Lisa's Blog

24 years of Marriage...and the secret is!

2010-05-31T20:36:00.010-04:00

Hey many people wonder how you do it for 24 years. Well my answer is God! The waitress at the restaurant tonight congratulated us on our 24 years of marriage and said her husband and her had been married since December. She said marriages these days just don't last. I thought about what she said and couldn't let her get away without knowing the secret. When she came back I told her our secret was God and if it had not been for Him we would have been divorced. That is the truth!

Within 2 years of our marriage we were separated. Yes, I would have been a single mom. However, we rededicated our lives to Christ and started living our lives for Christ. What a difference that made. Once we made that decision, God began to surround us with some godly couples and strong believers who were sold at for Christ. We also got planted in the local church, attending small groups, fellowshipping with other believers and serving every opportunity we could. We did not miss a church service or event.

We began to be open and honest with those close to us about our marital struggles and they held us accountable. Did we have to be vunerable? Yes, but we wanted to keep our family together. God put people in our lives who we could be transparent with and it made the difference. We allowed God to lead us on who to share with of course. Honestly, I didn't care what my husband told people about my issues, I just wanted help for our marriage. If it would help our marriage so be it! We learned what God wanted for our marriage. We began to grow in our relationships with God. Did we have struggles and still have days we wanted to quit...of course!

I found people who specifically prayed for my marriage. I even had one friend that I got together with regularly and we prayed specifically for our husbands and kids. Our children would play while we were on our faces before the Lord. I see the fruit of the prayers that we prayed today.

One of the big things for me was choosing to love my husband as he was. I learned to see him the way that Christ sees him. I had tried for years to change him. It did not work, so I began to just ask God to change me. It is amazing as he began to change me the things I wanted God to change about him did not seem so big. God began to do a work in me. I learned to pray for my husband not that he would change, but that God would make him the man that he wanted him to be. I had been praying very selfishly before. I wanted God to change him into the man that I wanted him to be so that all my needs would be met. My husband could not meet all my needs, only Christ could. He couldn't make me happy only Christ could give me joy. I had to come to a place where I knew who I was in Christ Jesus. Once I began to find satisfaction in Christ I began to change and so did my marriage.

I began to see him differently and speak differently to him. I began to keep short accounts. I would not allow things to just fester in my head about him or things he had done. He isn't perfect and neither am I. I learned to forgive quickly. Harbouring unforgiveness is wrong. There is no reason for it. It causes so many other problems like bitterness and resentment. Christ has forgiven us we must learn to forgive others. I got over the I can't believe he said or did that to me syndrome. I learned to not be led by my emotions. My emotions had caused me too much pain.

I also learned to say I was sorry. I learned to take responsibility for my part. No matter how wrong I felt my husband was I learned that God would take care of him. I was responsible for me. Oh how freeing that became! At one time I thought that by saying I was sorry, I was admitting that he was right and he was wrong. I felt like he had won. I learned that it wasn't about being right or winning. It was about loving my husband the way that the Lord wanted me to. God showed me that it was about obeying Him. Pride keeps us in a position that we have to be right. Christ even humbled himself.

Another thing I learned to do was to not react to things my husband said. I learned to respond. There is a difference! For years I reacted and it turned into huge argument. A reaction is fast and through the filter of the flesh, a response allows time for the Holy Spirit to speak to you. It is filtered through love.

Prayer played a big part in our marriage! I have prayed a lot for my husband. There are times when I didn't even respond to certain situations I just PRAYED! I have a strong personality so sometimes the best solution for me was to talk to God. Some of those times I would not specifically pray for my husband but I would begin to pray for myself and just worship God. Thanking Him for what he was doing in my life. Asking him to change me. It was amazing to me how my heart and the atmosphere would just change.

Sometimes in the morning, I would pray out loud in the shower for my day, my marriage and my children. I began to recognize when our marriage was under attack. I was determined that I would not allow him to use me to destroy our marriage. I began to see that the accuser was against us and that God was for our marriage. He wanted to destroy our marriage so that God's plans would be thwarted. He is a liar! We are still standing firm and our marriage is growing stronger each day.

You know I believe that marriage is one of the ways that Christ helps us to love like him. We learn to love selflessly in marriage, we learn about forgiveness, grace and we learn to put someone elses needs above our own. We learn to obey the voice of God!

I felt like sharing this with my friends on our special day! I pray this helps someone.

2010 is here

2010-02-07T19:56:00.003-05:00

Yes, it has been an incredible year already for me. God has been moving already! Some may say my year didn't get off to the best of starts, since my mom died on January 3rd. I would have to say that I will miss her tremendously but to know she is in the presence of the Lord makes my heart leap for joy!

For many years mom has been in an incredible amount of pain. I have watched her not be able to sleep and basically go from being independant to dependant. Very difficult to watch. There were many rough days as she struggled with her pain and dependancy upon others. God did an incredible work in both of us over the past 2 years. I wouldn't change a thing about it if I had to redo it. The Lord ordered our steps!

I am very thankful for all of my friends who stood by me during this difficult season in my life. God has placed some wonderful people in my life. I am grateful for them all. The love that was expressed to myself and my mom was overwhelming! Thank God for the body of Christ.

Children Model What They See!

2009-03-09T11:47:00.001-04:00

Was this a powerful lesson the Lord showed me this week!!!! Yes, I did know that children model what they see, for all you who are thinking...wow, she didn't know that? Here's the story...

I have been an horrible example to my kids with filling the gas tank. I am one of those girls who ride on the "shining light". When I do stop I never have time to fill up either. I will put 2 dollars in the tank and keep rolling! There have been times when 2 bucks was all I had though, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

Anyways, we have on occasion left the house and I have told Nathan and Isaiah that they need to pray we make it to the gas station. I have done it when their friends were in the car too! My kids have comforted their friends and told them we never run out and that I do it all the time! So sad! Has taught them how to minister to those who are fearful though! Some of them have told me that their moms, do the same and others have super moms who keep the tanks full! You go girls!!!!

Well, Tuesday night my phone rings, I was not in the room so Willie answered because he saw it was Isaiah who has recently started driving. I hear a desperate (not happy) call for my name. Willie says, "that was YOUR son he ran out of gas." Can I say the Marine was not happy!

I called Isaiah back got more details. I had given him cash earlier to get gas too so I was really confused, then worried that he was stranded. You know I gave him all the dos and don'ts....lock the doors, stay in the car, do not get out until we get there...and don't roll down the window for anyone and keep the hazards on. My goodness he was on 9A!

I pretty much stayed on the phone with him until the upset Marine got there(gave him a pep talk before he left). Isaiah was telling me how he thought he could make it, but then...the car just stopped. Oh boy, I knew I had modeled a very unhealthy behavior. Wow, what a lesson for me!

The Lord really dealt with me about it. My son has seen me do this for YEARS! He was attempting to make it like I have always done...with the money in his pocket. I realized I had not been a good example in this area. I did feel bad...because I thought about it and realized I had modeled a behavior that actually could have put him in danger. Thanks that could is our Protector.

The next day, I apologized to Isaiah for setting such a bad example. Parents, our children are watching us and will do what they see us do. We need to examine what we do, what we say and realize they will practice what you do....not what you preach.

Let's model...a life of godliness. Let's be the examples of Christ they need in their lives. May they see a parent that not only loves God but has a life dedicated to following Him! Please do not live a sloppy life as a believer before them. Let them see a life of godliness and watch them model that!

I gotta get that gas thing under control! love ya all!!!!
written as Facebook note on Saturday, March 7th.

Are You Serious?

2009-03-09T11:44:00.003-04:00

Hey, this is a crazy story! Friday morning Willie gave Isaiah a huge check so he could pick up his class room...he had whined about it all week! The check was written. We could not wait to see our investment that evening!

About 1 o'clock my phone rang. It was a hang up from Isaiah...then rang again..hang up. I called back ...could hear talking. First thought something bad going down at school. Then hang up....Finally, Isaiah calls back screaming in the phone....ARE YOU SERIOUS...ARE YOU KIDDING ME...ARE YOU SERIOUS...MY CLASS RING JUST WENT DOWN THE DRAIN....Needless to say I am in shock...thinking at first it is a joke...then...how do I tell Willie....We had just had a discussion in my office that we were going to have to cut back on entertainment because we forgot about the ring balance. Isaiah is still screaming...CALL HERFF JONES, CALL THE SCHOOL...CALL SOMEBODY!

I hang up the phone knowing I must tell Willie...yikes..he is gonna flip!!! The kid has only had the ring 4 hours and it is gone. So I dial Willie, "Willie don't get upset...please don't lose it because Isaiah is already upset enough...the class ring just went down the drain. He says, what was it doing off his finger..." I don't know Willie but he is very upset." His response in the strangest voice,"Okay....bye." We hang up the phone.

I call the school and of course there is nothing they can do...but put in a request on a Friday to the Duval County Public school who probably can't come out until next week.

Okay now my stomach is getting sick...I figure the best thing to do is go get Isaiah because I know he is not focusing and won't accomplish a thing. I call a few friends ask them to pray. I call Willie and tell him I am going to the school. I get there and Isaiah is in an assembly...when he finds out I am there he just walks out...exactly why I went to get him because he was going to get himself in trouble because he was upset.

I told him that he just needed to get in the car and cry! I knew he hadn't cried at school, he's 16 and it would have ruined his reputation of course. Yes, crying always makes you feel better even if you are a guy. I will not mention what happened in the car...but after about 20 minutes I think he felt better.

At the school I realized how insensitive adults can be....I mean every official there made him feel like crap...it was actually ridiculous. They were getting him even more upset. Yes, we were not happy about our money literally down the drain...but it was an accident.

To me as a mom it was one of those...bitter sweet moments...I could have been very upset and thought of the money only or chose to focus on my son's emotional state. My son's emotional state meant a lot more to me than anything at the point. He was DEVASTATED!

We talked through it, dad remained calmed and we found out that he had a one time replacement deal. He would have a class ring again!

That evening dad decided that Saturday morning he was going to the man hole with a friend and get the ring....Isaiah was a little nervous since it was on school property and did not want his dad arrested. Willie assured him it was okay. They attempted to get it with a net...but risking pushing it down the drain if it was still in there...Finally the Marine dad went for it dived in the man hole and pulled out handfuls of" who knows what" until the ring was retrieved!

His son was a very happy camper. Many people were praying too! It was an awesome day, not only did Isaiah get his ring back...but Dad bought him a car that day too!!! What a wonderful Father and husband!

And that is my ring story.......
written on Facebook note Friday, February 13, 2009

It's almost 2009!

2008-12-31T11:36:00.006-05:00

Hey,

I guess I am just not an official blogger! I try....but I am just not good at doing it regularly. I figured I would shout out quickly before 2009. What can I say? Well, God has been amazingly good to the Johnson's in 2008! More than anyone could ever know...I have seen Him heal and bring restoration in our lives.

Yes, it was a trying summer for me...God gave me everything I needed to make it through one of the toughest times in my life. No one can tell me that God can not give us the strength to go through every situation in life.

This year I learned that we must know the character of God. It is hard to trust someone we do not know. So often we tell people to trust God. Yes, it sounds easy but if we do not know Him he we can not trust Him. How do we get to know Him? Well that starts with spending time with Him....how do we spend time with Him? Open up our Bibles! As Pastor Stovall, has said for the past couple months...we have to be self-feeders. I have just discovered over this year that we tell people to trust God when they need provision and we wonder why they struggle......well hello they don't know him as Provider!!!

For 2 years I have been studying the Old Testament. It has really grounded me in knowing God! I have seen God's faithfulness and it has truly blessed my life. I encourage every person to get to know God better in 2009....spend some time getting to know Him. Tell God that you want to know Him better in 2009 and you will be amazed at how differently your life will be!

I promise you if I had not known God this summer...I would have easily gotten "derailed", as I heard a friend say recently. I walked in a place that if I had not known God was Faithful, Just, Trustworthy, Comforter, Forgiving and The One who brings Healing and Restoration I would have fainted. Scripture tells us not to be weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not! I remember one night just crying out to the Lord and He met with me and comforted me in the most amazing the way. I opened the Word to a scripture that was impressed upon me and I knew God had heard my cry! He spoke to me and my situation from that passage of scripture....everything in there was what I was going through. I could continue to walk in confidence knowing the Lord was with me and had my best interest at heart.

I want to just praise God for who He is! Thank you God that you are faithful, loving, gracious and true. Thank you for Your love, salvation, forgiveness and that You give us Hope! Thank you for every tough situation that you carried me through in 2008 and look forward to the blessings you have for me in 2009.

We survived Back to School Sunday!

2008-08-25T08:51:00.003-04:00

In case I have not told you...."I LOVE MY JOB". Willie and I are the Children's Pastors at our Church! I love it! We had our big Back to School Weekend! Our Pastor brought ALL the kids in this weekend and prayed over them! It was amazing time! We did fun stuff in kids...give aways, back to school photos, and and just had fun! Willie gave them a nugget about being a light in school. It was awesome! We have an amazing team that makes it happen each week!

I just wanted to share from my heart about kids! I might be biased but it is the best place to minister! The kids are so tender...and those that get it really LOVE Jesus...it is amazing! You should see them worship! You would really lose it....hands lifted high, eyes closed...it is truly unbelievable. I love the fact that they are learning to worship Him freely at such a young age!

I really would not trade what I do for anything...such a great harvest for God and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve Him in this capacity. I thank God for Pastors that have given us the opportunity. We do not take it for granted! There are some people that look at us funny when we say we work in Children's Ministry...especially when we look happy...but it is where we KNOW God has called us and we both love it!!!

We have the most amazing stories too!!! I might share some occasionally. The funniest part is they are like little adults...and very honest. I was told the other day by a boy that I must have been having a BAD hair day! You must know who you are in Christ or you would be crushed because the are HONEST. I just laughed and said, nope. I thought my hair was actually cute that day! Oh well!!!

Jesus said, Matthew 19:4 But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Proverbs also says, in 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

How can I not be excited about what I do? These precious ones are very important to the heart of God.....

Lazy Days!

2008-08-22T22:29:00.002-04:00

You would think that I would have gotten something accomplished due to Tropical Storm Fay, but not a think...just a cramp in my neck from resting to much! I did absolutely nothing. I guess you can say it was a bit of rebellion....but who do I hurt myself. I did not one chore...and I could have done a few! I guess I have no reason to complain next week when I am behind. What pathetic beings we can be at times! Isaiah is always telling me to relax and I did just that...I had a hard time at first... a bit grumpy because I needed to get some things done at work and the office was closed....Finally realized God was in control..."imagine that??" Hey, I definitely believe that God was in this storm, I love it when he amazes, those meterologists, with all their snazzy little tracks. Then the stall that totally perplexed them..."hello?????" He is God!!!! Florida obviously needed rain...rain does prepare the ground for seed....is our land not dry and thirsty? Naturally, spiritually???? We have had some issues in Florida...so perhaps it was a cleansing rain??? Just some thoughts....

I love God....we must get to know Him! We must know the Character of God then we will learn how to respond in every situation. There are seasons in our lives we go through circumstances that force us to know His Character. I recently had a season where I have had to know Him as the God who Heals...not just physically. God heals us when we are hurt by others. Also a God or Refuge. Oh my did I learn that He was my safe place. I think about the Cities of Refuge in the Old Testament that men could run to to be safe when they were in trouble. Over the past few months I have had to run to God my place of Refuge. It was there that I found safety. It was not in my husband, kids or friends no matter how much they tried to comfort me it was in the Shadow of the Almighty. He is my place of Refuge. Thank you God for teaching me that you are my city of Refuge!!!!

Haven't been here so long!!!

2008-08-21T19:13:00.002-04:00

Well it has been some time since I blogged!!!! I am doing EXCELLENT. It has been 1 year since we started in full-time ministry as the Children's Pastor and it is awesome. God has done such incredible things in our lives. There is nothing better than living for Him!!! Taste and see that he is good!!!! Oh my gosh!!!! Well, we are loving being the Children's Pastors. I love those kids. There are hearts are so pure. You should see them worship...with hands lifted high....it brings me to tears each week!!! I am so thankful that God has entrusted us with those kids and I would not trade it for anything. We love it!!! I could go on and on....they are absolutely adorable. No matter what kind a day I have had when I step into that Kids room, the warm hugs and smiles changes everything!

The boys are fine, Nathan moved into an apartment this year! It's a new season. Hey parents I am loving this season. I have learned to trust God in a whole new way with Nate! He is so independent. I don't even worry about him, I pray for Him, but have completely given Him to the care of Jesus. Oh how precious that I have a Savior I can trust with him...I actually sleep really well at night!

Isaiah, is good. He is the new DJ at church. It is so him...he thinks he is so cool! you know? God did some big stuff with him this summer....helped him through some personal tough times, friend, decisions, peer pressure, teenage stuff you know! It was very transforming for him. It was a time of listening and redirecting for us as parents. We all grew through it!!! Praise God.

You know as a parent, I just want to encourage my friends that parenting is not easy but when you remember that the kids ultimately belong to God it changes everything. We must learn to release our children to God. He loves them and has their best interest at heart!!! Even you would just believe that you will have so much peace. I am so much better now that I have embraced that concept. God is a safe place for our kids, and prayer is our weapon of warfare.

Well, that is it in a nutshell...I will share more about what God has done in me....later...hopefully it won't take a year!! love ya

I'm back!!!

2007-10-06T21:01:00.000-04:00

Hey, thanks to Ms. Fritiz, I am back to blogging. I have been silent for a while. I have been busy! Willie and I have started out new jobs at Celebration Church of Jacksonville. We love it! Our offices are right next door to each other, that is diffent! Anyways, Willie is the kids Pastor. I work alongside him with. I am the Growth Track Director. I work with Spiritual Formation of our congregation. I am the teaching assistant for our Leadership College this semester. It has been fun teach the class so far. We are basically covering the Foundation of our faith, living principles, etc. It has been a blast for me, hopefully the students feel the same.

What have I done fun lately, well, I went to night of Joy in Orlando and danced in the streets of Disney singing, Mary Mary's Shackles and Chris Tomlin's Healed! What a night, I went with my friends, Rhonda, Hope and Marcia. We got to bed at 3:00am. It was so much fun.

How have I embarassed myself lately....oh showed up to a wedding 2 hours late, and didn't even know it until I had been there about 10 minutes. It was hilarious after I got past the moment of shock! As my friend Arlene would say to me, "you dork!"

The boys are good....Isaiah is doing Youthquake Live again! Nathan is still in school, he is tutoring this semester! Doing good!

love and hugs,
lisaa

Enjoying time off!!!

2007-08-02T17:23:00.000-04:00

You would think that if I had been off since the 25th that I would have blogged by now...but I have been way to busy cleaning my house. I did the final touches today, after we shipped Isaiah off to Peru!!! My baby is gone and guess what I am fine!!! I am so excited to see how God will use him. I have asked him to journal, since he can write and is very creative, we'll see. He says he will but will probably forget.

Nathan is still home, he is lonely though Scarlette is gone for 3 weeks and he is kitten sitting their kitten. I am not that fond of kittens. Now that Isaiah is gone during the day the kitten will probably not have as much freedom as he did when Isaiah was home, when Nathan is at work. His name is Flash, go figure!

Willie and I are counting the days until we are official Celebration Staffers. Their is nothing like serving Jesus. We start on the 15th of August! Did I say that we are excited??

Well will chat later!

love and hugs,
Lisa

Almost a month!

2007-07-15T15:53:00.000-04:00

What's up? It has been almost a month since I posted. Boy, have I been busy. Since the last time I was here, we had a family reunion. Boy, did God do incredible stuff. We had such a great time. My oldest sister and I did all the planning what a job! Neither one of us are ready to tackle that again any time soon! The fruit of our work was great though. Everyone had a great time. I even got to sing! I threatened the DJ and he gave me the mic.....I have been asked by all close and distant family members NEVER to sing again! I had a blast and to God I give all the glory!!!

Well, in about 2 weeks Isaiah is off to Peru for a mission trip with the Church. God has really provided almost all the the funding to go... thanks so much to many of you. We know that God is going to do something so incredible with Isaiah while he is there. He is excited and so are we....pray for that his passport will come soon.

Nathan has about a month month and he will be off to school once again. I am not so sure how he and Scarlette are going to do with their time apart. They spend every moment they are not at work or sleeping together. Oh to be in Love!

Willie is good. We are just super excited about starting at Celebration in August. Since we said yes to God...so many trials have come to our lives but we are trusting God. And we know we have victory in Him! No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We know that God is going to continue to use us mightily. We are pumped for Jesus!!!

Big NEWS!!!!

2007-06-22T23:18:00.001-04:00

Well, here it is...Willie and I are going into full-time Ministry on August 15th! We are super excited and praising God! Many of you have prayed for us forever, and saw this coming way before we did! We are so grateful for the prayers and encouragement. Many of you have just blessed our lives tremendously. We are eternally grateful for your love, support and prayers and covet more as we begin to do move into full-time ministry. Willie and I are going to be the Children's Pastors at our church. For all the Washington people, please let our Emmanuel children know, I think my fourth grade Sunday school girls will love it! We can't wait to see what God is going to do with our lives. Willie and I have both informed our current employers and though they hate to see us go...have encouraged us. God is so good and we love serving Him!!!!

I'm Back!!!

2007-06-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Whoa, what have I been up to that I have not been bloggin'. I have been so busy at work!!!!Oh my! Anyways I am back. I will have some really exciting news to announce soon.....so stay tuned. Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote....the biggest being Willie and I celebrated out 21st anniverary on May 31st. I am so blessed to have Willie as the Priest of my home! It is all good! We, just like many of the other married peeps out there have had our struggles, but God has sustained our marriage and I am so grateful! It is so funny, because many of you know Will and I are not like "flashy" we got fun presents this year. One of my presents was a Nintendo DS. It was hilarious!! We are so addicted...I thought it was mine but Willie has kind of taken over! When we were first married and got our first place in housing, our neighbors had a Ninetendo. We spent hours with them playing their Ninetendo until we could afford our own. Well guess what Super Mario Brother are back. Nathan and Isaiah get a real kick out of me playing Super Mario.

Okay, I am up to some more spiritual stuff, one being I will be leading a small womens group this summer. We will be doing Priscilla Shirer's study, "Discerning the Voice of God." Boy do we need to be able to recognize the voice of God in our lives. His sheep know His Voice! I am really excited!

Mama is good, she is so excited she got a cell phone from my sister for Mother's Day! She is so cute, she's 83 so she gets real confused...she asks me on a regular basis if it is on or off. The boys are good. Nathan and Scarlette celebrated their 4 month anniversay yesterday. Isaiah is starting at Shands as a Volunteer on Tuesday. He will be a transporter. I am sure he will have some stories...I told him no raising seniors in wheelchairs.

Well, I will be back soon with BIG NEWS!!! No I am not pregnant...

love and hugs, lisa

I Love Veteran's

2007-05-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who serve our country so faithfully. It was not long ago that my husband was active duty in the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. I am also very grateful to the men and women who serve our country. A shout out to all the spouses of veterans. I am so delighted that God allowed me to stand beside my hubby for all the years he was in the Corp. There were definitely some tough days, but I am so grateful for what I learned. I love military wives, we are specifically chosen for the job. It is not an easy on, especially being a wife of a Marine :-)! I think God used my live as a Marine wife to help shape me to be the woman of God I am. There is just a strength in a military wife that I do not always see in other women. No offense to the general female population. I am so thankful for the opportunity God has given me to be the wife of a Marine. I love you all! Again Happy Veteran's Day and don't forget to pray for all those who currently serve you and I.

Erkel, no it is Theodore!

2007-05-24T19:31:00.000-04:00

It is Isaiah aka Theodore! Isaiah has a character that he made up for Youthquake Live and his name is Theodore. The kid is a super duper smart kid. The character is hilarious. I could not believe it the first time I saw my son in character. I am not kidding gut busting funny! Youthquake Live is a ministry for teens, by teens. They minister to hundreds of kids and literally see many many many teens get saved! Serving in Youthquake has been a blessing for my kids and a blessing to the hundreds of kids who come to the show. Support Youthquake Live! www.youthquakelive.com

Life Without A Refrigerator???

2007-05-24T19:13:00.000-04:00

Strange topic, huh? But that has been our life. It is bad! Our refrigerator that we bought almost 2 years ago brand new...was a lemon from the start! It has been repair once for freezing everything. It worked okay for a while and then went back to freezing stuff again. Ever tried to scramble a frozen egg? Anyways so we called our warranty company...they said it was the COMPRESSOR, whatever that is...Willie acted like it was big so...it must be. They said the manufacturor has to fix it because it is under their warranty. So we called them they sent out their technician who verified it needed a COMPRESSOR! Then they said they had to order parts so they would fix the compressor but their warranty doesn't cover the ?damper? or the other stuff wrong. Therefore we need to call the other technician back. Willie called them and they won't fix it until the compressor is fixed. Are you still with me???? WE STILL DON'T HAVE A REFRIGERATOR! Anyways, so you can imagine what it is like around here...daily trips to the store. Thank God for Nathan being home with a college refrigerator and mom having a small fridge in her room! Be thankful in all things. Thank you Lord! Thought I would share.

Schools almost out....1 more day and the summer fun begins for Isaiah!

Family updates!

2007-05-21T21:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess the 2 hottest topics in our family are....Isaiah has a mohawk and Nathan is dating! I am sure none of my old friends are shocked about Isaiah's new do...he is known for that. It has just been a while since he has had crazy hair...but it's back...check out the pictures. I know the fact that Nathan is dating is indeed a shock...yes he has a girlfriend(Scarlette). Nathan is home from his first year of college. It was a very good year....he did excellent! His father is not going to take him to the recruiter.(ha, ha) He is back at work at church doing the lights. Isaiah is going to be out for the summer on Friday. He has a big summer ahead of him. He is going to be volunteering at one of the local hospitals 16 hours a week, working with Nate's girlfriends' mom doing Clown stuff, and going to Peru the first week of August.

Willie and I are doing good! Nothing too exciting for us at the present moment, but it is coming we are sure! Willie and I are still serving at our church. We love our church and serving God! We know that God has BIG plans for our lives there and we are soooo excited!

Family Fun

2007-05-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah,

Me, Willie and Isaiah recently went to Destin Florida. I had to go for a work. I was chosen to do a Leadership Institute! Great opportunity... I decided to take the family along, because it is so beautiful there and I wanted them to enjoy the experience. We had so much fun. While I was in class Willie and Isaiah did adventures all day. They spent time at some Airplane museum and hanging out on the beach. I joined the fun nightly after work. The had a great time. The picture is of us hanging out on the beach on Saturday. We nearly spent the whole day there and Willie doesn't even like the beach! It was great! I could live on the beach. Isaiah and I love it and I think Willie is starting to too. Where was Nathan, he packing at College to come home for the summer. I will fill you in on him later.

love and hugs,

lisa

p.s. you must admit I am off to a great start

My first blog post

2007-05-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

I am gonna try this thing. I have been checking out blogspots and it is a really good thing. Being that the Johnson's have been a military family and it is hard to keep in touch with everyone, I figured I would try this. We can keep you all up-to date on the Johnson's. I probably have a lot to catch you up on....so I will write as I remember things that I did not tell you all and keep you up on currents. As you all know I have lots of stories and I will use this to tell you all lots of good ones with lessons I learned. If I get lazy and don't write let me know.

love and hugs,
lisa