As soon as I set this blog up, I knew I didn’t want to title it “The World Race: Kyle Johnson.” How boring is that? At the same time, I wanted the title I chose to have a really deep meaning. So, with that in mind, I was thinking I would just wait until I started on my journey and was struck by something profound. A child, a father, a city, a verse, a local custom…. something! Then, I realized that if I named my blog that way, it would only be connected to that one place where I had that profound moment and I didn’t want that either. This trip has 11 amazing stops along the way and I don’t want to give preference to one over another before I finish the race.
I was riding to go see Robin Hood last night (GREAT MOVIE!) with a small group from my church and I asked my youth pastor, Shannon, to help me come up with a blog title. After throwing around some ideas, we came up with “Following the Son.”
Travelers are always aware of where the sun is in the sky. Many times, what we do while we’re camping revolves completely around the sun and how much light we have left. On this trip, though, Jesus is my sun. He’s the Son of Man and we should always be aware of where He is in our lives. Our lives should always revolve around Him because without Him, we’re in the dark!
While on this trip, I’m going to meet people who either need to be reminded of how much Jesus loves them or need to find out who He is. Either way, Jesus is the one who is going to be leading me to them–I’m only following Him. Everyone’s situation is going to be different and no one will have identical stories to tell, but God is there for us when we go to Him, whatever our problems may be. By the way, if you haven’t heard Tim McGraw’s song, “I’m Only Jesus,” take a listen (http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-only-jesus-lyrics-tim-mcgraw.html click “listen now”)!
Having this blog called “Following the Son” is going to be a great theme for stories and pictures all throughout the year while I’m gone. Expect to see some amazing sunsets (my dad’s favorite scene to paint) from countries across the world! Expect to hear about where Jesus is leading my team and who we come across! Expect to hear how God is tranforming my own life as I’m following Him to 11 different countries!
One of my dad’s sunset paintings
Maybe the subtitle, where my name still currently stands, is where I can put different profound words that strike me in each country. Whenever I change it, I’ll make sure to make a post about what each one means and why I chose it.
You guys are awesome for reading this and supporting me! If you’ve donated already, THANK YOU! Please continue to follow where I am and what I’m doing!
Thankful for you all!
