So Close To Be Wed*

*106 Days (Friday June 1, 2012) to Sept 15, 2012*:

Today marks 3 months and 2 weeks left until Martel and I will be Wed!!!

     Since January 4, 2012, the moment that Martel got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, we have truly been experiencing such a 'fullness of joy' within our engagement. We started out without a clue of how to start our walk towards marriage and now our Lord has revealed more to us about a Godly foundation of marriage that we could have never expected. Martel and I have learned how joyful, anxious, and exhausting wedding planning can be. We have learned that one of the most important ingredients of engagement is to go through Christian marriage counseling (shoutout to our amazing advisor, Dr. Carson).  Martel and I have learned so much more about each other through engagement that we would have seemed to never know about each other while dating. We asked God to help us tackle some difficult areas in our relationship i.e. communication, church, and disagreements that we would dare not yield to the enemy because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are overcoming those trials DAILY.  We have created some super special memories along the way i.e. engagement photos, Martel's birthday, Alexis & Lung's Wedding, Ben & Ashley's Wedding, the celebration of the first day that we met: May 4, 2007, our Gatlingburg trip/adventures, movie dates, dinner dates, the launch of our wedding website, our wedding registry. We have found our intimacy with Jesus, within our individual walks, to be so much more sweeter and when we unite we rejoice about the radiance of God and how unfathomable He is to make Himself available to us each day! Our engagement process has not been the most perfect, but every bit of it has been extremely worth it! First, we would like to give our most humble thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for giving us the privilege to be apart of the mysterious and wonderful GIFT of marriage on Sept 15, 2012. Next, we would like to thank our beautiful and super servant wedding coordinator, Ariyana Rimson for helping us every step of the way.  Third, the Bride would love to thank her MOHs, Amber Walker and Sydney Henderson for supporting her with so much love to help her out with every need. Fourth, we would like to thank our entire Bridal parties for being so eternally grateful to honor us with their presence by being in our wedding!!!

*142 Days to Sept 15, 2012:

     Today, Martel and I shared a wonderful experience of our 1st wedding registry together at Bed Bath and Beyond.  The whole store seemed so overwhelming, but to me it was a housing interior heaven!!! Martel seemed quiet at first, but once we got to start scanning items, he ended up wanting more items scanned than me! lol. Our Bridal consultant, Danielle did a fantastic job by explaining all of the details of why we should choose certain items for our new home.  All together we scanned a total of 250 plus items because we learned if you are planning to have more than 200 guests than you must scan double the amount of items.  We had a lot of fun and we learned a lot about each other from our preferences when choosing items for our new home together. Awwwww I just can't wait to marry my teddy bear=)

                *ATTENTION TO OUR FAMILY/ FRIENDS ATTENDING:

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CELEBRATE OUR UNION TOGETHER WITH A LOVE GIFT. WE WOULD TRULY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE ITEMS ON OUR WEDDING REGISTRY ONLINE. YOU WILL FEEL AWESOME KNOWING THAT YOU CHOSE A GIFT THAT YOU KNOW THAT WE WILL LOVE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FAMILY AND FRIENDS BY SHOWERING US WITH YOUR LOVE THROUGH OUR WEDDING REGISTRY. AND DON'T FORGET TO VIEW OUR UNVEILING OF OUR WEDDING WEBSITE AND SHOW YOUR LOVE SOME MORE BY SIGNING OUR GUESTBOOK*:

http://www.weddingwire.com/martyjuzanneforyouIwill91512

~INSTRUCTIONS FOR OUR WEDDING REGISTRY WITH BED BATH & BEYOND:

1. GO TO:  http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/RegHome.asp

2. LOOK FOR THE [FIND A REGISTRY] OPTION

3. ENTER EITHER THE BRIDE OR GROOM'S FIRST AND LAST NAME

4. CLICK ON OUR WEDDING REGISTRY

5. SEARCH THROUGH OUR ITEMS AND CHOOSE ANY ITEM THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BLESS US WITH. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO PURCHASE ONLINE OR IN THE STORE DEPENDING ON THE ITEM.

                    

To Merge or Not To Merge

 *Day 89 of being the FIANCE of Martel Johnson:

As I arose yesterday morning, I realized that I was about to eagerly embark on a new CHALLENGE in my life for the first time in our relationship that I have stubbornly been uneasy about: 'THE BLENDING OF TWO LIVES'.

I got in the car with Martel and off we were headed together to his church: 'Life Changing Ministries' which my heart started to realized as we pulled into the driveway.....'Juzanne, this will soon be your future church home'. 

     If you are wondering what is the backdrop of this post, well here it goes.  Martel and I have known each other as beautiful friends since 2007. From the moment we met each other, our lives have always been on the opposite spectrum of one another. We were both young in the faith of Jesus Christ when we first met, but there were even more distinct differences about one another that intrigued us to continue in our pursuit of a growing friendship.  When you look at my life, I have always been serving in ministry since the moment that I surrendered my life to Christ and continuing my schooling at the University of Memphis.  On the other hand, Martel also attended University of Memphis, been an absolute hard worker with a major on point business savvy, and his service in ministry looked different from mines, in that, he had to be more strategic when sharing the Gospel with coworkers and patients, whereas I was easily thrown into open situations and opportunities to share the Gospel.  And on top of everything, we both attended different churches, had different dynamics of friends, and etc. Ultimately, we are simply just plain opposite, but we deeply love one another so I know that in spite of being opposite it has worked for us lol. 

     Anyway, with so many differences and a whole lot of love to fill those differences, there is always a challenge that we must face together and that is the blending of one another's lives.  No one knows this challenge more than Martel and I.  We have had to establish so many 'collaborations' and not 'compromises' which I will explain later in order for our relationship to remain in full gear.  From the food that we choose to the television shows that we watch and to the convictions that we both have spiritually, everything has become a 'melting pot' for us.  The one door that seemed to be the hardest challenge above all for us is the topic of 'Church'.  If you asked us two years ago, we would tell you that there was nothing in heaven or on Earth that could make us yield to discussing this topic, so naturally we avoided it until the elephant got too big for us to avoid.  Now that we are engaged, the elephant is not only in the room, but it is sitting on our couch and eating our chips asking us, 'So what yall gone do? Huh?'. 

     A month ago, I met with my amazing discipler, Heather again at her new home and she called me up to the challenge that I feared the most: I CHALLENGE YOU TO ATTEND MARTEL'S CHURCH FOR A WHOLE MONTH. I was like screaming internally, 'What! Heather whose side are you on????' I thought about what she said for a moment and my whole life at Fellowship Memphis flashed before my eyes: the bonds I shared with so many people, the sound doctrine that would sting me to conviction every Sunday, the opportunities to service the church, and tons of growth that has helped a great deal to make me the woman of God that I am today.   And then I realized that I would share with her that when Martel and I get married, I would attend his church, but stubbornly on the inside, I was just talking the talk, but Heather challenged me to walk the walk.  Later on in our conversation, I realized how thankful I am to Heather because no one ever challenged me to stand up to my new role, as a submissive leader, by standing behind my future husband and leaving to cleave to our new established life together.  Whew! it makes me want to shout and dance dance dance just to think about how much more the Lord is building into me to be a woman and wife of noble character.

Genesis 2:24 New King James Version (NKJV)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Proverbs 31:10-12 New International Version (NIV)

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.  She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

     So, back to the beginning of my post. We parked in the parking lot and we started to walk in and the atmosphere was just oozing with the call for the Lord to come and be present in this place.  It was such a sweet aroma to be in Life Changing Ministries just in moments of preparing to take a seat. I was greeted by a few women already just by walking in and hugged and encouraged by Pastor Moore's wife, Pamela Moore and she said happily, 'Come on in and get excited about your new home'.  Her statement placed me in an automatic comfort zone and I knew as I was following Martel to a seat, my life is truly about to change. Praise and worship began and the singers shouted their voices to the heavens and I could feel the presence of the Lord in that place. The music continued to surround the church and the women sang harder and longer and motioned the audience to let our hearts go out to the Lord freely.  Then, out the corner of my eye I noticed that the ushers were passing out pieces of palm trees to as many that they could in the crowd and then I received one.  The church began to put on a beautiful display of Palm Sunday to not only celebrate the joyous day when Jesus made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, as we waved our very own palms, but we celebrated the joyous day that we all remembered when the Lord Jesus came into our hearts and rid us from our wretched sin and brokenness.  I could not stop crying because I remembered how the Lord sought me out and how miraculous it is for me to still be praying to Him because He has kept His word by not leaving me because HE IS NOT DEAD! Matthew 28: 20 (NKJV) and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

     The message that Pastor Moore gave was amazing, in that, he stated how we must not forget the 'IN THE BEGINNING GOD' because He is the very reason that we celebrate the Risen Savior Jesus Christ. Admirably, I loved whenever Martel would go to the stage to proclaim loudly and boldly the scriptures from the Almighty Yahweh, and I was thinking internally, 'Now that is my Godly leader' as I smiled softly.  One of the parts that I enjoyed the most about attending Life Changing was that when the secretary arose to state the order of service and announcements in which there is moment where the visitors are asked to make themselves known and because Life Changing is a small congregation, everyone knew that I was the only visitor lol.  So that I would not be disrespectful, I was about to stand and state the church that attend which is Fellowship Memphis, but Pastor Moore shouted, 'Oh no we don't have any visitors we are all members here, that is sister Johnson sitting over there!' Wow!!! is all that I could shout in my heart, what a way for them to shower me with love on the first day of my challenge from Heather. 

     So, ladies and gentleman there you have it, my challenge to attend Martel's church didn't go bad at all.  In fact, I cannot wait to attend next Sunday! See what I learned is that I will be intimately 'collaborating' with Martel when we start to attend Life Changing Ministries together because it is ultimately not about us and our preferences, but it is always all about magnifying the Lord with every area in our lives especially with the blending of one another's life.  A compromise is where one party loses something at the expense of the other party, but a collaboration is where both parties do not lose anything but instead when they come together with their ideals, they come up with something 'even better' which will woven them together even stronger.  So thank you Jesus for helping me to pursue a collaboration with Martel to honor you with our marriage soon.  I desire to look upon submission as a GIFT Lord and not as a crutch to hinder me from the joys of marriage because that is not what You designed it for, only sin has distorted the proper view of submission.  Give me Your eyes Lord to be my guide and I need Your voice to continue to be louder than mines. Thank You Lord for making sure that we are not blending our lives together alone and that You are already helping us along the way. -Amen

    

*It Never Ends: Disciple-Making

*Day 88 of being the FIANCE of Martel Johnson:

Hello Friends, life has been so eye-opening for me lately!!!

Here is an update on Martel and I:

1. We just started MARRIAGE COUNSELING with Dr. Carson,

 at Germantown Baptist Church

2. We absolutely adore our engagement photo revealing by

Lyndsi Photography!

3. We are working together on our spiritual homework, as a couple

4. We are affirming each other DAILY more and more to destroy the habits of worldly couples and to put on the habits of a Godly soon-to-be married couple.

5. Lastly, we have 167 days left until our friendship becomes an eternal bond in holy matrimony: September 15, 2012

One thing that I noticed in my life since I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, that has been truly consistent is the GIFT of DISCIPLESHIP. This constant thread in my life has weaved me into so many wonders beyond my joy that sometimes I can't even find words to explain.  It is a blessing that I believe that I am most eternally grateful for including my salvation.

         In 2007, I began my very own first journey of discipleship through my dear angel: Kelly Scott. This humbling woman of God came up to me and shared the Gospel to me for the very first time when I was moments from hearing about the passing of my dear grandmother.  I was devastated, heart-broken, lost, and confused beyond living at that point, but behold a voice crying in the wilderness for me was Kelly Scott.  She came and sat down by me with tears staining my face and began to share, so calmly, the most beautiful words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that I had never and ever heard.  The word that she spoke from the Lord was the best thing that I could have ever heard at the worst time that I really didn't want to hear it.  From then on, I desired to FOLLOW Kelly wherever she went without even noticing that my feet were moving. Oh the POWER OF DISCIPLESHIP!!!

        I was not a Christian at the time when I met Kelly, but I stayed on her like a blood hound trying to soak up all that she knew from the unknown God that I still did not know myself.  I have to admit, since I had not heard of the story of Jesus Christ before I met Kelly, I was quite the stubborn skeptic because I did not want to say that I was an Atheist.  So, I know that I gave Kelly a run for her money in her dealings with me, but the curiosity to know Jesus more closely never left hindered my skepticism.  She read the Bible numerous times to me, she gave me handouts to study, she suggested tons of books for me to read because she knew that I loved to read, she introduced me to so many other people who where just like her: A Christian, and she practically lived out her life before me like an open book just to show me how real her God is. 



Do you remember when that first 'sinner saved by grace' came into your life and just wowed you with the Gospel? Have you planted your own pillar of memorials to thank God for those special encounters from those who not only follow Him, but they are literally after God's own heart? Have your ears just heard the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 or has your whole being  EXPERIENCED the GREAT COMMISSION?

Well Kelly Scott took a risk and she placed her faith in God, to forsake all others, for the sake of watching me be able to surrender my very own life to Jesus Himself, who had already given up His life for me.  Because the Lord used Kelly to sow a seed in me, Kelly along with so many other faithful servants along the way, have played the most important roles in my life: Disciple-Makers.  I would not be the woman of God that I am today without the life and truth transference of women and men who decided to take a risk for me to lose their lives in Jesus Christ to do whatever it takes for me to know Him deeply.  I will never forget the endless readings in the Word of God, the long list of questions that I contemplated over when I would stop to consider such an eternal God, the endless conversations of the Lord's goodness, miracles, faithfulness, discipline, and everlasting love, the thousands of friendships that I instantly gained just by becoming an adopted daughter in the Kingdom of God, and lastly I will never forget the GIFT that just keeps on giving the transformation to change the world: the beauty and cost of DISCIPLESHIP.  

Thank You Jesus for changing the game and deciding that we should be last before we can be first, that we should serve rather than to be served, and that we should lose our lives to have you save them.  Lord, You are the reason that I follow the narrow path because the journey of discipleship is costly, but it has been the most rewarding of relationships in that I will never truly understand your love story from the Gospels than to sacrifice my life, for the sake of those women that you have allowed me to impact over the years, to know You more deeply that is what I call worth it!!!

Thank You Kelly Scott, Lee Denton, Ollie Johnson, Martel Johnson, Pie, Precious, Patrice, Krystal, Amber, Paula Ortega, Emile McDuffin, Anna Lansford, Brianna Bland, April Jackson, Ashley Heliwell, Chris Novi, Roy, Kendall, Bess Norwood, Tezar, Leonard, Deborah Lansford, Jordan and Bree Holbrook, Mike Turner, Brian Crenshaw, Brett Wynne, Stew, Nate, Molly, Anteelah, Brett & Kat, Lindsey Gus, Michael Majors,  Jessica Swinger, Sydney Mcgee, Michelle Neal, Faith, Courtney Smith, BJ & Vanja, Martell Hixson, Lawerence, Candice, Leah Fox, Aaron Mccain, DJ, Chad & Jeanie,Marcus & Jaki, Jermey & Threasy, Jessica Laws, Kenyota, Clara, Emy, Grace, Angelic, Raven, Jessica Bell, Marsheka, Fadwa, Faye Kelly, Joy, Verdella, Taylor, Chaz, Stephanie Knight, Cherice, Natalie Cole, Tiana, Kennon V, Renata, Zipporah, Roz, Nicole, Simone, Joe, Rachel, Tracee, Amber Rose, Chas,  Matthew Love, and anyone that I missed because there are absolutely too many people to name who have placed huge footsteps on my road towards discipleship in Jesus Christ baby baby!!!

      Currently, I am walking with my sixth discipleship group of women in Christ: Courtney Smith and Kenyota Ward.  My beautiful spiritual daughters encourage me so much and they are always cracking me up with their funny stories and imaginative skits. We are growing through Titus 2 by many different lessons and teachings that will ultimately building a solid foundation in us to not only be women of can embrace sound doctrine, but we can also be women who are spiritual disciplined to hold true to our convictions to capture our sinful nature for Christ DAILY.

       Courtney is a fashion merchandiser major, enjoys sharing the Gospel to new people, and she cannot wait to spread her talents and giftings for Jesus with her dream clothing line called: SBG after my favorite verse ever Ephesians 2:8-9.  Kenyota is a biology major, enjoys digging deep into God Word, and she cannot wait to use her education to soon have her own clinic to serve the Lord and his people.  Thank You Lord for these beautiful women who simply want to never stop growing in their faith for you and without me they will still yield for you which makes me so elated to admire their incredible humility for discipleship. 

Lord may discipleship never stop beating in my heart, may my feet never grow weary from following You, and may I never realize that a Disciple-Maker's life will ever end.......

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching

 them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

*Take It From A New 'Bride'

*Day 76 of being the FIANCE of Martel Johnson:

First, I would like to give a standing ovation to the *1ST DAY OF SPRING BABY BABY!!! I am so hype that it is this time of year because I just love this type of weather and I'm so ready to wear colors that just pop=)

Today friends, I would like to share with you from a series of conversations that I have been having lately. For many of you who do not know, three of my closest best friends are brand spanky new Brides and Wifeagers (that's a wife+ manager). I read this new term on twitter and that's right I like it lol.  And while there is so much that I must already take in just as a fiance, I am always curious about the realities of marriage.

Every week, I have been rotating my calls to each one of my married besties.  The sweet part about calling them is that each sister has a totally different outlook on the GIFT of marriage.  For me, I get so excited just to listen to them rather than to learn from them because I truly admire that they have crossed over into the beautiful covenant from the grace and mercy of our Almighty Father.  However, I know that there must be a learning process to being on the phone with them because duhhhhh their married!!! Typically, I bombard them with as many questions as I can but then I realize if I just listen they will naturally unlock the secrets and tell me everything mu hahahahahahahaa (laughing in my count dracula voice). 

Some of the advice that I have been given, I desire to share with other engaged Brides, such as myself, because I believe that I can be naive or too caught up in the moment of everything, as a fiance alone, that I might miss out on the mother of all importance: the high calling of God's covenant marriage. So, soon to be Brides what I am about to share with you is not top secret, but must be lived out as you discern, from the Holy Spirit how, you too, can be a help meet to your soon-to-be husband.

1. Build your husband up to be a Godly man. The Lord has blessed you with a Godly man and there are so many things in the world that will attempt to attack him on a daily basis. They often face pressures of work, relatives and married life in general, and this sometimes causes them to get discouraged. My sister challenged me by saying that the Christian wife should encourage her husband in everything he does and assist him in making the right decisions

 

2. Get rid of the neck-rolling attitude. I know that for me I used to pride myself on being the woman who would take no lip from no one especially when someone would try to tell me what to do and especially if it was a man!  But then Jesus redeemed me and I noticed that this tip is harder to resist than I thought that it would be. So, I learned that I GET TO and I must respect my husband's role as the spiritual leader of our future home. In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 to 33, the apostle Paul says the wife is to submit to her husband as unto the Lord. This means that when the husband is loving his wife the way God wants him to, the wife will respect the decisions that her husband makes that will benefit the family. If I am resisting my husband's leadership on a daily basis, I am just asking him not to lead and I am also making him unattractive to leading because I will not humble myself to allow him to! So sisters trade the sayings of, 'You can't tell me what to do or what's wrong with your legs?' to 'love how can I help you? or I am so thankful for the way you lead our home'.

3. Pray for your husband daily. Pray that God will protect your husband from physical danger and any temptations that may lead him in the wrong direction. Also pray that he will have God's wisdom in making crucial family decisions.

4. Make the WORD OF GOD central to your every move in marriage. Every time that I am on the phone with my sister Precious, she constantly spurs me on in the Word of God and urges me passionately to do the same for Martel and I. She teaches me that the Word is no less important when you get married, but that it is the ultimate survival guide to make sure that your marriage is being steered by the one and only true Savior, Lord, and Master of everything in heaven and on earth: Jesus Christ.

5. Remember the Lord will see you as ONE when you are married.  This wisdom just blew my mind in that I am constantly reading Ephesians 5:21-33.

New King James Version (NKJV)

³¹ “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become ONE flesh.”

As my sister was sharing this phenomenal truth with me, I realized that this is the most intimate of GIFTS that the Lord grants between a husband and his wife that I will never be able to understand until I enter the marriage covenant soon (September 15, 2012) Yeah!!! She stated when she goes to her prayer closet, the Lord sees that her and her husband are praying in the praying closet. When her husband has a problem, the Lord sees that both the husband and the wife have a problem collectively. If the wife was thinking about something that the Lord whispered to her and then the husband shares that the Lord just revealed something to him, but he shares that revelation out loud, it's because they are now ONE.  The best part of the GIFT of oneness is that you begin to actually realize how the Lord has designed you for one another. Sweet!

6. Understand that you are uniquely made different even though you are ONE. I really enjoyed hearing this tip from one of my sisters because the Lord knows that I am so totally different from Martel Johnson! However, I was never attracted to men in the past who reflected the same similarities as myself.  But, don't get me wrong there are things that I love about Martel that makes us in sync, but our differences ignite the adventure and spontaneity in us, as a couple. Everyone knows that I am an over the top extrovert, bubbly, crazy, and all get out loud of a person.  But Martel is an introvert, he thinks alot internally, a home body, hard-worker, and loves to use his hands to fix everything.  These differences are so wonderful in us and they are sometimes confusing when we switch our personalities lol.  So, my sister shared that I must accept my husband especially as the Lord has designed him. And ask the Lord to show you how to communicate to your husband your wants and needs because you are different from him and to not get mad at you because he is not a mind-reader that knows absolutely everything about you lol.  

Ok sisters you have a few keys to unlock the beauty of being made to be a supportive wife and help meet to your husband. And start bombarding your married sisters in Christ with questions about marriage, as a fiance because they are truly read to pour into your spiritual wisdom. In fact, reach out to them TODAY. Lastly, don't hoard these treasures or allow them to collect dust. BE PROACTIVE NOW because your future marriage is counting on it!

In Christ with love,

Juzanne, a sinner saved by grace Ephesians 2:8-10*