Extraordinary Ordinary!Campione

Barbara Johnson married the man of her dreams, had four sons, and by the early 1950s was living the great American dream.

In 1966, Barbara’s husband, Bill, was in a horrific car accident and suffered extensive brain damage. One year later, after therapy both mental and physical, and a relentless belief in a healing God, Bill returned to work as a mechanical engineer.

In 1968, the Johnson’s oldest son, Steve, was sent to Vietnam. On July 28, 1968, Steve was safe in the arms of Jesus.
In the summer of 1973, Tim, their second son, took off with two friends to “find himself.” They spent the summer wandering through Alaska and Tim found Jesus Christ. On his way home, Tim was in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. Tim was instantly ushered into the arms of his Savior.

Two years later, David, their third son, embraced a gay lifestyle and then disappeared for eleven years with no contact with his family.

Barbara Johnson started a joy box. When a note from a friend arrived in the mail, she would put it in her joy box. When she found a Scripture verse that was particularly comforting, she would put it in her joy box. She found a book of jokes from when the boys were little and stuffed that in her overflowing box.

When her pieces of joy outgrew the shoebox, Barbara bought a plastic tub and began filling it with little pieces of life that stirred up joy. When her joy memorabilia no longer fit in dozens of bins, she emptied their guest bedroom and it became her joy room. When the guest bedroom could no longer hold it all, Bill built an addition onto their California ranch home to fit the all the mementos that reminded Barbara and Bill that they served a God of joy.

Barbara’s commitment to embrace joy at the very worst moments of her life took supreme diligence. But Barbara did it because of God’s power that was given to her and because she knew Him intimately.