Re-starting?

I closed the blog a while back because our family made a huge life change and didn't have the time it took to keep it up. We now live in Plano and Matt is a police officer for Dallas. Micah has been asking us over and over and over again to re-start "The Micah Project". His heart is helping others. I don't know exactly why I agreed except for the fact that he was persistent that he feels that this is what he was supposed to do. AND, being that he is 8 years old and not quite as quick on the keyboard as me....that leaves it up to me to repeat on here....what he tells me.

I tried convincing him that it was over and it was an awesome thing to be a part of....but we just didn't have the time. His response "Then I will do it by myself".

I asked him to pray about what God wants him to do and he said "God wants me to tell other people about him". I then asked him what "The Micah Project" had to do with that. He said he didn't know....but that he just felt like he was supposed to do it.

And you know something funny? We received a letter in the mail last week. It was addressed to our old Waco address and labeled "The Micah Project" and had $2.00 in it. I was like....WOW...that was so long ago. I wonder where people got our address....and the information!

SO....I have no idea what is going to happen (if anything) OR if people are still going to read this, but Micah asked me to do it....and he was so sincere when he said he felt like it was what he was supposed to do........

So here we are.

I have no idea what is going to happen next. I suppose we will see.

Thank you

I can not begin to thank you all enough for your continued support and following of this little thing we called "The Micah Project". It started as a simple school project and turned into something we never ever could have imagined.

Our family is going to continue to do things for the Lord as He leads but we no longer feel the need to make it public knowledge. We want the glory to go to HIM and not to us.

Micah too seems to understand the stress that we are all facing at this particular time in our lives and is in complete agreement that we are going to pause (at least temporarily) in the on-goings of this website.

We will give the remainder of the money to a local homeless shelter here or continue to do the things that Micah feels the Lord wants him too. But, I wanted to thank you all so so so so much for being a part of this amazing wonderful GOD gift and hope that you were just as blessed as we were. We will continue to leave the site up and let people read about what God has done.

Who knows what God has for us next, we just know that now is not the time in our lives to continue to issue challenges and take them on.

On one final note, our family will continue to take on Micah's challenge of figuring out what it is that we really need versus what we are just holding on to as worldly possessions. We will continue to give to the needy and not hang on to "things" just to have them. I have very recently found things in my life (not my closet) that I was hanging on to that I did not need. I gave them up am letting the Lord restore what was His in the first place.

May God richly bless you as He has our family. I hope that by reading the heart of a 7 year old, you have realized that YOU TOO can be effective for God in so many ways.

The Johnsons. Matt, Marianne, Micah, Makenna, and Marlee

Accepting the challenge....

Have to share:

Hello Micah!It's Darla, your mom's friend from GCA. You motivated me to give away a treasure today and I wanted to tell you about it and thank you.I deliver Meals on Wheels on Mondays to people in my town who are elderly or have been sick and cannot get to the grocery store to buy food for themselves. They are not able to cook, so there is an organization that takes hot meals to them every day at lunch.I visited with a lady today, "Stella". I have delivered to her about 3 times, but today I took the time to ask her about her pretty crystal knick-knacks in her house. She took me on a quick tour of her tiny little house, crammed full of old antique furniture and collectibles. She told me who had given her each one of them. She said that she wished so could get around to dust them. They bring her so much joy, she hates to see them dirty. We talked about her family. Her mother, father, and husband have all passed away. She has sisters, but they do not like to come visit her too much. It makes them sad to see her sick. She thanked me so much for bringing her meals and told me how she saves her milk to drink the next morning with her cereal. She said that because of the nutritious meals, she is getting healthier and learning to eat better.I left after visiting with her for a LONG time. On I went to deliver the rest of my meals. I kept thinking about her crystal treasures and how much she needed them to make her happy while she sat alone in her house. I thought of my crystal cross that a friend gave me years ago that sat in the top of my kitchen cabinet, waiting for "one day" when I had a curio cabinet or bookshelf to display it on. Someone brought it from the Czech Republic for me as a gift. My new friend Stella needed that cross. I did not. I was not appreciating its beauty. I wasn't even displaying it to let it remind me of God's sacrifice. I knew that Stella would. She said she was a Christian and how blessed by God she had been to pull through all of the surgeries she had recovered from this far. After I delivered my meals, I ran home, crawled up on a stool, got down that beautiful, heavy crystal cross, cleaned it up with Windex and took it back to Stella. Since I was going back, I decided to stop and get her some milk as well!She opened the door and thanked me for the milk. I told her that I had brought her something else. I unwrapped the cross and she began to cry. She hugged me and we told each other that we loved each other...we just met! She is my sister-in-Christ. Of course I love her. God commands us to. She proudly displayed it across from the chair that she sits in, on top of a cabinet with her crystal praying hands. Thank you Micah for helping me realize where my true treasures are, and how to give those that are not being used away to someone who can really appreciate them and love them. This treasure now reminds Stella of the love of God, the sacrifice He made for us, and the promise He makes to take care of us all.

What are you willing to give up?

Phase 1 - Micah's closet

Micah was VERY ready to get started on his own challenge. Matt and he actually started in the utility closet by going through all of their shoes and putting all the outgrown or unused shoes into the "giveaway" bin. There were LOTS of shoes to give away.

They then moved to the toy bin in the living room and threw away all the old gross toys and saved the ones that the girls used. It was good for Micah to clean the toy bin even though he doesn't play with those toys. Matt told him that he was doing it because his sisters couldn't. Micah never complained!

After the girls woke up from their naps it was time to conquer the closet.

He just went straight to work and started putting things into piles.

He actually had fun as we remembered old toys and how he USED to play with them when he was younger. He chose several things to keep but gave away most of his toys that he didn't play with with a very good attitude. He would say things like "I just KNOW a little boy will love this" or "I had fun with this but I'm too old for it now".

Matt MADE me get in a picture. (selfish note- no makeup, didn't fix hair, no shower)

We kept some of Micah's outgrown costumes for Marlee and Makenna to use.

We also gave away all Micah's outgrown pants, shirts, etc. We piled it in a huge container.

We then all piled in the car and headed to Goodwill. I have to be honest and say that Micah was very disappointed. He thought that we would actually be giving each thing to an actual person. He kept saying "but I want to help people!". He was much happier when we explained how Goodwill operated but he still made it very clear that he preferred a more hands on approach to "helping".

On a side note. He never mentioned the treasure chest. I think he knew that it was not actually something that we were going to make him give away. And to be honest, it was more of a selfish thing on my part anyway. I just wanted to see if he was willing to do it. God never asked Micah to give up his treasure chest......I guess I shouldn't have either.

Micah did say, "Ok Dad and Mom, I did it, now its your turn. I think we should do dad's closet next" We may have run out of time this weekend but we will choose to accept Micah's challenge for ourselves. We too understand that we only can store up treasure in Heaven and not here on earth. We too will go through our own belongings and do what Micah did. I hope that we will be able to let go of our "earthly treasure" as easily as he did. It makes me wonder what I think is important. It will be interesting to find out. We will keep you updated. I hope that you too accept Micah's challenge and see what you have been hanging on to that perhaps you don't actually...NEED.

To give is the greatest gift.

Thank you so much for the continued support of “The Micah Project”. All of us can hardly believe that this whole thing started as a small school project. God had other plans. BIG plans that we can still hardly believe!

Micah is still very interested in helping the homeless of Waco, or wherever we end up living when the house sells, but he is also interested in issuing challenges so that OTHERS can help and be a part too!

For Valentines day, Micah issued a challenge that people step out of their comfort zone and bless someone less fortunate than themselves. We took treats to a local nursing home and invited Micah’s cousin Preston to come along as we handed out bags of goodies and told people that God loved them. Other’s chose to do the same thing we did which was so awesome. Other things God told people to do was to pay for someone’s dinner, to bake a cake for the Ronald McDonald house, to pay someone’s bills who were down and out, to take treats to neighbors, etc. The list goes on and on of people who were willing to show others Christ’s love by stepping out and doing something they probably wouldn’t do on an every day basis.

Micah’s St. Patrick’s day challenge was something different. There was a family in Wolfe City TX whose house was destroyed by fire. They sent “The Micah Project” money and Micah felt that God told Him that we needed to do something in return. His next challenge was to ask anyone who was reading to give Lowe’s or Home Depot’ cards and send them to our P.O. Box so that we could help this hurting family by sharing a little bit of God’s love in the form of gift cards to help them re-build their home. God was so good and “The Micah Project” was able to raise over $500 in gift cards.

Micah’s 3rd Challenge is sort of a "Spring Cleaning" Challenge so to speak.

This was Micah's idea but we had to make sure he was willing to do it himself before we posted it. He wants to help parents teach their kids that "things" aren't important because when we get to Heaven, we won't be able to keep any of the things we have on earth anyway.

SO, let me tell you the challenge and then I'll tell you what Micah was willing to do. The challenge is to take a good look at your house, or maybe even a room or a closet, and decide what is really important. Are there things that other people could use? Are there things that you never touch? Are there toys, clothes, shoes, food, or other items that could benefit other people but are just collecting dust at your house?

Micah said that he is going to start with his closet and then he wants us to do it with the whole house. He is going to divide things into 3 piles. Trash. Give away. Keep. (and we will take pictures and keep you informed of the whole process)

After the cleaning is done and the trash is gone and the give away is ready to....well....give away, Micah is then going to take a good look at his "keep" pile and decide what is really important.

He said, "But mom...nothing is important. So am I supposed to get rid of everything?". I told him no, that is not the point. The point is that learning that storing up earthly treasure is pointless because it will all be gone one day and it is his WILLINGNESS to let things go that is the whole purpose.

So...I tested him. His most valuable and most loved possession is his treasure chest. He received it for Christmas and he has filled it with all the things that a 7 year old boy considers "treasure". There are fake jewels, old watches, notes from Matt, coins found lying around, beads, and all sorts of things that are SO important to Micah.

I said "Micah, if you are going to ask other people to take a good look at what they have and see if they actually NEED it or are just hanging on to it just to have, then you have to be willing to give up YOUR greatest treasure as well". I said "Micah, are you willing to give up your treasure chest?". He looked at me with huge brown eyes and it hit him right then. It actually hit him. He knew what I was asking of him and what he was going to be asking of other people. I actually wasn't prepared for what he said. He looked forward and wiped some tears away from his eyes and said (and this is an EXACT quote) "Mom, that is going to be very hard to do. But, if it will help other people.....then I'll do it".

Here is a picture of Micah receiving his chest on our Christmas morning:

I'm actually crying right now as I type this. I do not deserve this child. He is so....amazing. I don't deserve him. He actually thinks that he is going to give up his treasure chest. I'm going to tell him this weekend that he doesn't have to give it up and that a treasure chest filled with fake pearls and diamonds actually won't help anyone. But it is jut the fact that he is willing to give it up to help other people realize what is really important and what is not.

So...the challenge is based upon a 7 year old's willingness to give up the one thing that means the world to him. Go through your house or a closet or somewhere and take a good look at what you have. Think about the hungry. Think about the homeless. Think about people who have nothing, and start making piles. Piles to give away....piles to take to the Salvation Army or Goodwill....or the neighbor. Not piles to go into a garage sale to make money. GIVE AWAY.

Give away and expect nothing in return. That is Micah's challenge.

Micah has challenged Matt and I to do the same thing. He asked me what is my most valued possession....and he asked Matt the same thing and this weekend we are going through the house to see what we have been keeping around....just because.

The Bible says to store up treasures in Heaven.....NOT on earth.

Please accept this challenge. Pray about what God would have you and you family do. We found out some very sad news about some family members of mine that makes this challenge even more "real". Life is short. The prize is Heaven. Not who has the most "things".

Please send us e-mails about how your family has chosen to accept this challenge. mpj911@gmail.com

God is so good, so faithful. He has blessed us beyond our wildest imagination. It is time that we stop putting our focus on the world and put it back on HIM where it belongs.

It took a 7 year old to remind us this.

Accept this challenge for you and for your family.

Micah is willing to give up his most beloved earthly treasure. What are you willing to give up?

One more day

Micah's newest challenge will be announced tomorrow (Friday). There is a specific reason we have had to wait to announce it. It is because we had to "test" it to see if it would work. I mean, Micah couldn't challenge other people to do things that he wouldn't do himself. So we did. Challenge him I mean.

And.....I do not deserve this child. He amazes me. I can hardly wait to tell you all what Micah wants to do....and what he is willing to do. =)

Stay tuned!!!

New Challenge

Micah wants you all to know that he has come up with a new challenge. It involves no money this time and EVERYONE can do it. We are praying about how to "word" it and will announce it very very soon.

Thanks again to EVERYONE who participated in Micah's other challenges. He is excited about The Micah Project and is constantly asking when we are going to be able to "help people" again.

In his mind it is easy...just go help people. What he doesn't realize is that with Matt in Dallas and me taking care of the kids alone, it isn't the easiest thing to do to go to downtown Waco and start handing out things.

But, with this new challenge, he too will be faced with doing something "different" and we hope that even though he thinks it is going to be easy that he will learn something from his own challenge.

Stay tuned!