Month: December 2016

The Beauty of Life

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”

― Ashley Smith

         People spend their entire life searching for a miracle never realizing that life itself is THE miracle. Don’t take life for granted, for it can be here one moment and gone the next. Take time to appreciate the beauty surrounding you and don’t wait until tomorrow to tell someone “I love you,” for tomorrow may never come.

Simply Be

“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”

― Joseph Campbell

         It’s only natural to get swept up in the daily grind of life. But, it is important to take a moment each day to stop, take a deep breath and be grateful for the gift of life. Simply appreciate being alive, for some are fighting for that same precious gift.

From Within

“Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.”

― Og Mandino

       Don’t look outside yourself for happiness and fulfillment because this can only be found within. Happiness and fulfillment doesn’t come from material things, for life is not about what you get; rather, life is all about what you give.

Do Not Worry

““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

          Do not worry about tomorrow. Instead put your faith in our Heavenly Father and trust in his plans for you. For he will never forsake you.

Never Settle

“Make the most of the best and the best of the worst, and keep your standards high. Never settle for anything less than you deserve or are capable of achieving.”

― Roy T. Bennett

         Things aren’t going to always go your way. So, you must learn to do the best with whatever hand you’re dealt…no matter how crappy. But remember, you don’t have to settle because you’re dealt a bad hand. Know what you want and go after it…no matter how hard the wind blows against you.

Live Your Life

“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my noseholes–everywhere. Until it’s every breath I breathe. I’m going to go out like a fucking meteor!”

― Audre Lorde

       Life is not meant to be lived by halves…no, you must give it your all or what’s the point. You get but one shot at this thing called life, so go all out and shine like a freaking supernova!

Your Struggles

“One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. “You’d be destroying what makes it special,” she said. “It’s the Joshua tree’s struggle that gives it its beauty.”

― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

           Never forget that the person staring back at you in the mirror was forged from the struggles you have endured. Every crack, scrape, bruise and scar is an important part of your story – a story that is uniquely your own. So, never wish away a part of who you are.

The Winding Road

“Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ.”

― John Piper

          Life is a winding road filled with many ups and downs. It’s not meant to be easy or even to make sense. It’s about having faith that everything will work out in the end.