Joy

Joy is a key part of the Christian's walk.  Multiple times in the Bible joy is talked about.  In Psalm 32:11it says, "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart."  Who are the righteous ones and the upright in heart?  Christians of course!  Psalm 33:1 says that we should sing for joy to the Lord!  Psalm 51:12 that salvation is a joy.  Over and over again in the Psalms this is repeated that we are to sing joyfully of the Lord and of how He has blessed us.  Proverbs 15:13 says "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken."  Joy is even on of the fruits of the spirit (Galations 5:22).  We are to share our joy with others (Phillipians 2:18).  And finally, in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 Paul writes, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit."  Joy isn't always easy, but as Christians we are called to be full of the joy of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming it throughout the world! 


Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

As if Life Could Get Better...

I am sitting here writing with celtic music floating in my ears, a mug of tea by my hand and a keyboard made for typing on.  It seems to my best inspiration for writing comes when I have these three things though sometimes I must be content with a notebook and pencil instead of the keyboard.  I love the beauty and liveliness woven into the celtic music which invigorates me and almost seems to inspire what I write.  A mug of tea warms me and gives me a cozy feeling.  And last but not least, I do need something to write with, and whether it be keyboard or pencil it will capture all of my wild and mismatched thoughts.  With spring break poured out in the week ahead, I think I will be doing a lot of this.  I don't know if life could get better... :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

An Adventure to Remember

Below is my narrative of a fun and risky adventure my brother and I took together that will always stand out to me as one of my most interesting and memorable experiences.

My family lives out in the country near a river and riparian forest.  My siblings and I like to go down there and explore.  One Saturday early last fall, my brother Daniel, who is two years my junior, and I went down to the woods.  We were looking for a particularly large sycamore tree we had spotted the last time we’d been exploring.  We found it quickly enough.  Climbing the tree to a very low point where it branched out into two hefty limbs we sat there for a while admiring the tree’s size and commenting on its loft heights. 

After talking so much about how scary it would be to climb any higher I was frankly shocked when Daniel announced to me that he was going to climb even higher.  The branch he proposed to climb up to was not too terribly high but to  make the ascent would be quite tricky as there were only knobs to grasp onto or to stand on.  However, there was no dissuading him.  He made it up there safely enough, though the concentration in his face as he climbed frightened me.

Of course, once he was that far he couldn’t just stop.  He proposed to go even higher.  Observing the new branch he wanted to conquer I saw the ascent looked even more difficult than the last.  Up he went though.  Well I couldn’t just sit down at the bottom, now that my younger brother had mastered the sycamore bough.  Yes I did.  I climbed up to the first branch.  Locking my eyes on the goal, I did not look to the right or to the left as I scaled the limb.  Then I had to sit and watch as my brother scaled the tree to what seemed an impossible height.  He talked enough about how dangerous it was that it was a wonder I decided to follow him a few minutes after he reached the deathly height.  He told me not to; he in fact went so far as to tell me that I would probably fall and die if I tried.  Nevertheless, I did it.  It was dangerous.  Reaching what I liked to call “the top” I looked down.  Now I am not normally afraid of heights, especially if I know I am in a secure place, and when I was younger I used to climb trees that were fairly high.  However, when I looked down from “the top” I realized I had just blown all of my childhood memories to bits.  I wasn’t in the most secure spot and I must have been about forty feet up.  We sat there for a while, trying not to look down.  Every once and awhile, though, we would chance a look down and feel a wave of excitement slide over us.

Eventually I asked Daniel, since he was in the most prominent position to go down first, if he was ready to go down.  He said he was.  A few minutes later I asked again.  He insisted he was ready.  Finally I asked him if he was afraid to go down.  He went down.  I followed close behind him.  It was much more difficult going down than coming up.  I couldn’t see my footholds at all. When Daniel and I had safely departed from the trees leafy heights we looked at each other like “That was the coolest experience ever!”  And it was.  

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Ask me... I dare you!

 In preparation for my Anatomy and Physiology lab test today I have been memorizing organs and muscles on dead rats (gross but actually rather cool), blood cells, and the heart.  This morning I was really excited when I was able to explain the whole blood flow through the heart to my sister, starting where the used blood came back into the heart through the superior and inferior vena cavas and then ending when the blood left the heart through the coronary arteries and through the three branches off of the aortic arch.  And yes, I just explained that without looking at a book.  I could have explained the whole blood flow through the heart  for y'all as I did for my sister but I figured it might be confusing.  However, if you feel so inclined, ask me... I dare you!

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Looney Tunes... In Spanish!!!

I am sure many of you have seen at leat one loony tunes, if not more.  They were goofy, ridiculous, but somehow still hilarious.  Even now, I can still watch them and laugh, still wondering why I do, but knowing deep down that it is because it appeals to my memories as a child and the fun I had watching them then.

For my Conversational Spanish class my classmates and I are taking turns bringing a video in Spanish in front of the class and then writing out questions in Spanish to ask the class about the video.  In preperation for this I have been desperately trying to find something that appeals to my style as my turn approaches. Then yesterday my mother gave the idea of a Looney Tunes in Spanish.  After just a little searching I found that there were quite a few of those on the internet.  I have now managed to waste the last thirty minutes watching Looney Tunes in Spanish, frantically trying to keep up with the rapid firing of Bugs Bunny's and Daffy Duck's Spanish and at the same time trying to get the humor.  It is a lot harder in Spanish but it helps that I have seen most of the ones I have been watching in Spanish in English.

I don't know yet if I'll be able to use the videos for my class because they are all a little over seven minutes in length, which might be too long.  However, I am glad I took the time to sit down and watch them.  It is a whole new experience laughing at something funny in Spanish but a great one.  Even if I don't use them for my class, I think I will go back to them again in the future not only to test my Spanish but also to enjoy the fun memories of my childhood in a different language.  I'll definitely be kept on my toes! :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

As my lazy Sunday afternoon draws to a close, I sit down to reflect on it.  First off, my kind of Sunday afternoon is one where I can be lazy.  It involves lying down with a book, playing a game with the family, watching a movie with the family, and above all drinking a cup of hot tea or coffee.  As spring and summer make their presence known, I suppose I will have to change that to a tall glass of iced tea or coffee, but I digress.  Sunday is that day of the week were we can just pause.  For my family we begin it by going to church in the morning and then finish it by coming home, eating lunch and then relaxing.  Sandwiched in between a previous week of busyness and a coming week of busyness, Sunday stands alone.  It isn't a "me" time though, it is a God time.  While it may seem like we restrict our God time to church in the morning, my family does carry that into the rest of the day as we spend time together as a family.
Treasure those Sundays of worship and rest.  Treasure those Sundays of family time.  You are blessed to have them.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

My Family

A picture of my siblings and I from a couple years ago.

There is nothing sadder to me than to meet someone who doesn't/didn't have a great family.  All of my life I have grown up with eight other people who to me make up the best family ever.  We do have our ups and downs but mostly the ups, and oh what ups we have.  Our inside jokes can put us in stitches and family every minute of time spent together is used quoting lines from all of our favorite movies and books.  We enjoy doing so much together from talking about theology and controversial subjects to playing basketball  and touch football. I couldn't talk enough about how much I love my family and how much fun we have.  However, I think Thomas Jefferson got the closest when he said, "The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family."

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

One Worn Girl

My favorite phrase this last semester has been "I'm tired of being tired."  These last two weeks have found me using that phrase a lot more as I prepared for my most difficult Anatomy and Physiology test.  Another favorite phrase was "I'm nervous about the nervous system."  Yesterday I finally got that test over and I am even pretty sure that I did well on it.  After days of studying, that relieves me.  Now though, in the aftermath of the test, I find myself more tired then I have ever been.  I just want to lie down and sleep for a week.  I want never to look at another text book or stare at another image of the eyeball.  However, there is always another test and always will be.  Even when I am graduated from high school and college there will still be tests in my life.  Of course these tests will not be of the same kind but will be tests of my perseverance and faith, tests that could probably have more devastating consequences if I fail them then my present school tests.  So no matter how worn I am, I must keep going.  If I can't finish the race and get past one test, then I am going to have a hard time in my later life passing life's tests.  Therefore, I must, "...press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever

Americans are so full of themselves nowadays that the concept of glorifying or enjoying anyone besides themselves would sound ludicrous to them.  However, as Christians, it should be our life's goal to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.  1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  So not just in a few things should we be glorifying and enjoying God but in everything.  We are to do ALL to the glory of God.  It is hard for us (including me) to see that in a world of ME but it is something we must learn to see.  There is NO reason we should be proud and arrogant, full of ourselves.  We should be humbled by the overwhelming knowledge that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) and that nothing we do can ever set us higher in God's eyes for by faith we are saved, not through our works (James 2). 
I remember the line from Stuart Towends's song, "How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only Son, to make a wretch a treasure."

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Tea Time

This evening my little sister and I decided to have a tea party!!!  It was our first in a long while but tons of fun so hopefully we can do it again soon. :)  We had lots of delicious food, great laughs and the wonderful Gaelic Storm as our background music.

Our menu

• Tea
• Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread
• Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
• Clementines
• Strawberries
• Cheese Slices

Our table laid out for tea time.

My sister and I.  We decided to dress up for this occasion.  I wore my Kimono and she wore a formal.

Pouring the tea.

Betsy drinking her tea.

Drinking my tea.

Betsy and I.

Me and my fan.

"Princess" Betsy. :)

As you can see we had a lot of fun. How can you not when you have a cup of tea? :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Dominion- Family Game

For Christmas this year my siblings and I got the game Dominion from our parents.  We had heard a lot about it and were really excited to get this new game.  We started out playing it and thought, "This is pretty fun."  Then one day my Dad asked to play.  Nothing could have surprised us more because the kind of games our Dad normally plays are word games (ones that he can pulverize us at).  Well naturally we were let him play, wondering what he would think of it.  Fast forward to the present and Dominion has become THE family game.  Every evening, or just about, most of my family will sit down to play Dominion, which has now grown due to my Dad loving it so much that he had to get two of the extensions (we are working on getting a third extension).  While on the surface Dominion seems like just a normal card game of luck and chance it really isn't.  Strategy is key (which is why I only win a quarter of the time).  That is probably what caught my Dad when he first played.  What is also really great about it is that everyone in my family can play.  My youngest siblings is eight and he plays and sometimes wins.  While it may contain lots of strategy, it is also just a lot of fun.  Another plus is that it takes less than an hour, which is another reason it is a wonderful family game. 
If you have never heard of Dominion check it out on Amazon and see all of the rave reviews about it.  It has five stars for a good reason.  Who knows, it may become your family's favorite. :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.