Four Concerts - a bit of catch-up work!

During the Christmas season, it's easy to fall behind on certain things. Here are a few concerts I intended posting about...but...never...got....around to it. Hmm... I wonder how that happens?

This concert was one we did at our home church on Christmas Day! That was fun. I've never done a concert on my birthday before!

Silas' bell-ringing is always a hit - he's such fun to watch!

Concert #2: Christmas Eve

Above the exit doors, this church had painted "You are now entering the mission field." It was an interesting reminder.

~A beautiful candle-lit service followed the concert. Everyone stood around the perimeter of the large auditorium and sang "Silent Night" and "John 3:16" as the flame of a single candle was passed from person to person until the ring of light in the darkness was complete.
We children walked around until we found a spot in the church to take a "5-teens" picture. Yep, we had 5 teenagers in our house for three-quarters of a year. (Silas, 9, is behind the camera here.)

#3 - Sovereign Grace Church in Dows
We always have a great time here!
Thank you Nela for taking pictures of us at this concert! Beloved Star Photography

A meal ... a huge spread of delectable cookies ... friends ... great conversations ....

A wonderful day!

#4: Temple Baptist Church in Charles City - This church is home to some more amazing people! Fun finger food and fellowship followed the program. All of us enjoyed spending time with friends and also some people from our church who had driven over for the evening.

Stop.

Really think about that quote.

Is it true for you?

A Day in the Life of the Johnson Strings

Our day begins bright and early. We have eaten breakfast together, packed the van, and gotten ready to go! The time is 8:24AM.

We have arrived at our first destination! Unpacking, tuning, and warming up goes quickly.
With the first event behind us, we pack up and now are unpacking at our next location. Four hours and forty-one minutes have elapsed.
We are getting ready to play for the Ravenwood Christmas Open House.


After the concert, our lunch consist of the leftovers from the party.
Here we are, packing up once more! Is this starting to sound repetitive?
The time is 3:48.
5:54 After driving and unpacking once again, we begin tuning our instruments here at St. Ansgar Baptist Church.

Next comes testing the mic mix and sound levels at 6:04.


8:36 After a time of food and fellowship, we tear down and pack up.
At 9:00, we are almost ready to depart.
We drive and unpack for the last time today.

As you can see, it is 10:33. Home again, home again only 14 hours and 9 minutes later! What a day.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men"

Colossians 3:23

Two Churches, Two Seasons

Thanksgiving - a season for remembering God's blessings in our lives

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

Colossians 2:6-7

Christmas - A season of Joy, celebrating Jesus, the light of the world, coming to earth to save us from our sins

Come hear our Christmas program for this year - "Eternal Light"!

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Psalm 27:1

Merry Christmas!

We were privileged to play at the Veteran's Day Republican function in Grundy County.

Lance Horbach, an Iowa House Representative, gave a tribute to the veterans.
Some of the other speakers included Annette Sweeney from the Iowa House, Bill Dix from the Iowa Senate, Steve King from the U.S House of Representatives, Pat Grassley - an Iowa State Representative, and Charles Grassley - a United States Senator.

After we played our instruments, we got pictures with Pat Grassley, Charles Grassley,
and Lance Horbach. Thanks guys!

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

– 2 Chronicles 7:14

Marion County State Bank put together an evening for their senior patrons and we were the entertainment. Held at the new Christian High School in Pella, we enjoyed playing in their beautiful auditorium. After the concert, everybody ate Dutch Letter ice cream – made locally! It was absolutely delicious. I had no idea there even was such a thing!

Party time!

We played at a small John Deere work party for engineers. The party was unlike any we’d ever been to. Think of the typical engineer and then picture this: a group of engineers all singing “Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes” and doing the actions!!! Wow. Anyway, we had fun. J

New and Exciting!

Guess what? We are currently working on producing our fourth CD and are very excited! For the first time, we recorded at Catamount Studios, an ‘acoustically brilliant’ 4,000-square-foot, world-class recording studio in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Catamount has 16-foot ceilings with bass traps. Each room is on a different slab of concrete to keep vibrations from traveling between rooms. There are absolutely no parallel surfaces or 90-degree angles, leaving the room with a beautiful, warm sound. We were even able to record during a thunder/rain storm without knowing it! We loved having the room to spread out and not be squished together. The grand piano was a wonderful addition to the CD in place of the electric piano we regularly use.

After many long hours, we finished recording our fourth CD and are now working on the graphic design (me) paying royalties (Mommy) and mixing and mastering the tracks (our recording engineer, Jake). Look for our new CD in a few weeks!