Grab the tissues. Hearing this story makes you love Cody Johnson even more. Before pursuing country music, Cody Johnson and his wife Brandi did not live a lavish lifestyle. Before becoming a three-time CMA Award-winning artist, Cody Johnson worked as a prison guard. The native of Huntsville, Texas, followed in his dad's footsteps by pursuing a career in the correctional field. But, honestly, there's not much else to do career-wise when you live in Huntsville. The city of around 46,000 is home to Sam Houston State University, several prisons, and not much else. The average household income of this career is just over $41,000 (about half the national average). Given how vital correctional officers are and since their jobs can involve dangerous situations, you'd like to think they would have a higher salary. However, there are few other career options in Huntsville, Texas. The prison system is the largest employer in the city, employing three times as many employees as Sam Houston State. “There’s seven prisons in Huntsville’s greater area and in my family you either go to prison or you work for the prison. So I just went to work because that’s what my dad did…" Given this career choice, Johnson and his new bride, Brandi, sometimes lived paycheck to paycheck. Although this time in their marriage was financially strained, they never let it get them down, believing this was temporary. Johnson's financial situation turned around in a true Christmas miracle, and his story of the event always brings me to tears. One December, when he and Brandi were in the first years of marriage, he began pursuing songwriting while still working his job. Of course, with it being the holiday season, they wanted to spread a little cheer to those they loved, but they ended up using their last dollars for the month to give a gift to Johnson's parents. "One year, right after Brandi and I had gotten married, we were very broke. Like broke, broke. Like ramen noodles were a luxury, kind of broke. We went to my mom and dad's house, and I took $20; I didn't know this at the time, but it was our last $20 for the rest of the month. And I put it in a Christmas card." On his way home, Johnson felt like his wife kept looking at him funny, unaware that he had given away the few dollars to their name. Brandi then looked at him and informed him that he had done this and that they would have to live off what they had until he got paid on the first of the month. As they were driving home, probably in silence, Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" came on the radio. "Merle always had a way of making people cry, and in the truck, we both cried. We were both wondering how we were going to make it through December until the next year. When we got home, she went in the house and was unpacking leftovers that mom had, thank God, had sent home with us. And for some reason, I checked the mail. I walked out to the end of the driveway, and I checked the mail."  In that mailbox were two pieces of postage that would change the trajectory of their December and, later, their lives. "My first two songwriter checks from ASCAP came in. They were $2,500 apiece. And I walked into the house, and we cried again." The camera then panned to Brandi, sitting in the crowd during the CMT Christmas Special, Johnson recalling the story with tears streaming down her face. Johnson rounds out the story by saying that he and Brandi pulled their couches to the TV, turned on It's A Wonderful Life, and cried again while eating leftovers. @cmt This #christmas miracle is one for the ages ??? @Cody Johnson #codyjohnson #merlehaggard #countrymusic ♬ original sound - CMT After sharing their story, Johnson played Haggard's "If We Make It Through December." Merle Haggard's lyric, "If we make it through December/ Everything's gonna be all right, I know," could not have rang more true for the Johnsons that year, and things did end up more than alright for where he is now. A true Christmas miracle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOr-vjlQpeM