• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tara Johnson

sharing stories through writing, speaking and singing

TwitterLinkedInFacebookYoutubetara@tarajohnsonstories.com
  • About Tara
  • Blog
  • Books
    • All Through the Night
    • Where Dandelions Bloom
    • Engraved on the Heart
    • Hollow Victory
  • Speaking
  • Singing
    • Songwriting and Everything In Between
  • Writing
    • Writing Fiction
  • Gallery

thanksgiving

How Thanksgiving Came to the United States and Why

November 18, 2020 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

When elementary school teachers across our nation tell their students the origins of Thanksgiving, there are accounts of pilgrims and Indians, complete with black-buckled hats and feathered headdresses, talk of starving people and the wisdom of men like Squanto who taught the Mayflower pilgrims how to survive amid a challenging new world. And while none of these accounts are wrong, the breaking of bread between the new Europeans and the Wampanoag tribesmen were not the beginning of Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today. In 1789, Read More

Filed Under: freedom Tagged With: godey's ladies book, lincoln, lincoln and thanksgiving, sarah hale, thanksgiving, thanksgiving and prayer, thanksgiving and the civil war, thanksgiving and the coronavirus, the origins of thanksgiving

Will You Take the 30 Day What-You-Say Challenge?

October 29, 2020 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

Words are powerful. They can build up a life through language doused in love, or they can cut a life down like a scythe slicing through brittle grass. When I recently asked my oldest daughter what she loved most about her best friend at school, she replied, “I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anyone. She speaks the truth, sometimes very directly, but always with kindness of love. She’s not a backstabber. It’s hard not to love being around someone like that.” Her Read More

Filed Under: Walking with God Tagged With: 30 Day What You Say Challenge, attitude of gratitude, complaining, content heart, gossip, gratitude, negativity, power of life and death, power of words, taming the tongue, thanksgiving, the tongue

When Life Hands You…Wigs?

November 18, 2019 By Tara Johnson 1 Comment

Yes, I know the saying goes, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Sometimes there’s not a lemon to be found but a startling abundance of hair pieces. Hang with me and I’ll explain. Not long ago I ordered a pair of pants from an online store. I was supposed to appear on a television interview and I thought the pants would be cute paired with a top I already owned. The company promised the product would arrive before my interview. You know what’s coming. Read More

Filed Under: Walking with God Tagged With: Does God has a sense of humor, finding laughter in the unexpected, gratitude, gratitude and joy work hand in hand, joy, thanksgiving, when life gives you lemons

What a lie: If My Life Were Different

March 14, 2019 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

If my life were different, I would be different… If my job only paid better… If my husband treated me like he cared… If our house wasn’t so small… If my health was good… If my kids would listen… Have you been there? It’s a tempting way to live life. The “If onlys” provide us with a fantasy world of perfection. A land where all our troubles vanish and then, finally, we can be who we really want to be. Happy. Content. Joyful. There’s just Read More

Filed Under: satan's lies Tagged With: content, discontent, enough, happy heart, I can do all things through Christ, if, if only, joyful, lies, Philippians 4:13, thanksgiving, the enemy's lies

Fleas and . . . Thanksgiving?

November 19, 2017 By Tara Johnson 2 Comments

I recently heard this funny little story at an event where I was singing: There was a little old lady who woke up one morning to realize she only had three hairs left on her head. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because I can braid my hair today.” So she did. The next day she woke up and only two hairs remained. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because today I can Read More

Filed Under: Blog, Walking with God Tagged With: blessings, Corrie Ten Boom, God, gratitude, Jesus, praise, praise is a choice, thankful, thanksgiving

Moving Down Alto Side: The Thankfulness Perspective

November 20, 2016 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

I stared at the seat I’d occupied in the church choir for nineteen years. End seat, soprano section. No longer. This was the day. I had to do it. It was past time. I swallowed and grabbed my black folder, clutching it to my chest as I marched past the director and plopped next to the empty chair in the alto section. My friends gave me quizzical stares. I smiled weakly. “Looks like I’m an alto now. You’re stuck with me.” I know this sounds Read More

Filed Under: Uncategorized, Walking with God Tagged With: death of dream, Gastroparesis, God, gratitude, grief, loss, perspective, pray, thankful, thanksgiving

The Obscure Thanksgiving List: Banana Pudding, Spanx and Tweezers…Oh my!

November 23, 2015 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

This is my girls’ attitude of gratitude board. Every month we have a new theme and each day they put a new sticky note on the board. November’s theme is, you guessed it, thankfulness. Their first sticky notes were broad things, like their gratitude for God, family and friends. Lately though, they are starting to get a little more specific…hair, turkey, movies. My two-year old said, “Buzz.” (As in Buzz Lightyear.) Several days ago, I polled my Facebook friends, asking them what they were thankful Read More

Filed Under: Family Life, Uncategorized, Walking with God Tagged With: funny things to be thankful for, gratitude, happiness, joy, perspective, small things, thanksgiving

Fleas and…Thanksgiving?

November 15, 2015 By Tara Johnson Leave a Comment

I recently heard this funny little story at an event where I was singing: There was a little old lady who woke up one morning to realize she only had three hairs left on her head. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because I can braid my hair today.” So she did. The next day she woke up and only two hairs remained. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because today I can Read More

Filed Under: Walking with God Tagged With: Corrie Ten Boom, grateful, grateful heart, learning to praise, praise during the hard times, praise is a choice, thankfulness, thanksgiving

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Get to know Tara . . .

Writing

Writing

Speaking

Speaking

Singing

Singing

Free gift from Tara!

Join Tara’s email community and you’ll receive a FREE short story, In the Shadow of His Wings.


Subscribe to our mailing list



FREE Book Club Kit


Click HERE to download your FREE book club kit for All Through the Night.

Where Dandelions Bloom

Where Dandelions Bloom 360X570

Engraved on the Heart
Click to view purchasing options for Engraved on the Heart.

Latest Blog Posts

What’s up with the Christian Cliches?

  • Cracked Pots
  • What I Learned in the Darkness
  • Shattering the Fairytale: When Perfect Isn’t Enough
  • Where Have All the Good Girls Gone?

Click to read more . . .

Reader Reviews:

Sarah Sundin

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Engraved on the Heart brings Savannah, Georgia, during the Civil War to life.” Read more “Sarah Sundin”

Award-winning Author

Laura Frantz

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Johnson weaves a tale of selflessness, and service . . .” Read more “Laura Frantz”

Author

Jocelyn Green

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Lovers of Civil War fiction will rejoice to add Engraved on the Heart to their collections.” Read more “Jocelyn Green”

Award-winning Author

Robin Lee Hatcher

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson

“Tara Johnson delivers a stirring tale of danger and hope.” Read more “Robin Lee Hatcher”

RITA and Christy Award winner

FREE Blog Updates!

Enter your email address:

Meet Tara

Tara JohnsonTara Johnson is a writer, singer, speaker and passionate lover of stories. Tara uses fiction, nonfiction, song and laughter to share her testimony of how God led her into freedom after spending years living shackled to the expectations of others. She lives in central Arkansas with her husband and children.

Trailer for Engraved on the Heart

Copyright © 2021 Tara Johnson. All Rights Reserved. | Contact

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Disclaimer | Contact