Quotes from Jan Karon

Someone had said that in Ireland there's no such thing as bad weather—only the wrong clothes.

We're not thinking what if,' he said. 'We're thinkin' when.

Listening is among the most generous ways to give.

She had called Cynthia then to come out and speak the truth, and Cynthia had uplifted and encouraged her.

George Macdonald wrote this: 'Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best. God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best and man will not take it.

Their counselor had taught them to pray before big talks, to be sensitive to timing.

the trees began to form

Oh, shoot, that's my cell.' Shirlene snatched the thing from the folds of her caftan and checked the ID. 'No way am I takin' this—it's Charlie Jackson, th' big creep.' 'Hello, baby . . .' 'If he ever said what's on his mind, he'd be speechless.

We decided he might like to know about the people and places that belong to him now so he can begin a story all his own.

I said, Thy will be done." "That's the prayer that never fails.

Fear is one of the Enemy's deadliest strategies.

Just be who you are,' said Beth, 'because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

If his wife was happy and his boy was happy, he was happy.

You could tell a lot about people who would stop what they were doin' to watch the Almighty go about his business.

Then he prayed for (...) and all the rest who made up his world.

God answers all our heartfelt petitions. He may answer no, or yes, or wait, or maybe. Yet there's one prayer for which he has only one answer, and the answer is yes.' 'Tell me,' she said, sharp. 'Thy will be done.

Thank you for the joy and the sorrow he brings. Be with him always, to surround him with right influences, and when tests of any kind must come, give him wisdom and strength to act according to your will. Look over his mother, also, and the other children, wherever they are. Feed and clothe them, keep them from harm, and bring them one day into a full relationship with your Son.

Thomas à Kempis: "Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it, except sitting in a corner by myself with a book.

I try to wait for Him to make the darkness light, then grow afraid and try to create the light on my own.

Don't worry about anything," Paul had written to the church at Philippi, "but in everything, by prayer and supplication, make your requests known unto God. And the peace that passes all understanding will fill your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

That's why growing old together is lovely. You have someone to complain to.

When things worked, they were theirs; when they failed, they were his.

Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.

Come sit on my lap,' she said. Soon, very soon, he would think himself too big for lap-sitting. He got down from his chair and she picked him up; he was solid as anything. She held him close and swayed her body a little, like a cradle rocking, and soon he looked at her with the lovely solemnity that seemed to be a hallmark of their Jack Tyler, and said, ' I could prob'ly have a deviled egg now.