A country girl, I grew up in the 1950s, a time that has been called idyllic by some and grossly intolerant by others. As for me, I was called naïve by friends and family. When only fifteen, however, I traveled to Italy as a foreign-exchange student where I lived with a kind and protective Sicilian family of six brothers and one sister. It was during that summer I began to grow up, to appreciate our cultural differences, and to see that - despite those differences - we shared many common values. Travel has that effect on people. Whether we go from one country to another or from one stage of life to the next, the trip increases our knowledge and, hopefully, our understanding of other ways of life. I write to address our common values. Don't we all want to be loved and accepted? Don't we all seek meaning and purpose? Don't we all need hope? Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working and praying with hundreds of women in churches and in crisis settings. As Dear Julie, I was entrusted to address pressing issues posed by many of my 14,000 Facebook followers. Through these ministries, I have grown in my admiration for womankind in general. Our world has changed dramatically, and we’ve been expected to change right along with it. In many ways, we’ve been successful—in some ways, we have a lot of work to do. Often, the best work is simply to hold fast to the unchanging values presented in Scripture. I write suspense-filled stories about women facing complex issues who find encouragement and support in each other and, ultimately, in God. I am an active member of ACFW and CCW (formerly Oregon Christian Writers).
Dear Julie is a biblically-based advice column. For decades Julie S Johnson has been in a position of leadership in women's ministry in churches as well as in Christian non-profit ministries and speakers bureaus. She has earned the trust of thousands of women facing crises in their personal lives as well as on the front lines of ministry work. In addition, she hosted the Dear Julie column on Facebook where her 14,000+ followers consulted her for advice. We all face challenging issues that confound us. There is no shame in seeking advice. Please be brave. By sending in your questions, you may be helping other readers. Be assured Dear Julie will search the scriptures and pray over your question before answering. Your name will be deleted to protect your confidentiality. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send your questions to Dear Julie on the Contact Page.
Those of you who love the Psalms will enjoy reading "A String of Selah Pearls," a series of devotionals dealing with the Selah passages. Though all of Scripture is God-inspired, we are to pay special attention when a verse is followed by the word "Selah" which means to think, to meditate. You will find these posts on the Selah Pearls page. Do you appreciate poetry? I have journals filled with my own poetry, hymns, and meditations to share with you as well. Many I have formatted into frameable copy which I will make available to you via my monthly newsletter. I have written a series of six stand-alone books that are ready for publication. I can't wait to share them with you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be informed as the books are published as well as to receive a free sample chapter and my monthly newsletter, please subscribe in the box on the Welcome page.