Georgia Johnston is the kind of person who doesn’t back down from a challenge or a problem. She says, “When the soil is all tilled up, you have your most fertile ground.” She approaches all facets of her life that way with gracious directness. Her 11-year-old son, Kyzer, once asked her “Where’s the most dangerous place in the world?” Georgia pondered awhile and answered, “Between a mother and her baby! You see that example in nature.”

“I had always wanted to have a whole lot of kids, but that wasn’t meant to be,” Georgia shares. Their lives took an unexpected path. She and her husband Billy Johnston met while she was still in high school and married soon after graduation. She immediately began nursing school while Billy worked. After a serious accident Billy broke his back leaving him in a hospital bed for nine months. He endured a two year recovery period. After surgeries and therapy, he defied the odds and his prognosis of “never being able to walk again” which fueled his desire to attend Occupational Therapy school at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Georgia worked as a nurse while he finished his education and his recovery.

The Johnstons yearned to have children for about a decade. “I knew something was wrong,” she says. “I remember praying Lord, just give me one. After years of infertility treatments and three miscarriages, Kyzer was the only one of 19 embryos that was a live birth. He actually had a twin that did not survive.”

After Kyzer’s birth in 2001, the Johnstons started their business TherapyZone, Inc. The company provides various therapy services to primarily nursing homes from 12 facilities across the state. “It just grew by word of mouth,” she says. “I work between carpool in the morning and carpool in the afternoon. I don’t start my workday until Kyzer gets out of the car. I have a home office where I do some of my work, but our customers know they can always reach me. I rely heavily on technology, but I also travel the state frequently,” she explains. Georgia calls herself a “serious professional business woman, but then a fun mom.” “I am Billy’s partner and helpmate and that’s what makes us have a successful relationship and business,” she affirms.

Her close family ties over the years have provided her with inspiration. “The authentic and unconditional love of my grandparents shaped me. I was so blessed to have been with them through their final days. Experiencing tragedies has made me more patient with our staff, because I try to understand what they are going through in their own lives,” she states. “We don’t micromanage. A good ship has to be able to sail even when the captain is not at the helm.” Georgia enjoys the people she works with and visiting clients. Kyzer even goes with her sometimes to the nursing homes. “He gets to be around wise people of different backgrounds. It has helped him understand others and to not think oddly of others who might be different in some way.”

Tragedy struck in 1982 when Georgia’s uncle had a car wreck. His injuries required several blood transfusions. They were unaware that he had then contracted Hepatitis C which eventually necessitated a liver transplant. Her uncle passed away four years ago. At that time they were asked to be her 13-year-old nephew, Charles’ guardian because his mother was also in very poor health. “Kyzer helped us make the decision and we’ve loved it,” she says excitedly. Charles is now 17 and stays with the Johnstons on the weekends, but stays with his mom and adult brother during the week while finishing school in Searcy.

“I’m so thankful every day for the chance to be a mom! I try to be youthful and playful but have the wisdom of an older parent. We’re flawed and make mistakes, but we learn from them,” she explains. “My favorite thing about being a mom is really my whole life. I love the humor kids bring. I love everything about them, volunteering at school…even ironing Kyzer’s clothes.”

Georgia is involved in numerous philanthropic and volunteer efforts. She is very active in St. James United Methodist Church, the Angel Tree program, and training to be a lay chaplain through the Community of Hope. The Johnstons are also supportive of the Canvas Church downtown providing meals for the needy and Divine Inspiration Ministries for women needing housing. Georgia is a volunteer school nurse at Little Rock Christian Academy as well as a member of the school’s nationally recognized PTF and chairperson of this year’s Grandparents’ Day celebration which hosts 1,100 grandparents annually. Georgia states, “I want people to know I genuinely care.”

A Day in her Shoes

  • Our week goes better when we start it in worship services.
  • I try to get up and dressed before the family.  Family dynamics work a little better when I’m a step ahead of everyone.
  • I start with coffee and a devotional.  It gets the day started off right.
  • When I can get them in, exercise and a dose of Vitamin D from sunshine make me feel so much better.

Georgia’s Advice to Her Kids

  • Make friendships that last a lifetime. Enjoy the new ones that bloom in different seasons.
  • Guard your words. It’s better to wish you’ve said something than regret saying it.
  • Feed children The Word and have something greater than yourself to lean on.
  • Problems happen every day in life. Not addressing problems makes them bigger problems.
  • You don’t have to define yourself by what has happened to you or by mistakes you’ve made.
  • Have no perception of perfection.
  • Let your own conscience be your conviction because your parents won’t always be there to help you make choices.
  • Pull together as a family and draw examples from older couples. Things aren’t always going to be roses.

Editor’s note:  I know Georgia and her family personally.  When I think about her and all that she does and is as a person, the following quote by author Teneva Jordan comes to mind.  “A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”