One of the newest members of the "Beltway pastors' wives" family is Ashlee Johnson, wife of Ben Johnson (Pastor of Life Groups). While she never foresaw being married to a pastor (although was perhaps attracted to Ben's uncanny resemblance to the infamous, extremely manly Coach Summers), the couple has been married for 9-years, and they have an 18-month-old son, Kress. Ashlee is currently a stay-at-home-mom.
Motherhood has stretched Ashlee in her faith. As many new moms do, she had to learn to give up idealistic views of parenthood, and surrender her perfectionistic tendencies to the Lord. This surrender has ushered her into more freedom in Christ. "When I had my baby, I stressed myself out by trying to be the perfect mom with the perfect baby, in the perfect outfit, with the perfect routine. When Kress would cry for hours, I would stress about how others saw me as a mom. If I was a good mom, I would have a happy baby all the time, right?! It was exhausting living up to mine and everyone else's expectations. I am learning to daily seek His will as we are raising our son. Our little Kress isn't perfect, and we are not perfect parents, but God's amazing grace is sufficient for all."
Prior to having Kress, Ashlee worked outside of the home. She describes that one of the biggest steps of faith she ever had to take was in leaving one of her previous jobs, without having another one lined up. She worked in a hostile work environment, and was very hurt and broken from the people she worked with. While it was a difficult time, and the Lord finally released her from that job, He also used the opportunity to teach her how to walk in forgiveness. "After holding onto that hurt for a year, I was growing weary of what the unforgiveness was producing in my life. Rather than being angry at the people, I began to se that it was the enemy that I was fighting. When I think of all that the Lord has forgiven me of, it makes it much easier to forgive others." After the seeds of forgiveness were sown in her heart, the Lord gave her permission to leave that job, even without another job lined up. That was a scary time, and one in which she had to trust the Lord to provide for her family. "God totally took care of us and provided an amazing job for me a few months later. Looking back, I can see God's hand all over it, and I love seeing what He has brought about because of that job."
Ashlee's hobbies include shopping, decorating/designing, exercising, hanging out with family and friends, and traveling. During one of her travels, she even got the rare opportunity to be on the TODAY show and meet Matt Lauer and Al Roker, something she never anticipated getting to experience in her lifetime!
Ashlee has the spiritual gifts of encouragement and hospitality, which she uses at Beltway, as a volunteer in the Welcome Center, and as a Life Group Leader. She is passionate about loving on the elderly, children in need, the lost, and the outcast.
Perhaps she developed a heart for the outcast, in response to an embarrassing moment she experienced in high school, which quite possibly made her feel like an outcast, if but for a moment!! She describes that her car keys fell out of her pocket when she stood up to flush the toilet, after using the facilities, one fateful day in high school. "I had to go back to class and explain what happened, because I wasn't about to get them out, myself! My teacher called for the janitor, who retrieved them for me with a hanger. 'Til the day I graduated, everyone loved to joke with me about my "stinky" keys, and no one ever wanted to drive my car!"
Ohhhh, Ashlee! That's a good one!!
We hope you will come to learn more about this lovely woman, a priceless treasure of God, at Let's Get Together, September 26th, at 6:30pm!!
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