Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 June 2003 — Page 16

Page 16 • The Muncie Times • June 19, 2003

Quit Smoking!!!

I

Did...

JoAnne Johnson started smoking in 1981 because everybody was doing it and it was “just a social thing.” “We all did it,” she said. Johnson smoked first thing in the morning over a cup of coffee and the newspaper, smoked during breaks at work and when she was around certain people. She finished a pack every 24 hours. Whenever anybody questioned her habit she answered with the line, “I buy my own cigarettes. I enjoy smoking and I don’t want to quit.” It took a sermon by Pastor Jackson of Union Baptist Missionary Church to turn her around. “The sermon was on 1 Corinthians 4 verse 1 about good stewardship. I realized then that smoking was interrupting my personal relationship with God,” she said. With the help of a friend Johnson fasted and prayed until she kicked the habit. “I take no praise for myself,” she said, “I give all that to God.” Since she quit, Johnson has found peace, joy and a sense of purpose. She can now take longer walks, run upstairs, and rollerblade without easily running short of breath. Her taste buds work better and so does her sense of smell and she is free of that odor and smoke that used to be such a nagging part of her life. “I knew that God could move mountains and he did.”

JoAnne Johnson