Following God’s Plan One Nail at a Time
We’re Dan and Diana Johnson. Married for over four decades, we’ve lived in Texas, California, South Carolina—and now back in Texas again. We’ve raised children, traveled, worked hard, made mistakes, and held on through every season with one thing at the center: faith in God.
We didn’t start with a detailed life plan. What we had was faith—and a willingness to follow God's direction. Over the years, we’ve learned that we don’t need to see the whole picture. We just need to trust the Master Builder. As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
God as the Architect
In carpentry, you don’t start hammering boards together without a plan. You need blueprints—something to guide you. In life, we’ve found that God’s Word is the only blueprint that holds up over time. It’s not always flashy or trendy, but it’s solid, true, and unshakable.
As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”
That’s how we’ve tried to build our life—on Scripture, not opinion.
We know this: the Word is God. And when man tries to twist it, soften it, or water it down, that’s like building on sand. It might look fine for a season, but storms are coming. Jesus said it best in Matthew 7:24-25:
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Doing What He Says
Faith isn’t just what we say. It’s what we do.
“Do not merely listen to the word… Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
Following God means obeying when it’s hard, trusting when we can’t see, and keeping His Word above all else. That’s how we’ve lived—not perfectly, but purposefully.
And we’ve seen the fruit of that obedience. Looking back now, we see a life that was built—not just lived. We see God’s fingerprints all over the foundation.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)
What This Blog Is Really About
This won’t be a blog full of sermons. It’ll be a place for life. A place for songs, stories, and reflections. We’ll talk about woodworking projects, grandchildren, recipes, travel memories, music, and sometimes even spiritual lessons we’ve picked up along the way.
We want to celebrate living—loving life and living it to the fullest. We’ll share from the heart, from experience, and always with the hope that something we’ve walked through might encourage you where you’re standing.
So, welcome. Whether you're here for the faith, the family stories, or the sawdust—we’re glad you stopped by.
The world will hand you a thousand blueprints—but we’ve found that only one holds up: the one drawn by the hands of God. We just do our best to follow it, one faithful step at a time.