex and are becoming friends with others here.

Lisa got to do some searching for goodies in an op shop today - she really found some gold! A cool (and much needed) toy box for Kyah and some other odds and ends for around the house. Seems like the Americans don't really do the whole op shop thing over here, so it was great to find we have a local one just down the road a little bit.

Matthew went into TMS yesterday and signed up for his classes. Rod took him into sit in on his last OT class for the year - which gave Matthew a headache just thinking about how hard and complex everything is. Thankfully , you build up to the sort of level that was taught in that class otherwise things would be very interesting!

We spent our first Sunday at Grace Community Church. (Which is where the picture above was taken) The place is massive, seriously huge. John MacArthur preached a message from The Gospel of Mark on how hard it is for rich people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It was great.

We are in need of a car - please pray that the Lord would provide a suitable one for us.

It is a little over 3 weeks til the classes begin for Matthew.

The subjects he has been enrolled in for the first semester are; Hermeneutics, Beginning Hebrew, Pastoral Counselling, Introduction to Preaching and the last subject is Prayer.

Both of us (along with Kyah, when we say your names) miss you all so much! We hope you are all doing great & we think of you often.

Please pray for us - that the Lord would continue to provide for us whilst we are here & that we would continually lean on Him for wisdom and understanding.

With all our love,

The Johnston's

We Have Arrived!

After a very long flight (okay so its only 14 hours) we were met at LAX by Rod who then drove us down the biggest freeway we have ever seen.

We arrived in the apartment complex, made our way into see Helen and the kids, and then sat down and ate some food that Helen had prepared. It was incredibly tasty and I am sure we looked funny eating whilst being totally exhausted. The reason we were so wrecked was that we did not really sleep on the flight over at all. Maybe 1 hour in total of drifting in and out, all while we nursed baby Kyah who was fast asleep for most of the flight. (She did spew everywhere at one stage!)

So we are here and we are just beginning to slowly settle in. There is still much we need to organize.

It is so strange waking up in a new country.

Rod and Helen have been so great! They are driving us around and doing so much for us. We really do wonder how much more difficult everything would be without them to help us get started.

****We will get the camera out at some stage today and take some photographs, which we will place up on this site really soon.

Tomorrow we head off to our first Sunday at Grace Community Church.

Thanks again for your support -
We would not be able to live and study here without it.

The Bags Are Packed

Well, its time to leave this wonderful country of ours.

The bags are packed and all the necessary organization is finalised. In just a few hours we will head off to the airport to be met by our family and many of you, our dear friends.

What an amazing privilege it is to have such a loving family and friend support base.

We are sure that saying goodbye will be quite sad - however we know that we will keep in touch with you all & hope to see some of you when you come and visit!

Be sure to keep updated by visiting this website frequently. May we suggest you bookmark this page so you ensure easy access.

We love you all so dearly and we will miss you so much!

- The Johnston's

Welcome!

Here you will find regular updates of our time in Los Angeles and all that goes on whilst Matthew studies at The Masters Seminary.

Updates will come in the form of photography, video and written articles.

We love you and could not be doing this

without your prayers, love and support.

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you.

In Christ's love,

The Johnston's

What is Salvation? (In 2 Minutes) - Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.