If things are tough, remember that every flower that ever bloomed had to go through a whole lot of dirt to get there. The almighty Father will use life's reverses to move you forward. So do not keep grieving about a bitter experience. The present is slipping by while you are regretting the past and worrying about the future. Regret will not prevent tomorrow's sorrows; it will only rob today of its strength.
Barbara JohnsonMotherhood: if it were going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor.
Barbara JohnsonAs you're rushing through life, take time to stop a moment, look into people's eyes, say something kind, and try to make them laugh!
Barbara JohnsonTrue love doesn't have a happy ending, because true love never ends. Letting go is one way of saying I love you.
Barbara JohnsonA thin line separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. Our lives constantly walk that line. When we slip off on one side or the other, we're taken by surprise. But who said there wouldn't be surprises? Knowing God just means that all the rules will be fair; at the end of our life drama, we'll see that. We never know how things will turn out, but if we know with certainty they will make sense regardless of how they turn out, we're on to something.
Barbara JohnsonI think living to be one hundred would be great, but living to fifty twice would be so much better.
Barbara JohnsonLife is a refining process. Our response to it determines whether we'll be ground down or polished up. On a piano, one person sits down and plays sonatas, while another merely bangs away at "Chopsticks." The piano is not responsible. It's how you touch the keys that makes the difference. It's how you play what life gives you that determines your joy and shine.
Barbara JohnsonLive every day to fulfill your personal mission. God has a reason for whatever season you are living through right now. A season of loss or blessing? A season of activity or hibernation? A season of growth or incubation? You may think you're on a detour, but God knows the best way for you to reach your destination.
Barbara JohnsonDon’t let your life speed out of control. Live intentionally. Do something today that will last beyond your lifetime.
Barbara JohnsonHow will you use the years God gives you? Will you be remembered for being a fault-finder? Or will you be known for your quick smile, the laugh lines around your eyes, and the twinkle deep within? After all, God gives you your face, but you provide the expression!
Barbara JohnsonTeaching literature is teaching how to read. How to notice things in a text that a speed-reading culture is trained to disregard, overcome, edit out, or explain away; how to read what the language is doing, not guess what the author was thinking; how to take evidence from a page, not seek a reality to substitute for it.
Barbara JohnsonAre our ways of teaching students to ask some questions always correlative with our ways of teaching them not to ask - indeed, to be unconscious of - others? Does the educational system exist in order to promulgate knowledge, or is its main function rather to universalize a society’s tacit agreement about what it has decided it does not and cannot know?
Barbara JohnsonWe cannot protect ourselves from trouble, but we can dance through the puddles of life with a rainbow smile, twirling the only umbrella we need -- the umbrella of God's love.
Barbara JohnsonWe can choose to gather to our hearts the thorns of disappointment, failure, loneliness, and dismay in our present situation. Or we can gather the flowers of God's grace, boundless love, abiding presence, and unmatched joy. I choose to gather the flowers.
Barbara JohnsonIf we give someone a piece of bread and butter, that's kindness, but if we put jelly or peanut butter on it, then it's Loving Kindness.
Barbara JohnsonAllow your dreams a place in your prayers and plans. God-given dreams can help you move into the future He is preparing for you.
Barbara JohnsonIf you can forgive the person you were, accept the person you are, and believe in the person you will become, you are headed for joy. So celebrate your life.
Barbara JohnsonI don't have to figure out why or how or when. God has a plan, and I'm committed to it. That commitment frees me from having to worry about the details.
Barbara JohnsonBeing codependent means that when you die, someone else's life passes before your eyes.
Barbara JohnsonLaughter dulls the sharpest pain and flattens out the greatest stress. To share it is to give a gift of health.
Barbara JohnsonLaughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles. It won't take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother
Barbara JohnsonThe attitude of kindness is everyday stuff like a great pair of sneakers. Not frilly. Not fancy. Just plain and comfortable.
Barbara JohnsonForgiveness is a stunning principle, your ticket out of hate and fear and chaos. ... I know what regret feels like; I've earned my credentials. But I also know what forgiveness feels like, because God has so graciously forgiven me.
Barbara JohnsonTime mellows people as it mellows wine, as long as the grapes are good. You may set out to be a businesswoman or businessman but in the course of time end up caring for a dying parent, orphaned niece, or disabled brother. You may encounter illness yourself and end up being a writer, touching the heartstrings, not the purse strings of other people. That's why it's best to always be true to yourself and God and to be flexible within His will. He will use you.
Barbara JohnsonWorry is the senseless process of cluttering up tomorrows opportunities with leftover problems from today
Barbara JohnsonLive for today, but hold your hands open to tomorrow. Anticipate the future and its changes with joy. There is a seed of God's love in every event, every unpleasant situation in which you may find yourself.
Barbara Johnson