Joy > Joy's Quotes

“That light is bright enough to light up a little speck of the night sky so a man can see it a ways away. That's what God expects us to do. We're to be lights in the dark, cold days that are this world. Like fireflies in December.
”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Fireflies in December

“(He) let evil into his mind and it took over his heart. We best be on our guard and keep our minds on what's right and true so we don't become things we'll regret.....That's why we all need to know Jesus in our hearts.....Ain't no one else who can keep watch over our hearts like He can. Ain't no one else who can take the bad out and replace it with good. ”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Fireflies in December

“I’d grown quite fond of the wind since Miss Cleta had taught me the secrets of it. “It’s the breath of God, Jessilyn,” she’d say, lifting her face to greet it. “Just listen to it talkin’ to your soul.”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Catching Moondrops

“Daddy didn’t say anything for a minute or so, and then he reached up and caught a firefly as it glowed beside him. “See this light?” he asked me when the firefly lit up his hand.


“Yes’r.”


“That light is bright enough to light up a little speck of the night sky so a man can see it a ways away. That’s what God expects us to do. We’re to be lights in the dark, cold days that are this world. Like fireflies in December.”


“Time meandered on without Gemma’s momma and daddy, and it meandered on without Cy fuller and Walt Blevins. . . but those of us left behind viewed life more dearly, felt it more keenly. I’d learned a bit more about God and I’d seen His powerful hands at work. As I was growing, my heart was changing. And the way I figured it, there were lessons learned in those dark days that would help me for years to come.”


“As I sat on the porch on that December day . . . I leaned my head against the rail and sighed deeply. The way I figured it just then, my summer may have been full of bad luck, but my life wasn’t. I figured as far as family went, I was one of the luckiest girls alive.”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Fireflies in December

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
― Bill Keane

“ The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.”
― Kent M. Keith, The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
― Mother Teresa

“The universe is neither centered on earth nor the sun. It is centered on God.”
― Alfred Noyes

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
― George Washington Carver

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.”
― Martin Luther

“My daddy says that the moon fills up a little more every day until it just gets too full and starts to spill out. Then those moondrops fall to earth until the moon disappears altogether and has to fill up all over again. and if you're lucky enough, you'll catch one of those moondrops, because moondrops can make you see the whole world brighter.”
― Jennifer Erin Valent, Catching Moondrops

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees