I was brought up to adore God.

I was taught to pray every night, to thank Him

for the blessings that we had.

I would go to synagogue with my father and hold his hand.

Our home with filled with joy.

REPORTER: Tree Johnson was just 16 when her father suffered

a massive fatal heart attack.

There was a tremendous shift from the joy.

It went to tremendous sorrow.

I remember on the day of the funeral

looking out and wondering how people were going on

with their lives so joyfully when we were on the way

to bury my daddy.

My mother, who had been so strong all those years, caring

for him and for us, was so filled with sorrow

that she turned to me and she said,

I need you to take care of me.

REPORTER: To honor her mother's request, Tree,

a high-achieving student, graduated from high school

and went straight to work to support her mother.

TREE JOHNSON: That was something that I

had a hard time with because I gave up going

to college in order to do that.

REPORTER: Bree eventually married and had three children.

When her husband became abusive, she had only one option.

TREE JOHNSON: When I walked out the door,

I had my three kids, their clothing, and my clothes.

I left to protect myself and my children.

REPORTER: Starting over was something

Tree had learned from her grandparents, Jewish immigrants

who fled Russia to escape persecution.

TREE JOHNSON: And when they got here,

they started from scratch.

And yet all of their children were successful,

and it was something that we were taught.

You are going to be successful.

REPORTER: Tree continued the family legacy

and poured herself into her work.

TREE JOHNSON: It was important for me to do better every year.

I think part of that was because I did not go to college.

And therefore, I was going to be a success,

and business was the way that I was going to do that.

REPORTER: Around the same time, Tree

was invited to visit a Christian church.

TREE JOHNSON: I always considered Jesus to be a rabbi.

And when I'd see a movie that was about Jesus, I would cry.

And when I was in my early 40s, I finally

saw Him not suffering but loving.

REPORTER: She married again but tragedy

struck once more when her second husband died suddenly.

TREE JOHNSON: I was devastated.

That took me a long time to get over.

REPORTER: In 2009, at age 70, Tree

retired and built her dream home in Texas.

Her daughter had recently come to know Jesus

and invited her to a church conference.

TREE JOHNSON: We were asked to forgive anyone

against whom we had any feelings of resentment or anger.

I realized that all those years I

had been carrying this disappointment

that my mother did not want me to go to college.

And so I actually verbally forgave

my mom, and that was the turning point for me

because it cleared my mind, my heart, and my soul,

and my spirit.

REPORTER: Later, one of the conference leaders

offered communion.

TREE JOHNSON: He said, well, Tree, you

don't have to take communion if you don't want to.

And I said, no, I do want to.

It's very important to me.

I saw Jesus with His arms outspread,

and I knew that he was welcoming me.

And this was my opportunity to say, yes,

I accept You as my Savior.

REPORTER: Tree gave her life to Christ,

started attending church, and read the New Testament

for the first time.

When I finally took that step and said yes,

my life changed totally.

The love that I had had for people

was so much greater because of the love

that He has for me, so kind, so gracious.

REPORTER: Today, Tree is married.

And she and her husband Jack, writing under the pen name

Track Johnson, are the authors of "Winds of Eternity,

the Angel Chronicles."

TREE JOHNSON: It's a very reverent description

in the first five chapters of Genesis,

as seen through the eyes of the angels who

watch God create our earth.

REPORTER: Tree still honors the rich traditions

of the Judaism of her youth, as she follows a Jewish Messiah.

TREE JOHNSON: Going to synagogue,

enjoying the tradition, Passover, Rosh Hashanah,

Yom Kippur, all of those things come together

to make me a better Jew while I am also a Christian.

I am now more of a Jew than I was when I was only Jewish.

What the Lord has given to me is a peace that

literally passes understanding.

That is what I have received from Jesus.

It's phenomenal.

It's joy.