Malachi Orion Fox

Malachi means “angel of the Lord” or in some translations “messenger of the Lord”. Candace decided to name him this because Malachi came at a hard time in her life and he changed everything for the better. It didn’t matter that he was unplanned, he was her angel baby from the very beginning.

From a young age Malachi had a unique personality. When he was a baby he was so calm, and much like his uncle Micah- he didn’t laugh much at adults putting on baby faces or baby voices. He was pretty serious about taking in the world around him. Some would later describe him as a deep soul or an old soul. There is really no one like him, he was one of a kind.

He always loved fiercely. If you were a friend or loved one of his, he would protect you no matter the cost. His little sister, Selah, was his first best friend and at the age of 3 Malachi was pushing down boys he thought were bothering her. He was a protector from the beginning.

Malachi cherished time with his family, even his little cousins, which may have felt more like babysitting at times. Throughout his whole life, Malachi always said his favorite time of year was when all the men went camping together in October. The uncles, boy cousins, his brother, dad, Pappy, and friends all took a weekend to unplug and rough-it-out in nature. From age 3 all the way to 16, this was his favorite.

There’s so much to say about Malachi; so many memories, so many funny facts. It’s hard to narrow it down to a summary. A lot of people who didn’t know him well would describe him as quiet or shy, but really he was always waiting for his moment. He wouldn’t push himself on anyone, but everyone who wanted to know him had free access to his heart and mind.

He could talk forever about his theories and interests. He was always theorizing about time travel in movies or shows. And Malachi LOVED music. He could listen to his playlist for hours on end. His favorite band was Panic at the Disco, but if you looked on his phone he had ALL sorts of music. The Beatles, Queen, Backstreet Boys, Eminem; I think the only genre of music he hated was country. Malachi could take any song and learn it on the piano just by listening to it, and he sang around the house ALL the time.

Malachi also loved dark things, just like Candace. They loved watching scary movies together and scaring other people. When he was maybe 3 or 4 years old, he would walk by the big haunted house in Virginia Beach staring at all the things and asking if he could go in. Of course, the answer was no. But he watched his first scary movie in 6th grade and was immediately hooked. I think he was just waiting most of his childhood to get to the real fun as he saw it: scary things. Halloween was such a fun time of year for the entire Johnson household.

Malachi loved video games and comics. He loved goofing off with his friends and shocking people. He was, in the words of Don, “overly confident” in everything he did. You really couldn’t talk him down from something he wanted to do or believed in. When he was old enough to understand and accept Jesus, he just knew it to be true. He knew Jesus was the answer and there was no questioning it.

He was an artist, a creator, a musician, and so many other things. But I think the most notable thing about Malachi was his love. He loved his friends and family SO very much and he was loved so very much. Which has been made so very evident in these past 2 weeks. We take comfort in knowing he is loved perfectly now in the arms of our Abba/Father. But we will never stop loving and missing him.