The Journey Begins...

It dawned on me awhile ago...that while my blog is called Johnson Journey, I have never shared about the day when our journey began!

On October 2nd, 2012, Chris blessed me by becoming my husband! We had planned to marry on June 15th, 2013, but when God has different plans, He doesn't let up until He gets His way. I have explained in previous posts why Chris and I made the decision to marry earlier than planned, but what it all boils down to is God put His hands on our hearts and we let Him have His way!

"And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him'" Genesis 2:18 (NIV).

So, what does wedding planning look like when you go from having 9 months to plan to only 3 weeks...well, in our opinion, it looks pretty wonderful!

We were married on my parents property! This was such a gorgeous and perfect place for our journey to begin!

First, since my parents live on over 20 acres, we had a lot of prep work the day before in getting the pasture ready for our big day! Luckily I had my younger brother available to help...or something like that..

But in the end, we thought it all came together nicely!

 Thanks to the help of my dad, Chris, and one of his groomsmen, Julian, we had hay bales covered in burlap for our guests to sit on.

 Our colors were yellow, pink, and orange. Mason jars lined our aisle, all tied with a ribbon that corresponded to our colors and a yellow/orange candle.

Thanks to some of my mom and her friends, we also had some gorgeous decorations for our reception!

As well as help from my brother-in-law who rocked our pumpkin!

In addition, with only three weeks prep, Chris, my brother Seth, and Julian stopped at a few stores the day of our wedding to buy flowers. Then I, with the help of some family members who did the beautiful ribbon, put together the bouquets!

Bridesmaids

Mine...Mrs. Johnson's :)

We could not have had a more perfect beginning to our journey. Our wedding was truly a blessing, and that blessing has continued to guide us along this wonderful thing we call marriage!

 Dad and I

Our flower girls!

Ring bearers...yes with Jim and Pam bobbleheads!

Flower ceremony. With the help of my MOH!

 The Bridesmaids!

 Groomsmen!

CAKE! Provided by my grandmother!...and designed to represent the location of our wedding!

And finally...thank you to the bridal party....cousins...family....our lovely getaway car!

My second to youngest sister thoroughly enjoyed the surprise!

We did also end up celebration our marriage at our wedding celebration (we held it on our originally picked wedding date)...but, more on that to follow!

"So the, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate"

Matthew 19:6 (NIV)

Fellowshipping....Water style

Today, we were completely blessed to be part of water day with our youth group!

Having a chance to get together with the youth group, to be around fellow believers, is always such an encouragement!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching" Hebrews 10:25, NIV

We are told to gather together, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to come together and spend time with one another. As verse 25 says, we are suppose to do this as the Day, the day Jesus comes back, approaches. By coming together, we encourage each other, lift each other up, as we all walk towards the common goal of doing our Lord's will. As Hebrews 3:13 says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (NIV). Coming together helps keep us from engaging in sin, but we are encouraged in our faith. 

Spending and investing time with our fellow family in Christ, we are further enabled and given the tools to honor Phillippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things" (NIV). By staying focused on things that are pure and right, how can we likewise focus on things of sin? Our brothers and sisters in Christ help us stay focused on Christ and build us up in love (Hebrews 10:24).  

Coming together with one another is always a blessing, especially when on of your brothers and sisters needs it! For instance, today Satan was really trying to attack me in multiple areas, no better way to fend him off than some good times with the Church family!

AND, what better way to build one another up than a water fight??

First, we started with a few games...including water balloon volleyball...GREAT idea Kristi!

 The group is split into two groups, with 3 sub groups of two people on each team. Each group of two have a towel which the only method they can use to catch and serve the "volleyball", aka water balloon!

Then, thank you to the wonderful help of our other brother and sister in Christ, we had some great BBQ!

Next up, dodge ball....or dodge sponge!

Followed by some good ol' slip and slide...slightly modified to include pelting of sponges and water balls. 

And then, wrapped up with the grand finale of water fight...no rules!

AJ was smart and found a way to keep himself not only cool, but in the center of the water fight, almost literally!

Chris participated as well! Actually, it really ended up become Chris vs. Daniel. Still undecided on who won...but me being Team (my macho husband) Chris, I am going to say he won for the record... :)

Chris did manage to pull himself away from his (possibly self instigated) war with Daniel, to help his fellow brother in Christ AJ. 

So thankful for the fellowship and fun provided by our youth leaders, Ozzy and Kristi! Look forward to more encouragement and fellow shipping to follow!

A Radically (LATE) June!

So, shocker, I am late with my Radical June post! (GASP)

Now that I am halfway through my Radical challenge, I first wanted to take a second and review what these post are about, as some of you may be highly confused as to why I use the word radical for so many posts, (and no, it is not because I am a hippie...that is the second shocker of this post!).

Last year, I read the book Radical by David Platt. And I have to say, this book changed my life! Radical is about being a disciple and living for God. There are so many amazing points in this book that really challenge you to the core. While this does not suffice as even a remotely decent book review, I do have to say that this book will change you at your core. You are most definitely not the same after reading this book!

But, where do my radical posts come from? They are inspired by the very last chapter in the book,"The Radical Experiment". This experiment proposes 5 challenges to the reader. *SPOILER ALERT*

The 5 challenges that are offered, should you chose to accept, are:
1. Praying for the entire world.
2. Read through the entire Word.
3. Sacrifice money for a specific purpose.
4. Spend time in another context.
5. Commit my life to a multiplying community.

When I first took on this challenge, I could not have been more stoked! Now, halfway through this experiment, I would have to say the feeling I now have is fail!

Now, what most of you believe I may have failed at is staying on top of blogging about this experiment. First, I would have to say, yes, you are correct. Second I would have to say, no that is not what I am talking about.

Now, since challenge number 3 is personal, I do not discuss this one. As Matthew 6:3-4a says, "But when you give to the needy, do not let what your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that you giving may be in secret" (NIV).

As far as the other challenges go...yep...I failed.

1. Prayer is definitely part of our life. When I first started this challenge, it was with the intent of praying for countries around the world. Now, praying for all the countries has not been a consistent habit for me. But, I do have to confess that I have been praying more and more for our country here lately. Turn on the T.V. and you will see enough to keep you in prayer for three days! Yet, as 1 John 5:14-15 tells us, when we go to God in prayer, He hears us!

But, all the nations should be lifted to God! So, it is time to get back on the wagon! If anyone would like to be my prayer buddy, just let me know! Nothing like taking these walks in faith with fellow Sisters in Christ!

2. Well, the good news is I am in Deuteronomy! While I initially wanted to be further through the Word by now, I do have to say that I really enjoy taking my time working through the Bible so that I can really read and dive into what God is trying to say to me as I read. At first, my plan WAS to read through the whole Bible, but as I started, I realized I wanted to take my time, and fully attempt to understand and apply what I read as I went along. This has provided Chris and I with MANY encouraging and inspiring conversations!

4. Ya. This is an epic fail. But hey, no judging right? This is a safe place....? :) Chris and I do still have our focus on working with the homeless and have recently had conversations to further our opportunity. So stay tuned! There WILL be progress! As our family and friends, be sure to keep us accountable (Proverbs 27:17)!

5. While, due to our schedules, we have not been nearly as involved as we had hoped in our Youth Group and Nursery, we have been sure to give time where we can! We have really enjoyed getting to know the teens and spending time with God's family! What a fulfilling feeling when you're with those who are facing the world, hand and hand, with you striving towards our paradise with the Father!

Now, I do have to mention our boys. Around the time I finished Radical, we sponsored two, adorable, boys, Jerry and Jonah!

Receiving letters and pictures of them has been such a blessing! Having the ability to encourage and pray for our boys, even though we are across the world, is so exciting! Hopefully, we will be able to encourage and pray for one another face to face someday!

So, that is my radically late blog post about how I failed. But, as James 5:16 has told us, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another" (NKJV). There's my confession! The good news is I still have 5 1/2 months to get back on track! So, prayers and encouragement are appreciated and anyone who would like to join me on the journey, I love to have company!