That's the Way I was Born and Raised... Country!

      I'd pulled on long socks and tennis shoes and I was ready to go for our evening walk.  I was just about to go downstairs to round up my fellow walkers when my little brother came in and started talking about some basketball game he had just beaten my other younger (but older than him) brother at.  Somehow we trickled outside, though I don't quite remember how.  We started talking about starting up a game of basketball, or baseball, or perhaps some touch football.  Then it happened... my brother insulted me (and either this insult was unrepeatable or I forgot it... or both).  Well of course I couldn't stand for that.  He had already made it so terribly easy by beginning to flee my presence and I didn't even have to scare him into running from me.  So off we ran, both laughing a little to hard for it to be anywhere near serious.  The chase took a surprise turn when my brother dashed into the newly planted field that runs around our yard.  "Stop" is not in my vocabulary nor is "let the little brother win", so I kept right on, trying carefully not to step up on the little shoots of corn.  Of course I persevered and caught him in the end... after we had traversed half the width of the cornfield.  We plopped into the cornfield, gasping for breath.  We were just getting up and I was collaring my miscreant brother when my other younger brother (the one who was beaten at basketball) ran up.  Then I don't quite know how this happened either but we decided (we?) to keep on walking until we reached the country road that was on the other side of the field.  By then the sky had darkened considerably and the moon with the stars were affording us light.  By the time we had reached the "road", we were all far too hyper.  We skipped along it, taking off running every few minutes just for the fun of it.  When we reached the pond, which lay to the "road's" left, we tumbled down its banks on to the "beach".  My older younger brother and I managed to push my even younger brother into the actually wet muddy part of the "beach" but our conscience was being picky about letting us actually push him into the pond.  When we had tired ourselves of the pond we clambered back up to the road and continued on towards the actual highway.  Then our fun went to a higher level. As we neared the highway we threw up our arms and waved to every vehicle passing by, sometimes shouting something like "halloo".  Then the "road" took a turn so we were walking parallel to the highway.  We continued on with our waving and hallooing, laughing our heads off in-between. About then we heard our parents calling for us (I'd left my cellphone back at the house and we hadn't told anyone where we were going).  We figured they might be worried so decided it was time to head back.  My older younger brother promised a million dollars to whoever got home first, which neither my other brother or I took seriously, knowing exactly who would get that million dollars.  However, we took off running that final stretch: off the "road and onto our driveway and down our driveway.  When we finally got home we were sweaty and out of breath.  Our mouths were sore from laughing and we were ready to take a shower and drop into bed.  As I lay in my bed that night, I thought what a crazy experience that really was.  There we had been, in the dark, just running around and laughing out in the middle of a field, on the country road, and on the "beach" of a pond.  What can I say?  I'm a Kansan; I'm a country girl, and when I have a couple of my favorite brothers with me, well that was the logical course of action. :)

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

Family and Music

     My family bonds in many ways, one of the most obvious being that we are, well... family.  However, one of the most fun ways we bond is through our love of music.  My siblings and I were brought up by my parents listening to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and many other great composers of the Baroque/ Classical/Romantic time period.  We also enjoyed some Louie Armstrong, Prairie Rose Wranglers (cowboy music), and of course musicals.  As my siblings and I have grown older we have branched out more and learned to enjoy bluegrass, some country (mostly my older sister), folk, Celtic music (Gaelic Storm and Celtic Woman!!!!), and I personally enjoy Patsy Kline.  Most of the time there is music running in the house, either in our family CD player or on a computer.  We all, for the most part, enjoy listening to whatever is playing, and sometimes my older siblings (with far better voices than I) will start singing along.  However, one can see my family's love for music reaches its peak when my older brother and sister sing songs (sometimes duets) from Gilbert and Sullivan while they do dishes.  Nothing is more entertaining then watching and listening to them as they sing a fast exuberant song or a slow sad love song as the keep on with their washing and drying of dishes.  The sparkle in their eyes and the beams on their faces is enough to tell anyone of the enjoyment they are having.  

     Looking back over my life I am very grateful that my parents had us listening to great music as children and I hope to someday do the same for my children.  

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

Cruel Logic

 This is a great short video (about eight minutes) and I am not going to tell you what it is about but you will have to watch it yourself.  For teenagers and up, not for younger kids because of some violence.  It will make you think (oh no!). :)


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

In His Hands

I didn't really believe the tornado would come near us.  They never had yet.  Throughout the day, as I saw people talking about it on Facebook and my mother mentioning it, I just passed it off as another tornado that wouldn't affect me or anyone I knew.  They never had yet. Evening came and we all watched a movie, mom saying we had to watch something not too long because of the storm coming.  I thought she was being paranoid.  It was my firm opinion that she had reached the peak of paranoidness (if that is even a word, which I doubt) when she insisted my little sister and I sleep in the basement.  The floor was hard and uncomfortable, and I didn't have a sleeping bag.  I thought the whole thing was absurd.  I didn't start to realize the gravity of the situation until my Dad (who was at work) called to tell us to stay in the basement and get undercover because it was a big one.  Even then though, I didn't quite get it.  While my mom and brothers fixed up our under-the-stairs-closet I watched the news on TV.  As it roared through Wichita, I realized that even if the tornado didn't hit my family and I, it could very well hit someone else I knew.  My worry grew as the weatherman begin listing off times it was going to hit various places- Andover, Benton, Augusta, Towanda... El Dorado.  I stood staring at the TV as the news flashed by, following the tornado as best I could.  My mom called for us to get in the closet and with my siblings I huddled in the small space.  Then my dad called again.  He said he had been looking at its path and there was no way it was going to miss us.  I was scared... we were scared.  We had the light on in the closet and the door closed.  Even downstairs and with that door closed, we could hear the wind ripping through the trees outside.  Then the electricity went out.  Without lights, without our precious technology, I suddenly felt very vulnerable.  We started singing hymns, it was incredible to me that I remembered their words.  Even as we heard the blowing stronger than ever and wondered desperately what was going on outside we kept singing.  It seemed like an hour, but it was really only about twenty minutes when my dad called my mom's cellphone.  The tornado had turned, we were going to be okay.  We poured out of the closet, letting relief pour out as well.  A few minutes later friends of ours called us to make sure we were okay.  It was wonderful to know someone cared that much about us, and wonderful to say yes.  My brother made a call to friends of ours in Wichita to make sure that they were okay.  Through them he found out that others in that area were okay.  There were others that weren't though, and even though we didn't know them, I prayed for them because I knew that I could easily have been in the same situation.  It wasn't until late when we got asleep.  The electricity was back on and we were all back in our own beds.  It was then I just wanted to bow my head, cry, and pray.  As I had sat in that closet, not knowing if I was going to live or die, not knowing if the tornado was going to carry the house and rip up the yard,  realized then that I was in God's hands and that though we humans may try to find protection in all of our technology we can't.  When it comes down to it, we are in His hands.
Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Obituary for a Dog

Molly Gibson Johnson, pure bred German Shepherd dog, died April 5th 2012 during the night.  She was the beloved pet of the Johnson 9.  Molly was known for her exuberant spirit.  No visitor every got away without being licked or jumped on by her.  She may have just been a dog, but she was a wonderful dog.

Daniel and Molly

Molly on the red swing.  Daniel actually took this picture to the county fair where it got Grand Champion and Best Portrait.

Molly and Jason

Molly

Molly during this last summer.

Molly during this last summer.

Molly in the fall.

Jason and Betsy with Molly.

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

Favorite Smells of Spring

Nothing beats the smells of freshly mown grass, the coming rain, or of lilacs.  With spring saturated into all of nature, some of my favorite smells are in the air.  Every morning when I walk to the van to go to school/work I can smell the freshly mown grass and as I walk to and from class I can smell it then too.  It is wonderfully invigorating especially as I walk between classes and toward the promise of a long lecture.  Even from across the yard I can smell lilacs in the wind and as I take an evening walk there is sometimes that faint hint of rain in the air.  I love these spring smells but unfortunately they will be leaving soon as summer decides to beat down its sunny wrath upon us.  Until then though, I'll enjoy the spring weather God has graced upon us.

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

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.