This Christmas

I am sitting down with my friend Billie Jean Johnson on this very special Christmas, because any Christmas we are lucky enough to have is special. Even more so for some of us. Billie Jean is funny, sarcastic, and loud. She has a smile that spreads all the way across her face. She’s the queen of laughing at her own jokes, and she thinks she’s the funniest person in the room. The first time we met, I attended a party she was hosting and nothing was home cooked.

She's been married to the love of her life over 25 years. She’s a parent and a grandparent. She’s a faithful and loyal friend who’s never met a purse or a fake set of nails that she doesn't love. She likes big Texas cars and long hair extensions. She is more girly girl than I am on my best day. Every time I've seen her she's been dressed to the nines. Yet, she's never uppity and has zero pretense.

She is someone who believes in community. She built a rehabilitation and recovery center for people with addictions. She has fed inner-city families on Thanksgiving with her giant walk-through Thanksgiving buffet. She has literally brought hundreds of volunteers together to serve dinner plates to shut-ins. Billie Jean isn’t on the show today  for the amazing things that she has done. She’s here because of where she’s going.

Unless a miracle happens, this will be the last Christmas that Billie Jean has with her husband Jeramy and her girls, Haley and Jessica. It will be the last Christmas she watches her grandson or son-in-law open gifts. Stupid, horrible, spiteful cancer may very well win this one. I asked Billy Jean a few weeks ago if I could sit with her in silence and grief and ask her some questions. We often want to ask questions of those with one foot on the other side, but are too afraid too. It’s an honor to sit and talk with Billie Jean on this episode.

Show Notes:

• [05:17] Billy Jeans go to meal in Lufkin would be a turkey burger from Mom's Diner.
• [05:54] Friendship means family and being there through the good and the ugly. 
• [06:20] Every one Billie Jean knows has risen to this season. 
• [07:13] Billie Jean has many roles and the actress who would play her might surprise you.
• [07:43] Billie Jean has always been an optimistic person. She believes that God is good and only gives good gifts. 
• [08:19] Her perspective on life is taking care of what God has put her here to do and nothing else matters.
• [09:40] Her family is her greatest testimony, so she's letting them see how she can live and die graciously.
• [12:12] Billie Jean had a great health report from the doctor. Two weeks later they went back to the doctor, and found out that the tumors had grown. There were so many tumors that Billie Jean wouldn't make it through the surgery to remove them.
• [13:17] When Billie Jean and her husband heard this news, they were shocked. 
• [14:22] Billie Jean doesn't worry about the fear of dying, it's what she leaves behind that has to wrestle with the pain. 
• [15:17] Years ago, Billie Jean dealt with losing her dad from addiction and her sister's addiction. She then took care of her sister's children. The whole experience was an emotional roller coaster for Billie Jean. 
• [16:28] She cried out to God, and he took the pain away