Four Families

by Macy Johnson

“God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing.” 

(Psalm 68:6a NIV)

Everyone is blessed with at least two families: one on the mother’s side and one on the father’s. I was blessed with four.

At 6 months old, my birth mother gave me up for adoption. I launched an intentional search for my identity in 1983, while pregnant with my firstborn. In 2010, a doctor recommended I have my DNA analyzed on “23andme” just to see what medical issues might arise. That suggestion re-triggered the desire to discover my birth parents.

Never Lost

by Macy Johnson

“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.

Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’”

(Luke 15:8-9 NIV)

I like to remind God that He knows where my lost items are and can easily help me find them.

Working all day in her yard a friend lost an emerald, which she later found in the middle of her kitchen. Another friend lost a diamond in her church’s recreation hall only to find it a week later in the middle of the recently mopped floor!

Friends Bridge

by Macy Johnson

 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

(Acts 2:42 NIV)

One Tuesday afternoon while playing Bridge, the door to the church fellowship hall opened. A police officer stepped inside and politely asked, “Do any of you ladies own the red car that is parked on the street?”

One of the ladies at my table glanced up and responded, “Yes, officer, it’s mine. Is there a problem?”

Master Mechanic

by Macy Johnson

“For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

(Luke 11:10 NIV)

Trust God with everything?

I brought my cassette tape player to church one night to share a recording of testimonies. I put the tape in…well, I tried to put the tape in. It didn’t drop in like it should. So, I foolishly proceeded to force it in, by-passing the door. When I pushed the “play” button the player ate the tape. I exclaimed out loud, “Leave me alone, Satan - I need this to work! Oh Lord, You are the Master Mechanic - You can fix this tape player!”

Matthew Trees

by Macy Johnson

“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven

always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

(Matthew 18:10 NIV)

Sunday afternoon, February 2, 1997, while preparing a Bible lesson, my sister called from Pensacola with horrific news. Matthew, our fifteen-year-old nephew, was killed in a skateboard accident.

I hung up the phone, staggered out the front door of our Birmingham home, and found my husband and our twelve-year-old son planting two dogwood trees. We hugged and grieved over our family’s tragic loss.

Oh Deer!

by Macy Johnson

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12 NIV)

Driving home from choir practice one dark Wednesday night several years ago, I was startled by a large doe standing perfectly still in the middle of the deserted two-lane highway. I quickly tried to mentally shove her off the path of my car. Bang! Into the ditch she landed! Thankfully, my car limped home and to the shop the next day to be repaired. Wish I could say the same for the poor deer.

Angel Choirs

by Macy Johnson

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,

praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”

(Luke 2:13-14 NIV)

With the Christmas season comes concerts, lots of them, for an accompanist. My first was a Sunday afternoon Community Christmas program, playing for small groups and a soloist. Each selection sounded like heavenly choirs.

Playing the piano for school choruses is a special treat. I block out an entire day to rehearse at the middle school with assigned time slots for each song. At the beginning of the semester I recorded all the accompaniments for the director to use in class. But now it was time to appear in person for live rehearsals, just days before the performance.