Leota's Garden Quotes

“Every religion in the world is about man trying to reach up to God, like working your way up the ladder. They’re all about striving to achieve something for yourself. Christianity is the only religion about God reaching down to man and offering salvation as a free gift, with the added bonus of a personal relationship with the Creator God through Jesus Christ, who was there in the beginning.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“In January the lavender heather and white candytufts would bloom. February perked up the plum tree, and March would bring forth the daffodils, narcissus, and moonlight bloom. April lilacs and sugartuft would blossom along with the pink and bloodred rhododendrons, bluebells, and the apple tree in the victory garden. As the weather warmed, miniature purple irises would rise amid the volunteers of white alyssum and verbena. The roses, dahlias, white Shasta daisies, black-eyed Susans, and marigolds would bloom from late spring to early fall. Leota could see it. She knew exactly”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Sometimes you have to tell the truth, no matter how hard it is. Even when it doesn't change anything. People seem to make the same mistakes over and over again.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“As for Leota, She had chosen to close her mind to the things she couldn't change and move forward. There were many good things in life to allow things beyond your control to destroy you.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“You teach the heart as well as the mind. Sometimes the truth is hard to bear, but it's better to walk in the light of truth than to live in the darkness of lies.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Corban felt a heaviness in the pit of his stomach. Leota Reinhardt was trying to teach him something”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“She wasn’t a ditz. She was just plain weird. Her face was lit up”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Mother had never understood that Grandma Leota was extending an invitation to her. She’d always referred to the garden as a place of labor rather than a labor of love.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“By the way”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“When your children are over here on my place”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Father,” her grandmother said solemnly”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“The Lord always left a way to escape temptation”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“If she had learned one thing in her long life it was to put less stock in what the world was doing and more in getting right with the Lord. It took God to change a heart. A changed heart meant a changed life. Enough of them and then”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“And You”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“A good pruning stimulates the right kind of growth. Same holds true with people.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“The tree will bear fruit this year,” Mrs. Reinhardt said. “Lots of it.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Annie gave a soft laugh filled with apparent relief. “I’m so glad”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Doesn’t every young wife imagine a life of fulfillment and joy? And then reality comes barging in”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“There were too many good things in life to allow things beyond your control to destroy you.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Problems not dealt with had a way of growing like weeds in a garden. If given full freedom”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Like a calf making a run from the herd only to have the drover ride her down and nail her with a lasso.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“It wasn’t until the end that he repented and wept for the wasted years.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Man strives to do things his own way, and yet, it is always Your will that prevails.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“God created the garden for man and placed him in it. Adam and Eve fell into sin in a garden. Jesus taught in a garden. Our Lord prayed in a garden. He was betrayed in a garden. And He arose in a garden. And someday—” her grandmother’s eyes had shone—“we will all be reunited in the garden.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“All day Annie had watched family members, friends, and neighbors wander around the garden, and she kept thinking how they were all like flowers. Some were poppies, blooming bold and brief. Others were like ornamental vines, passionflowers, or trumpets. Still others were shy violets and wallflowers. And all together, what a beautiful world they made. Everyone different, everyone amazing to behold.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“There’s no difference in God’s eyes between Ruth having that abortion and you wishing her dead and in hell for it.” She saw his eyes flicker. She didn’t want him to misunderstand her. “And I’m no better than either of you with the bitterness I allowed to take root in me. Sin is sin, Corban. There’s no big or small about it. It’s all the same in God’s eyes, and unless you confess it and lay it at the cross, it separates you from God. That’s why we need Jesus, so we can be reconciled.”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden

“Did Honoring mean to do everything you were told without question? Did it mean swift capitulation? Did it mean giving up yourself for the sake of living out someone else's dreams? No matter what that dream was?”
― Francine Rivers, Leota's Garden