We held Kristi’s graduation on Sunday evening.  This was so we could have a family feast together after church celebrating our 28th anniversary, Jeni and Jason’s engagement and Kristi’s graduation.  We had a delightful time together as a family.  Then, the meal ended and I brought out the chore list!!!!

Everyone was such trooper as we all worked together to haul tables and decorate and finish the last few food items and the punch.  It came together beautifully.

We held the party on our cottage lawn.  It is one of the most beautiful places on the planet…. I am not kidding!   It is my sanity and I am so thankful for it.

Many people did not know that we had that place and so it was fun to hear people exclaim on how beautiful and peaceful it was.  I ended up doing quite a few tours of the cottage as well.  

The weather was beautiful and people gathered at tables or in the circles of chairs or standing in groups.  Children set up the crochet set and some of the older youth played football in the open lawn.  It was so enjoyable to see people so happy together, visiting and hearing the laughter.  Kristi greeted her guests and talked with everyone who came.  Kristi is probably out quietest daughter and so this was an exercise in being very social for her!

Rick took it upon himself to serve the cake while I mixed the punch and ran trays of desserts out, in between visiting with so many of our friends and family.

The evening went quickly but I have so many good memories.

A friend of mine came back later to pick up children and we were cleaning up in the cottage so we sat and visited with my daughters and a few friends.  I love girl talk and laughter and sharing that is so good and honoring when it is sisters in Christ together.

My friend ended up leaving her daughter to stay longer and play games.  Everyone in fact had friends around as we wound down the night.  When I finally made it down to the house I realized there were more friends than I had thought.  Some were hungry and eating, some playing games, some visiting and looking at the days pictures on the computer.  Joyful activity.

I made sure children had a ride home and then I headed off to bed, exhausted.

Kristi had gone to stay at her best friend’s house for the night.  When she returned she came and told me that there were people in her bed and she did not know who…   this is typical Gills Rock.  As it was, we had a full house so Annie had her friend staying over and when looking for a place to sleep found Kristi’s bed open.  We laughed about it!

Monday was spent discussing wedding plans and preparing to head to the traditional Memorial Day fishboil.  We enjoyed visiting with more friends and seeing folks that we will hardly see again until the tourist season is over.

Wonderful day.

Blessed to live in Gills Rock,

Joyce

Below is the post about celebrating our anniversary.
Here is what 28 years of marriage has given us….
Six wonderful, delightful, happy, funny, godly, entertaining, rowdie, fun, loving and caring children.
Rick always said that he thought we would have two children but I am so glad that God had different plans. We often comment to each other that life is good because of these children and the blessing that they are to us. They bring us joy.
We are blessed
Joyce

We started off our party-marathon weekend on Friday night. Rick and I snuck away to celebrate 28 years of marriage. It was so good! I wish I had taken my camera as par for course we started out by doing two jobs. First, we headed to Ephraim to deliver fish. It is more that a little tricky to deliver fish in dress clothes, let me tell you! The fun was our friend’s faces as they watched Rick and then commented on how handsome he is all “cleaned up”. Don’t I know, don’t I know!!!!
After dealing with the fishing side of our lives we moved to the care-taking and purchased flowers for one of our homes. I believe it was a first time experience for us as Rick and I have never been flower shopping together. Let’s just say it was another experience of my Rick saying ” I don’t care what you get” and then him coming along and giving me an opinion on every plant and color I chose. I love it…… well most of the time! He is actually much more detailed orientated and so we balance each other perfectly in our businesses. He had great ideas and they turned out beautifully.
So…………. we cleared up the work and headed on to a beautiful place called the English Inn. They seated us at a table facing the fireplace and very private. Rick said to order my hearts desire and so I did….. lobster and crab and my favorite goat cheese salad and it was delicious. But, not nearly as much as the hour and a half that we spent there reminiscing and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. It never gets old…. not even 28 years into this marriage.
We eventually left and headed north toward home but just north of E.B. Rick drove off to a bluff park where we got out and walked down to the bluff to watch the sunset over the water. That boy still knows how to charm me and it was so sweet and wonderful to end our date as such a romantic spot, and miraculously we were all alone! God is good
Our wedding invites said this verse from the Psalms;
The Lord has done this, it is marvelous in our eyes!

It is still marvelous.
Blessed, oh so blessed
Joyce

Yes, we did do the whole professional picture package, and they were very nice, because the subject, Kristi, is beautiful. But, they did not capture who Kristi is. Below are the pictures that did. Kristi is a Gills Rock, fisherman’s daughter and so her pictures by the shed and dock fit her so well. She may leave Gills Rock, but chances are, that her heart will always have a special place for Gills Rock and all that is a part of the docks and fishing.
The other picture was her idea as well. A photo at our church, with the piano. This is our favorite. Although she rarely plays at church now, she will do more in the future! She loves playing, especially beautiful classical music and music from Pride and Prejudice and other favorite songs. We often go to sleep at night to her playing something peaceful and lovely on the piano.
It is so hard to believe that her home education is drawing to a close as far as formal studies, the time has flown by so fast. I always have this mixed feeling at graduations, the feeling of excitement at how well our children have done with school and life, and serving the Lord, and, this sense of not having done enough as their teacher. Trust me, it is a personal issue! No one education can teach all, and although there has been much taught in our home, and they are very well-rounded, I always wish they would have learned more. That is, because I am such a learner and I am not done and have not accomplished all I want to learn in life. Good grief, these teens are only 18 and have lots of years left, Lord willing, to learn. See what I mean? It is me. And it is me knowing I will miss her terribly. I have done this three other times so I know how it works, and the good news is; I will live!

These are the days when it is hard to forget that you live in a tourist destination. Some folks might ease into thoughts of summer and all the plans for vacations etc.. But, in this neck of the woods, May opens it’s door and most of us locals feel like a vortex starts to pull on us, and it is not pretty!

What does that mean for our family? It means fishing is picking up with orders for busy weekends, and getting busier. It means the clients we have for care taking need homes cleaned, repaired, services started up and techno issues resolved. Bet you did not know that I am also a tech person!!! Ok, I will be honest, if it is over my head, I do have a really knowledgeable man who rescues me. He owns a wireless company up here and even has business cards so I guess he is the professional, not me!

Bottom line; our already busy lives become borderline chaos. Throw in a graduation for Kristi, wedding plans for Jeni, and my dad not doing the greatest, Kristi and Annie starting work, finishing school for the year, dealing with a church in transition w/o a pastor, getting the gardens changed over and planted…. well, it is a little stressful.

So, although I am not, and will never be, Mother Walton, who rarely seemed flustered by the goings on of her large family on the TV show The Waltons, I have found a few things that help me maintain my sanity in days like these.

#1 Always spend time with God in the morning. I always seek to get into the Word, and I refuse to let the seasons of the year dictate whether I will have time for God. I stubbornly refuse to give up my time with Him, basically because if I do I am saying that I do not need Him to make it though the day. THAT would be the farthest things from the truth. I need God to direct my days and to rescue me from making mistakes, and He does!

#2 Lists, I make lists, on used envelopes (see, I do recycle!), in my daily planner, in my mind, and when I run out of those things I tell my children my lists and tell them to remind me!!! Certainly there is a school subject that this would come under,

#3 — I let go of some things, like laundry… that is an easy one because I already have an issue with it, and the laundry room has a door on it… but really, when other jobs have to take priority something has to give. School is not one of things we let slide. We teach our children to prioritize and school work is up there on the list. After 18 years of home schooling I know how thinking we can let a few days go turns and bites us in the long run. There is discipline in learning and slacking can quickly become a habit. One of my favorite LIFE lines is this; we are created for work, for productivity! We all work, girls too, so although we all take on new job titles for this month we can’t cover everything. I am so thankful that I have a husband who rolls with it. He is a blessing that way. He knows we are all doing our best to cover the bases and he has grace for this season. I need to have grace on myself…. I am the one that get a little crazy in my head when I keep seeing a stack of things which need to be dealt with day after day, never being addressed because each day slips by so fast.

#4 Meals in the freezer. Last Monday I spent 4 hours making 15 main meals to throw in the freezer for these busy weeks. I made:
2 lasagnas
2 oriental pork meals for grilling
marinated pork ribs
2 swedish meatballs
2 taco meals
Chicken enchiladas
2 beef/Italian sausage meats browned and ready for spaghetti sauce
broccoli soup
sloppy joes

These have been wonderful to have ready to go. Most of the meals can be thrown in the crock pot while frozen. I check on the progress at noon and adjust temp. if needed. We make a salad and veggies, some times rice or potatoes, and there is the meal.
What a blessing to come home and smell food cooking. What a blessing to have something to share with a another family as last week when a friend of mine lost her father. Her overwhelmed husband was thrilled to see a hot meal that I was able to bring because I had some in the freezer. I worked all day with our girls and could still bring a meal to bless.

#5 Make it fun. Another of my LIFE lines is; It has got to be fun if I am going to do it! We bring music to the job sites, we crank up the worship and dance a little. We work at some beautiful sites and even doing school or working on drawing or collecting nature samples can make these work days fun. I am always trying to instill in our girls that accomplishing a job well done should bring a satisfaction that is FUN to know. Work is good and it can be fun. We are created to work all of our days, other than the Sabbath or Lord’s Day of course!

#6 Thankfulness. Our girls watch the news and know that the economy is changing. We need to choose to be thankful for work. Thankful for jobs, thankful for the wonderful people we work with, thankful that we get to work this job together, that I do not have to leave my children to go to work, or be gone evenings away from them. Thankful for the opportunity they have to earn money and learn skills that will be very useful for their futures. Thankfulness that we have the strength and ability to do the work, and for the safety we have had all these years. Staying thankful keeps discouragement and whining at bay.

Here is how we handle these days, it works for us.

Thankful to be blessed
Joyce

We are very pleased to announce the engagement of our daughter Jeni to Jason Whittington.

I first met Jason when he was working here in Door County at Camp Zion, a Christian camp based out of Jason’s home church in Zion Ill..
Jason attended the late night Bible study that I taught for college students. That was four years ago.

Two summers ago, Jason and Jeni started to hang around with a bunch of young adults and got to know one another.

It was at our New Year’s Eve party for 2008 that Jason and Rick talked and Jason asked permission to date Jeni with the goal of marriage, not broken hearts.

Jason is attending Trinity College in Deerfield Ill.. He will be graduating with a business degree. He also loves history and is an avid reader, enjoying the writings of the likes of Ravi Zacharias!

Jason has one brother who is married and lives near Zion Ill..
He has done well with all the girls in our family and they all love him very much.

There will be more information about wedding plans very shortly!

It has been a long two weeks for the Johnson household. About two weeks ago Kristi came down with a slight cough and then a few days later went from being healthy to high fever and throwing up with the smallest movement of her head. We ended up taking her to the ER and spent a day there while they tried to figure out what it was. The severe headache had the DR. concerned. As I sat in the room I put on the news and that is just when all the swine flu cases were hitting the news, but the doctor felt that it was not that at all. He was kind of right and kind of wrong.

We came home and Kristi ran a temp. of 103.8 for a number of days and three days later Annie and Mel started it. I had started the younger ones on a routine of herbs the minute I had Kristi home from the ER because I was very suspicious that this was a nasty flu, and it turned out to be just that.

I cannot recommend enough the wisdom of Chondra Parker. She had written on her blog the herbs to use for the flu a few days after the girls were all sick and I already had the girls set. The younger ones did not get as sick, fevers were much lower, and they snapped back after four days, where Kristi is still dealing with things. The DR. did say that they may have a nagging cough for months after the flu which amazes me…… and is keeping Kristi miserable.

So, I have been nursing sick ones around the clock. I am very thankful that at this time Rick and I have not come down with anything!

I have a few photos to put up later today when I have time. We have fun news, lots of it! I would have photos of the last two weeks but everyone was against any pictures being taken of the hospital ( living room )! Oh Well.

Blessed to have healthier home.
Joyce

After a week of on again off again oxygen, and fighting a bad cold I am glad to have good news.
Last night when I called to check on him I asked, “How are you doing Dad?” He answered, “Terrific!”
If you know my Dad you know that that has been his response for years, and he MEANS it!
So when he responded with that word last night I knew things were better and my heart was thrilled.

Please continue to pray for my Mom and Dad. This is hard in it’s own way for Mom to drive in each day and be there for hours.

The good part is that Dad’s room mate is a Believer and sweet. He tolerates children coming in and being there well.

Mom will go with the Penrods to the funeral and their church will have someone there to care for Dad on Monday and Tuesday. I love the their church, what a blessing.

Good news today
Joyce

Yesterday a beloved Uncle died suddenly of a heart attack.
I received the news and was stunned. Uncle Leigh was a precious man, father of 10 and he and his wife were mentors to me in homeschooling and having a large family. They lived life in a very real world with all of it’s joys and sorrows. They were over comers and their testimony is one I have shared with many to encourage walking Christ-like in hard times. They came to visit me a few years back and it blessed me so much. I will never forget opening the door and seeing Uncle Leigh and Aunt Char standing there and knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that they loved me so much. Uncle Leigh’s hugs were strong and assuring. What a precious time we had together. The last time I saw them was a year ago at my Mom’s 70th birthday. It was a chaotic time that afternoon and so there were just a few moments together in the kitchen……. not enough time by any means.
I will miss his wonderful humor, his frankness and honesty, his willingness to answer my questions on cameras and computer things and not make this blonde feel dumb!!! He was always patient with me. I will miss seeing he and Auntie Char together, him the strong man and protecter, man of ideas and ambitions, balancing my sweet Auntie, strong in her own way, but smaller and gentler, sweet smiles and loving words, supporting her husband, always by his side. Praise the Lord for His ability to care for her.
Praise the Lord for Uncle Leigh knowing and loving God here on earth and now experiencing his salvation completely in the presence of his Lord.
Praise the Lord for peace in the assurance of heaven. Praise the Lord that He is compassionate, loving and kind.

Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

Blessed to have had an Uncle Leigh in my life
Blessed more to know I will see him again some day

Joyce

Busy times….
School went wonderfully. We are studying the spiritual beliefs of the early 1900’s and how the lack of spiritual truth set some countries up for demise as in Russia, Italy, Germany. What amazed us is the similarities between the mind-set then and now. We need Jesus and truth.

Had a list of many things to accomplish……… not even half were done. But, I did:
Teach music to children
Have a wonderful Bible study on Lies Women Believe and the Turth that Sets Them Free. Go get the book if you have not read it. It is excellent! We have a sweet time of sharing and prayer together at the Tues. morn. study.
Celebrated Mandy selling 3 cars in two days! PTL!!!!
Met with our church family on Wed. night to celebrate the end of the year for our club program and had wonderful fellowship with many young moms and dads. Not that I am not one of the young ones, but you know I am getting a few gray hairs!!!
Put in hours of book-work which pleased my husband!
Spent time talking with my parents.
Did some ironing while listening to Prairie Home Companion archives on the internet… laughed lots!
Was blessed with much company stopping in to say hi and encourage one another
Cared for sisters who’s brother was in the ICU for a major concussion. WEAR your helmets and do not think it can’t happen to you!
Did some laundry……. THAT always blesses the family
Baked bread
Worked on Kristi’s senior pictures and decisions for her graduation.
ETC………

Good week. Productive week even if it wasn’t in the areas that I thought it would be. My list often rolls into the next week as it will this coming week, second chances at getting things done. I keep my lists loose because we have an open door policy here and when folks stop by and need something I am open to that need. Our girls are wonderful in continuing their work, caring for children who come along, and even meeting the needs of others as they are able.

Our desire is that our children have a well rounded education, book studies, music yes, but serving humanity is equal in our minds, especially the lost and the body of Christ. God in His faithfulness has provided and continues to provide many opportunities for this part of their training. It is hard, and it is good!

Blessed
Joyce