Category Archives: Our Story

Introducing Our Baby Girl

Josh was 45 hours away from a 3-1/2 day business trip halfway across the country when I went in for my 39-week appointment to check on baby girl’s status. It turned out that my belly was measuring the same as (if not slightly smaller than) the previous week’s, and they sent me in for a...

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JordannJanuary 28, 2020 - 12:59 pm
I have been following your story for quite some time and these sweet miracles never fail to make me cry! So happy for your family and precious Rinnah! ReplyCancel
MicheleJanuary 28, 2020 - 1:28 pm
Oh my goodness that is SO BEAUTIFUL! Rinnah is a delightful name! (How I wish I was as eloquent as you) tears are flowing here after reading that!
God bless you Jane and your arms full of sheaves! ReplyCancel
PaulaJanuary 28, 2020 - 1:48 pm
Amazing story and so joyful for you! Live Paula from TexasReplyCancel
Lisa G.January 28, 2020 - 2:09 pm
Ok, now I’M crying!!! …tears of JOY, that is!!! Perfect name for a perfect storybook completion/beginning. Love you, beautiful Johnson Party of 5!ReplyCancel
KristenJanuary 28, 2020 - 3:18 pm
I love this so much!ReplyCancel
KristaJanuary 28, 2020 - 3:50 pm
Tears of joy for all of you. Welcome to our world, sweet precious Rinnah Jane! Please share with her the story of how a stranger knew she would one day be in your lives because He sent the vision in a dream(even if I had the name wrong somehow). ReplyCancel
TeraJanuary 28, 2020 - 3:51 pm
Thank you for sharing your miracles. I too experienced a long wait for my miracles. I am grateful that you’ve shared your journey, for it can be a lonely one for many. ReplyCancel
Lisa BJanuary 28, 2020 - 4:33 pm
So beautiful, all of it! Enjoy this precious time❤️ReplyCancel
MeganJanuary 28, 2020 - 7:08 pm
Welcome, sweet Riannah. You are a blessing to all!ReplyCancel
MiriamJanuary 28, 2020 - 8:25 pm
Awwwww so precious and such a beautiful name. I remember searching for my baby girl’s name and decided on Anaya meaning God Answers. She is truly an answered prayer and true definition of the most steadfast faith I have ever had in my life. Blessings in abundance Rinnah Jane and more joy to you and your family of 5 (ps mine is also a family of 5 – 3 dudes and 2 gals ) ReplyCancel
TuRhonda FreemanJanuary 29, 2020 - 7:14 am
My heart is so full as tears flow from my eyes for you!!! What a beautiful blessing!!! Welcome to the world precious Rinnah Jane!! ReplyCancel
francineFebruary 11, 2020 - 2:20 pm
awww what a beautiful story, name, and baby! congratulations y’all!ReplyCancel

The Moment that Changed Everything

For a long time, I had convinced myself I had nothing to say. Rather, I had a lot to say, but it made my brain hurt a little bit trying to connect it all. And if I couldn’t fully understand it, how could I articulate it in a way that anybody else would? I had...

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Misty SegerAugust 13, 2019 - 5:19 am
You just don’t know…your words, God’s Word, the revelations of truths I had heard a million times (I am a Preacher’s daughter) yet never comprehended. I’ve not suffered the long waiting journey of delayed fertility; I have 4 amazing young adult children. But I know where your words come from. I know the depths of aching and sorrow from delayed answers. I know the angry tears, the moments of feeling so lost that you may never find your way back, the setting aside your Bible because you just can’t….. And I know, God. Is. Good.
Thank you. For being a conduit of God’s “pull my hair back whispers” and gentle nudgings back to where it all started for me. Where I allowed the numbness to provide a layer of protection against the disappointments and the pain. Where I stopped being a conduit for those I could be reaching because I had let my well run dry and had nothing left to give.
It is a process, this coming back to the ground level of loving God and letting him love me. But He is so faithful. I am overwhelmed with his patience and grace.
I have learned more from his Word in the few months since I’ve found your blog than in all the decades I’ve been a Christian combined. Thank you Jane, for your love for God, your heart for others, and your generosity in sharing your story, the ups and the downs. I feel like we could have been friends if I had not grown up on the east coast and you on the west. You are a kindred spirit, without even knowing it, and I am thankful for you. ReplyCancel
- Lauren BowermanSeptember 25, 2019 - 4:21 am
  Misty, the feelings and disappointments and numbness you described – I have fought such similar feelings, and I found so much encouragement from your reply to this post. God has been gracious lately to remind me of the journey we’re all on and how similar our griefs can feel. There’s so much hope in that and so much community – knowing that we’re all hoping and hurting in so many similar ways. So thank you for sharing that!
  And JANE. Your words never cease to remind me of God’s never-changing goodness despite the pain and confusion we feel. You have no idea how much hope your words bring. I am entering into a similar waiting season to the one you’ve described here, and it brings me so much encouragement to see how you fought to seek and believe God even on the days when the tears won’t stop flowing. Thank you, as always, for your honesty and for the truth you share here. ReplyCancel
BeccaSeptember 10, 2019 - 12:29 am
So glad you did!!!ReplyCancel
DebiSeptember 24, 2019 - 8:39 am
Jane, first I adore everything you have written!! And I soooo could have written those first sentences!! I just cannot get it from my head to the page!! Thanks for so much good solid teaching and encouragement!!ReplyCancel
LarissaMarch 22, 2020 - 9:30 pm
I’ve been grappling with God telling me I am to write a book some day. I won’t even write in a prayer journal. Writing was my most favorite thing until someone violated my most intimate words and so I stopped writing. Although fertility is not what I was waiting for I was waiting I came across your book unexpectedly and it was everything I needed. I suffered from depression for years. I was a bad mother in the sense that I was not present. I can say now after 6 years of being a mother I am finally present. God healed me. I’m finally clear headed. I knew I was waiting but I didn’t know what for. I am a whole new person and you inspire me to write down the crazy thoughts in my head. ReplyCancel

And Then We Were Five

All was quiet in early September 2010. The 30-year-old me, who had recently discovered her first grey hairs in the mirror, flipped through the last pages in a book on insecurity. We were four years into our wait, and I was thinking about my biggest fear right then. Missing the window. Waiting too long. Being...

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Krista EickmeierJuly 16, 2019 - 8:03 am
What a blessing it has been to watch the amazing journey of God’s incredible faithfulness in your lives! I still remember praying for these babes, when you shared posts announcing each of your miracle babes growing in your womb, praying for those babes to grow healthy & strong, eagerly awaiting their birth announcements & the pure joy of watching the sweet unfolding of their lives. Praising God for His continued blessings in all of your lives & giving your family another miracle to advance His kingdom here. Thank you for allowing us to share in this incredible journey with you! ❤️ReplyCancel
DanielleJuly 16, 2019 - 8:03 am
So beautiful! Crying tears of joy for your sweet family and praising God for His goodness and detailed timing. What an incredible, beautiful story He is writing with your lives. ReplyCancel
Dawn spurlockJuly 16, 2019 - 8:05 am
Wow I just was so touched by your story… God bless your beautiful growing family … And thank you for sharing this heartfelt message of family and faith ❤ReplyCancel
Spenser BaileyJuly 16, 2019 - 8:07 am
How beautiful your whole story is! Congratulations ReplyCancel
Lynn VicenteJuly 16, 2019 - 8:21 am
Absolutely amazing what God can do…of course in his time. Many blessings on you, the fam and #3ReplyCancel
MandiJuly 16, 2019 - 8:42 am
Jane, this is incredible. I’m so happy for y’all. Praying for an easy pregnancy and to enjoy this time of growing a new life. God is so good. So happy for y’all. We second infertility journey brought us our daughter and taught me more about myself and God that anything in my life. Thank you for being so vulnerable and always sharing your heart. ReplyCancel
Julia KelleherJuly 16, 2019 - 9:13 am
So thrilled for you, darling Jane!!! I can’t wait to see you and hug you with a REAL congrats!!!ReplyCancel
Ashley DurenJuly 16, 2019 - 9:41 am
This is so so good. Congratulations! Your words in Mercy Like Morning about women who wait the longest birthing men who make a great impact is like a breath of fresh air and renewed hope to my soul. Thank you for sharing. And blessings on Baby 3! ❤️ReplyCancel
MariaJuly 16, 2019 - 10:27 am
God is indeed faithful.. I feel so blessed to have met you as God is helping me understand my wait and giving more insights on patience. God bless your sweet family ReplyCancel
Rachel nixJuly 16, 2019 - 5:45 pm
Thanks be to God for He is GOOD!!
This is truly a marvelous remarkable and God Filled story of His timing and how much he loves us!! So Happy for you and be prepared to be VERY busy!! I just had my 3rd, Maddyx Jordan, early Easter morning, and his sister is 19 months older than him and man am I a busy Mom but Oh SO Blessed too!! My oldest son is 4.5. Congrats on Party of 5. Also, I too knew after having my 2nd that we weren’t done, it’s a feeling that comes over us as Moms. I feel done now though and settled. Enjoy this last pregnancy!ReplyCancel
AlleneJuly 16, 2019 - 6:40 pm
“The number 3 biblically represents divine wholeness, completeness and perfection. If there ever was a desire to highlight an idea, thought, event or noteworthy figure in the Biblefor their prominence, the number 3 was used to put a divine stamp of completion or fulfillment on the subject.”
God has truly put his divine stamp on your family and is claiming His miracles and His fulfillment of the promises He gave!! Congrats!! To God be the Glory!Amen!ReplyCancel
MelanieJuly 16, 2019 - 6:55 pm
God gave Psalm 112 and 113 to me in a very detailed dream about 3ish years ago. I have it written down and refer to it often in my prayers. I’ve also heard Psalm 126 a bunch from a specific pastor and have meditated a lot on it. I just turned 35 and am still single but I love watching your journey and story. It fills me with so much joy. What God does for one, he can do for all. ❤️ReplyCancel
- MelanieJuly 16, 2019 - 6:57 pm
  Ohhhh and congratulations!!! 🙂
  Your story also resonates with me bc I was diagnosed with cancer at 26. I love how much you love and supported your friend. Everything about your testimony, I love! ReplyCancel
NicoleJuly 17, 2019 - 4:45 am
Wow! Congratulations, this is so exciting and it gives me hope for my wait. I’m 8 years in (nearing 11 years of marriage) at 36 years old but it’s so encouraging to read your story and see God’s faithfulness. He is faithful! I’m so happy for you and your family.ReplyCancel
Shannon KirkJuly 17, 2019 - 9:19 pm
My heart is singing God’s praises with so much joy for the 5 of you. You writing is such a gift and your love for Jesus is so inspiring. Let the laughter continue for both of you over the months ahead, as your marvel at the miracle of your dear growing baby and your adorable boys. BlessingsReplyCancel
LisaJuly 23, 2019 - 7:01 am
Please tell me you’re due right around the time y’all started that journey 13 yrs ago… oh how good it is to see god drawing that circle.ReplyCancel
- Jane JohnsonJuly 25, 2019 - 10:38 am
  I am!! Isn’t that amazing?? I love how God ties up all the loose ends and redeems heartache in such specific ways!ReplyCancel

Johnson Family, Party of Four

Our entire house was entirely packed up the week before boarding a one-way flight to Maui. Ten years of life and marriage and memories were neatly sorted and labeled and boxed away in a single twenty-foot storage unit. I managed to find a moment alone on that last day, just before we left our high-desert...

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Trading Palms for Pines, Part Three: A Healing Conversation

It’s impossible to articulate the kind of mind-wrestling that has taken place these last six weeks. The constant back-and-forth and checking in and “do we? Don’t we?” questioning and pros and cons lists. When it came down to it, we had two choices: we could believe God to make a way where there was no...

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