All in a year...

Well hello!

It's official: I'm a blogger! I've had so many requests for pictures and updates lately - there's just no way to keep up! Instead, I'm starting my own page where anyone who really can't get along in life without knowing exactly what is going on with the Johnsons, will be able to check in and be fulfilled!! I have a feeling it's really not that big of a priority for TOO many of you... but since I'm new to Indiana and don't have any friends yet, I've got to find SOME way to vent! After all, my poor husband can only take so much of me rambling on and on and on!

Let me start off by explaining the title of my blog... I discovered the phrase through a very special blog family who recently lost their precious baby boy. I hope they do not mind me borrowing them, but these words profoundly describe how I think of Ricky now. After a life of pain and challenges, there now is "nothing missing, nothing broken" in him. Ricky taught me more than I could ever put down on paper... but one thing in particular - he taught me that life is fleeting. It is temporary. And it is meant to be enjoyed in SPITE of our trials. He taught me to persevere… and to trust. He taught me what true love is. And he taught me that God alone has the power to heal; and God alone has the power to give and take away. I plan to place these words on Ricky's memorial bench, and I chose them for the title of this blog because they represent the focus on eternity that I now strive to have. Many mothers who have lost children will tell you that suddenly all fear of death is gone. There is a longing for heaven that sadly, had not been there before. Suddenly we have a connection to this place that for so long has been hard to wrap our brains around. While I miss Ricky terribly every day, I believe that his life was exactly as God intended it to be from the beginning. He was an instrument of the Lord... meant to show anyone with a willingness to hear and see... the love and power of our Heavenly Father.

No, this blog will not be "all about Ricky"... we have a site for that! But it's inevitable that my thoughts and reactions to this life will forever stem from my experience with him. He still resides in my heart and for that I will be forever grateful...