Eeyore Perspective

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.

"And freezing."

"However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

Doing the Unthinkable

To love means loving the unlovable.

To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable.

Faith means believing the unbelievable.

Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.

- G. K. Chesterton

"If God can bring blessing from the broken body of Jesus and glory from something that's as obscene as the cross, He can bring blessing from my problems and my pain and my unanswered prayer. I just have to trust Him."

Anne Graham Lotz

He's God. And I'm Not.

I've noticed over the years that many time friends "steal" quotes from my blog and post them as their Facebook status for the day... Tonight, I'm going post a quote that I "stole" from my sister, Jemima, who recently posted it on Facebook.... :)

"Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep

The storms are raging on the deep -- God's deep, not yours --

Be still and sleep.

... God's heaven will comfort those who weep -- God's heaven, not yours --

Be still and sleep."

How glad I am.

The world's problems are not for me to solve tonight.

They are for God, in His Almighty wisdom and Infinite power to take care of.

He can change hearts. I can't.

And "all His works are done in truth and righteousness."

He never misjudges a situation.

He's God. And I'm not.

I'm so glad.

Pieces Will Feed a Multitude

If my life is broken when given to Jesus,

it is because pieces will feed a multitude,

while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad.

~ Ruth Stull

It Will Make No Difference in the End

Re-posting this from a couple years ago, because it's just so true. It doesn't matter what other good things you choose in life. It really doesn't. God is the choice in life. He is the way, the truth, and life itself. May I live that way!

If you have not chosen the kingdom of God,

it will make in the end no difference

what you have chosen instead.

- William Law

The Real Me

The real me is what is inside my heart,

not what I choose to carefully let out of my heart."

Hayley Novak

Choose for us, God

Choose for us, God,

nor let our weak preferring

Cheat us of good

Thou hast for us designed

Choose for us, God;

Thy wisdom is unerring.

And we are fools and blind.

It Is Christ

It is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee; it is Christ.

It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee; it is Christ.

It is not thy faith in Christ that saves thee; it is Christ.

- C.H. Spurgeon

Aren't You Glad?!

Nothing can alter the character of God.

In the course of a human life,

tastes and outlook and temper may change radically:

a kind, equable man may turn bitter and crotchety:

a man of good-will may grow cynical and callous.

But nothing of this sort happens to the Creator.

He never becomes less truthful, or merciful,

or just, or good, than He used to be.

--J.I. Packer

Because He Only Gives Love

I'm thinking it may be time to give up.

Give up, once and for all -

give up all the fears and all that weighs heavy.

Give up the worries - and "bend the knee and be small"

and let God give what God chooses to give --

because He only gives love.

~ Ann Voskamp

Rats in the Cellar

Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is?

Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light."

-- C.S. Lewis

Merciful Refusals

Never forget that some of God's greatest mercies are His refusals.

He says "no" in order that He may, in ways we cannot imagine, say "yes."

All His ways with us are merciful. His meaning is always love.

- Elisabeth Elliot

Right In Front of Us

Sometimes the very desire for action leads to the neglect of action. Looking for some wonderful opportunity to give oneself, to devote oneself, one forgets the humble brother close at hand who is waiting for a word of comfort, a saving gesture.

Let us not linger in contemplation of the road ahead; let us follow the narrow path. Let us not look too far or too high, but right in front of ourselves, right next to ourselves. The good to be done is perhaps there.

~ Elisabeth Leseur

God Said, "Well, She's Willing"

I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China.... I don't know who it was....

It must have been a man... a well-educated man.

I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing....

....and God looked down... and saw Gladys Aylward...

And God said - "Well, she's willing."

-- Gladys Aylward

The Husband Who Isn't What You Wanted

I know, I know... I'm not married so I don't know anything about marriage. I know I don't.

But, quotes like this are too good to pass up.

And if you, married person, resent me posting marriage "stuff" on my blog... just think of it this way: I'm posting it for myself. Because really, I am. :)

"You're just going to need to get rid of the idea that marriage will make you happy. It won't. Once the initial high wears off, you'll just be you, except with twice as much laundry.

Because ultimately, marriage is not about getting something -- it's about giving it.

....The bottom line is that marriage is just a long-term opportunity to practice loving someone even when they don't deserve it. Because most of the time, your messy, farting, macaroni-and-cheese eating man will not be doing what you want him to. But as you give him love anyway -- because you have made up your mind to transform yourself into a person who is practicing being kind, deep, virtuous, truthful, giving, and most of all, accepting of your own dear self -- you will find that you will experience the very thing you wanted all along:

Love."

Tracy McMillan, on the Huffington Post: "Why You're Not Married."

As Much As You Want

"You are as holy as you want to be."

- Keith Daniel

Be Careful What You Wish For

Be careful what you desire and seek after in life.

You'll probably get it.

Filling the Heart With Wonder

‎"What is meaning & how do we find it?

What brings meaning is when you can combine a sense of wonder, under-girded by Truth, experiencing the richness of love, along with the knowledge of security.

Those 4 components bring about genuine meaning to life.

The older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder,

and only God is big enough to fill that heart."

~Ravi Zacharias

Faith Does Not Know Why

"Faith does not know why in terms of the immediate,

but it knows why it trusts God Who knows why in terms of the ultimate."

- Os Guiness