An Inspiring Testimony of Triumph

A Teenage Triumph

“THREE YOUNG PEOPLE KILLED, 3 HURT IN 3-CAR CRASH. Palm Springs, June 6. Three young people were killed and three others injured in a three-car head-on collision on Highway 111 at the northern edge of this desert resort town this afternoon. The dead were Robert Joseleyn...his passenger Karen Ruth Johnson 17...”

With these words a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times broke the front page news in cold print to the sprawling city of Los Angeles that a horrible tragedy had just taken place in nearby Palm Springs. Three young people had been cut off in the bloom of their lives, and a fourth soon died from injuries in the accident.

What the correspondent could not have known was that the family of Karen Johnson would publish a brochure in which they described this indubitable tragedy from a human point of view as “A Teenage Triumph.” Perhaps as many as 1,000,000 copies of this brochure, in twelve different languages, have since been distributed.

TRIUMPH?

How could a grieving family possibly view the sudden death of one of their dear members as “triumph”? The answer to this question lies in the fact of Karen and her family's belief that not even death itself can separate us from the love of God.

DEDICATED

Like so many other Christian parents, Edward and Joyce Johnson decided to dedicate their first-born daughter to the Lord. One Sunday morning they went to Moody Memorial Church in Chicago where, in a dedication service, Pastor Harry Ironside prayed that the Lord would bless their small child. For the Johnsons this was no mere ceremony. They believed that the Lord had given Karen Ruth to them as a gift; Karen belonged to Him, not to them. To be certain that Karen would later know that she had been dedicated to the Lord, Ed Johnson made a recording of the service.

As a small child, Karen was full of life. She loved to play. She also loved to listen to Bible stories which her mother and father read to her. One evening when she was five, she said to her mom: “I want to give my life to the Lord." She got down on her knees and asked Jesus to come into her heart.”

THREE HOMES

Not much time later, as the family was driving near the Johnsons' summer home at Bethany Beach, Michigan, with Karen sitting in the back seat of the car, she suddenly piped up with: “Daddy, you know we have three homes.” One of her startled parents turned to the five-year-old in the back seat and asked: “What do you mean, Karen?” She responded, “We have one home in Illinois, one home in Michigan, and one home in Heaven.” Her father was to remember this incident very clearly later in his life.

Karen Johnson was a very special person. Both the fellows and the girls in her youth group found her both kind and outgoing. They held a surprise party for her when she was a senior in high school. Her classmates at San Marino High School were so impressed by her personal warmth and charm that they described her as a “precious pearl” in her senior yearbook.

But what made her so special? What made her so attractive to literally hundreds of people? It was probably only after Karen's death that some of us began to realize how deep her love for the Savior had been. For she knew Jesus in a way that transformed her relationships with her teenage friends.

On Thursday June 4, 1959, Karen finished a school assignment at San Marino High School. On Friday, June 5, 1959, she gave it to her teacher. On Saturday June 6, the very next day, Karen's earthly life ceased in the split-second trauma of a head-on automobile accident.

It was only after the accident that a next door neighbor girl reminded the Johnsons that Karen had written the school assignment. The San Marino high school principal looked for it and gave it to the parents. The Johnsons had never read it before. Karen had written it as her last senior paper for her high school teacher. The paper revealed her deep love for the Lord Jesus.

Karen's “Philosophy of Life” starts like this: “My philosophy of life is based on the Holy Bible and the God that wrote it. I know that He has a plan for my life and through daily prayer and reading of His Word I will be able to see it. As far as my life work or life partner is concerned I am leaving it in His hands and am willing to do anything He says.”

“I feel that this philosophy is very practical and can be applied to everyday life. Every decision can be taken to the Lord in prayer and the peace that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as my personal Savior is something many cannot understand. Many search for a purpose and reason for life. I know that I am on this earth to have fellowship with God and to win others to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that after death I will go to be with Him forever...”

When the automobile accident took place on June 6, 1959, Karen's family was out at the family cabin in Hesperia, near Palm Springs. As a friend and several others came toward the cabin, Ed Johnson sensed that something was wrong. He left the cabin to meet them and asked, “Is it Karen?” The friend sorrowfully explained what had happened and asked if he could help Ed by telling the family. Ed Johnson thanked him and said that this would not be necessary. He walked back into the cabin and gathered the family around him. Even in this dire situation, the Lord met Ed Johnson's needs as a grieving father. Ed introduced the family members to the tragedy with these words: “Before we asked God why He took Karen Home, let us thank Him for the seventeen years we had with her.”

One of the police officers who had first come upon the scene of the accident took Ed Johnson aside at the inquest, saying to him: “You are a Christian, aren't you?” “Yes,” replied Ed Johnson. Then the officer told him, “I will never forget the smile on her face.”

The following is the exact senior paper Karen had written for her high school teacher as her last writing.

My Philosophy of Life

On Thursday June 4, Karen finished her last senior paper at San Marino High School. On Friday June 5, she gave it to her teacher.

===

June 5, 1959

MY PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

by Karen Ruth Johnson

My philosophy of life is based on the Holy Bible and the God that wrote it. I know that he has a plan for my life and through daily prayer and reading of His Word I will be able to see it. As far as my life work or life partner I am leaving it in His hands and am willing to do anything He says.

I feel that this philosophy is very practical and can be applied to everyday life. Every decision can be taken to the Lord in prayer and the peace that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as my personal Savior is something many cannot understand. Many search for a purpose and reason for life. I know that I am on this earth to have a fellowship with God and to win others to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that after death I will go to be with Him forever.

Jesus Christ teaches love and respect for everyone through the New Testament and we are not to judge anyone because He will on the judgment day. In God's sight no one person is worth any more than another. Knowing and loving Jesus Christ personally makes me want to please Him and accomplish things for His Glory. Paul says in the New Testament, "Whatsoever ye do, do it all to the glory of God" and "For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain."

This philosophy contains all seven points given in your lecture of April 20th. As I stated in the beginning, it is very

1. practical to have someone to turn to for any decision or problem, small or large. What could be more

2. optimistic than knowing that God has a purpose and plan for one's life and is willing to keep in constant fellowship with anyone who will. To know I have accepted Jesus Christ's gift of salvation and will have eternal life in Heaven is a most wonderful thing and brings peace to my heart. God has the best for us and if we let Him He will improve our lives and solve our problems.

3. God in His Holy Word teaches us to have love and a burden for every person as Jesus Christ Himself.

4. One of my main purposes in life is to share this experience I have had with Christ and to show them the peace and happiness that it brings.

5. This is an important goal in itself, but more completely, my aim in life is to accomplish what the Lord has for me to do, which is certainly the most worthwhile goal in life.

6. The closer I grow to Him the more happiness I find and the busier I am. He has things for me that the world could never offer and I learn to appreciate more and more how fortunate I am.

7. God's standards are higher than anything attainable, and present a great challenge and make me realize how futile it would be for me to do the best I could, because I, being human, could never reach God's standards, and therefore never be worthy of entering Heaven. God has given me contact with the best; in His world, in my born again friends, and in my fellowship with Jesus Christ. It is well known that the highest beauty, truth, justice, and goodness is found in God's Word.

This is my philosophy, yet it is not mine, but I am God's, and whatever I have is His and I have faith that He is the only answer and I love Him so.

===

On Saturday June 6, the very next day, Karen's earthly life ceased in the split-second trauma of a head-on automobile accident. She was only seventeen. As her "Philosophy of Life" reveals, even at a young age, she knew the joys of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Throughout the years the Johnsons have received boxes of letters from people who had read Karen's "Philosophy of Life." Many have noted that they had decided to follow Christ after reading this "Philosophy," and some young men decided to go into the Christian ministry as a result of it. Perhaps the Johnsons were right after all. This was indeed a "Teenage Triumph." Their daughter Karen was at her third home - with the Lord she so dearly loved.

-from "More Than Conquerors" by John Woodbridge