Faithfulness

One of Philip's sunflowers

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass.The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 

Isaiah 40:6-8

Comings and Goings

A quiet blog seems to mean one of two things, there is not much going on, or the schedule is FULL.  2015 has been a year filled with good hard work, family activities, music, friends, and events, as well as flexibility to jump into opportunities the Lord brings.  Here are a few snapshots…   

We attended a wonderful family conference focused on gratitude.

 

Working on her winking abilities;)

 

For his 16th birthday, Davis requested an outside party with a big game of soccer and relay races.

 

…Oh yes, and the traditional birthday attire with coordinating pipe cleaner “16 glasses! (thanks to Clara and Philip)

 

A successful fishing trip during our family campout.

 

With our lovely grandparents and southern azaleas.

 

Happy birthday Daddy…yes, another hat!

 

Spending time with friends at a nearby lake.  We didn’t catch anything, but the view was beautiful and peaceful.

 

A local dairy farm and our source for raw milk.  The calves love to play and suck our fingers.

 

Dinner at a favorite local restaurant with more grandparents…thanks Grandpa!!

 

In a few years, Hope will probably be our roller coaster queen.  Every time she sees a new piece of equipment or motor vehicle, she wants a ride.

Kyle’s full-time lawn business is flourishing and keeps him and Davis (and other strong young men willing to work on hot humid days) quite busy.

 

4th of July pie contest…yummmm!  Our entries were the fruit pizza and American flag berry pie.  The original name for the the berry pie was “Old Glory” but the name soon changed to “Faded Glory.”

 

Time to process tomatoes!  Thank you Clara!

 

This year, Kyle was offered growing privileges on 3 acres to experiment with organic gardening.  He learned to check the deer preference list (they really enjoyed ALL the sweet potato, bean  and onion plants) but Kyle enjoyed a good harvest of squash and watermelon.  Not pictured are 80 or so watermelons!

 

30 gallons of blueberries!  This is one of the few pictures we have when someone is not snitching…however, I think Luke is thinking about it:)

 

Dad and Mom enjoy their date nights, especially by Charleston harbor.

 

“Hey missy, stop tearing down my tower!”

So yes, Johnson life remains full of energy and daily sanctification.  As seasons come and go, we are so thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness and promise to finish the work He has begun.

Garden Time

Every time of year is beautiful in its own way and is designed by God for a specific purpose.  Late spring and early summer is an especially exciting time with the garden.  It is wonderful to see God rewarding the fruit of our labors and the promise of a fruitful harvest.

Our herb garden with a few flowers thrown in:)

Beautiful before the Japanese Beetles attacked!

Hopefully in just a couple more weeks we’ll be having blueberry smoothies, blueberry pancakes, blueberry cereal, etc.

The fig tree is doing great!

The unconquered zinnia.

If you plant them once, they will come back year after year, more and more.  Our row of tomatoes has been almost taken over by them!

The bee’s soda fountain.  During these hot summer days, it is usually quite busy.

Here comes a cucumber!

We have found lettuce easy to grow, bountiful, and delicious.  It is lasting quite a while as well.

Here comes the squash!

Beans are also very easy to grow.  Here are some regular green beans…

…Burgundy beans…

…snow peas.

Yum-yum!

We got 20 new chickens a month or two ago.  They are waiting for their fence to be built.

Our egg suppliers.

“Only a face a mother could love!” ~Papa

Our bees are doing great as well.  A few months ago, the hive naturally split and we had a swarm on our hands.  Daddy was able to catch it and put the bees in a second hive.

Our first hive.

We praise the Lord for all His blessings!

A Bountiful Garden

When we lived in California many years ago, we could grow anything. Not because we were great farmers or had a green thumb but just because the soil was so rich and the climate was wonderful. Well, when we moved here to the South, we expected the same thing and so planted fruit trees (they sold them at the store so they must grow here!) and a variety of garden plants. Well, out of the six fruit trees that we planted, four died in the first few years without doing anything and we finally transplanted the last two pear trees to a better area because we had happened to plant them in one of the lowest parts of our yard. Finally, eight years later, we had a tiny pear on one of them. Isn't that great!! Then the trees developed fire blight and so had to trim them down a lot. Ugh:)

Now as to the garden, we have been trying a lot of different thing but without very much regular success. We began praying this year that God would bless our garden and allow us to grow food for ourselves and He has decided to bless! Kyle took almost complete responsibility of planning and caring for the garden and it is flourishing. We praise the Lord.

The corn is doing great this year after many years of attempting to grow it!

We have an abundance of green beans!

Beautiful!

We love blueberry season. Unfortunately the birds like it too!


"Can the fig tree, my brethren bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show our of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom."
James 3:12-13


This is the beginning of a squash. Isn't that amazing?


"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?...But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Matthew 6:28-33


This little guy has become the youngest in our family to lose a tooth. He is very excited and, well...very cute!!

A quick update with the bees: they seem do be doing very well and have started construction on comb and honey. New eggs are getting ready to hatch!

Luke gets to help this time

Luke, I think you were thinking a little too far in advance when you bought that:)

This is how professionals begin!!

Have a very blessed day!