Joyce Swann > Quotes

“Do you know anyone who would be willing to die to save those five-thousand serial killers?”
“No. Everyone I know is too smart for that!”
“Yet Someone did die to save all of the serial killers, and all of the old women, and all of the soldiers, and all of the babies that the world has ever known. That one is Jesus Christ. He died for you and for me. He died for everyone, because in this world our sin has condemned us to death, and the only way that we can be saved was for someone who was Himself without sin to be willing to die in our place.”
Molly was silent. Her bright smile had faded, and she felt tears well up in her eyes.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“She did not like being reminded that Jesus had died for her; it made her feel guilty.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“Her mind returned to Dr. Chaturvedi’s testimony. He had turned to Christianity because he had discovered that he was not special. He seemed happy enough, but was he really happy? Was Christianity just a club for people who had managed to lose their specialness? Was it a last resort for people when they realized that their dreams were not going to come true? Did they embrace Christianity because they could use their “faith” as an excuse for their failure? They could pretend that their Christian convictions were all that was standing between them and success, and they could declare that they would be on top of the world if they had not chosen to willingly give it all up to follow Jesus.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“Positive thoughts aren’t worth a plug nickel. You can think positive thoughts every minute of every day, and they won’t keep you out of hell. You can do good deeds until you’re so spent that you can’t put one foot in front of the other, and it won’t earn you a ticket to heaven. You can take all your wealth and give it to the poor, and it won’t buy you any credibility with Jesus.’ “‘There’s one God—Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There’s one way—Jesus Christ, His only begotten son, and there’s one comforter, the Holy Spirit that God sent to earth to dwell in us. If you’re counting on anything else to save you, you’re on the wrong path. “‘The problem is that people get to thinking that they’re special. They’re the god of their own universe, and they don’t need anything else. But that’s not true. The only special one that’s ever been born on this earth is Jesus Christ. He gave up everything to humble Himself and live among us—the lowliest of the lowly. He stepped off His throne for a little while so that we could be reconciled to Him, and if you’re counting on anything else saving you, you’re going to be in for a horrible shock when you leave this world and stand before Him.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“The voice sounded calm and sweet, but for the first time James felt scared. “It must be bad,” he thought. “If they’re like sending for a priest or something they must think I’m gonna die.”
Ten minutes later James’ parents were standing over him and his mother was gently stroking his face. “Are you in pain, Jimmy?” she asked.
“Yes, I need something, but they won’t give me anything.”
James’ dad tried to sound authoritative as he spoke, “You’re just fine. They have to do a little surgery to repair your leg, but you’re just fine, son.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“El Shaddai—the all sufficient one Jehovah-Jireh—the Lord who provides Jehovah-Rophe—the Lord who heals Jehovah-Shammah—the Lord who is there Immanuel—the God who is with us”
― Joyce Swann, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother

“Barbara was not much for prayer. She prayed at church and repeated The Lord’s Prayer every morning before she began her day, but apart from that, she did not rely much on prayer. Barbara had a theory that God was going to do whatever He wanted to anyway, so it didn’t matter much whether people prayed or not.
Now things looked different to her. “Oh God, don’t let him die. Don’t let him die. Don’t let him die,” she repeated over and over again. Tears were streaming down her face but she was not making any noise. She would have been embarrassed to sob or pray aloud. Her prayer was inside her head, and she hoped that it was somehow making its way to heaven.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“Her mind returned to Dr. Chaturvedi's testimony. He had turned to Christianity because he had discovered that he was not special. He seemed happy enough, but was he really happy? Was Christianity just a club for people who had managed to lose their specialness?”
― Joyce Swann inspiration The Warrior

“him”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“As Molly wrapped one of the freshly made flour tortillas around several slices of perfectly cooked steak and piled on guacamole, she began talking. The more she talked, the faster her words came. It was as if she were afraid that someone else would say something or ask her a question. She said that she was working for a firm in Los Angeles that designed sets for television and movies.
“It’s different from what you do,” she said looking at Boomer. “Sets have to be bigger than life. They have to create an impact. Not boring stuff like the designs for offices.”
Elizabeth saw Boomer’s eyes flash, but he answered with perfect control, “What’s the name of the firm you work for?”
“It’s new; it’s going through a name change, and they’re not sure what name they’re going to settle on.”
“What movies have they worked on?”
“Oh, a whole bunch. Stuff with Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. Big movies.”
― Joyce Swann

“When one plays a part for a long enough time, he begins to convince himself that he is the character he pretends to be,”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“The Christmas Cake (Bessie’s Apple Cake) Cream together ½ cup of butter and 2 cups of sugar Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla mixing well Mix in the finely grated zest and the juice of one large orange Add 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of nutmeg mixing well Add 4 cups of chopped apples (do not peel) and 2 cups of broken pecans or walnuts mixing everything well Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.”
― Joyce Swann, The Holiday Collection

“As James entered the El Paso city limits, he began thinking about lyrics to a song that would describe his journey. “I’m just cruise’n in my ride, with my posse by my side.” Well, he didn’t have anyone by his side—not even that dumb loser Grady, but that was hardly the point. This song would be his legacy, and he wanted to get it right. It would embody the contempt that he felt for society with all its rules and restrictions. It would make him into a folk hero. He would not pretend to die for any “cause.” He would let the world know that he had preferred a watery death to an existence where he was bound by mindless regulations.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior

“You will become the person you choose to be.”
― Joyce Swann, The Warrior