You’re off to great places! Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way! Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel - Dr. Seuss – is one of those rare writers whose work captures the imaginations of successive generations. He creatively used words and images to draw children (and many adults) into a world of wit, whimsy, and even wisdom…like this quote. It’s just one of many quotes – from a variety of sources – I have collected throughout the years to encourage, challenge and delight me. Today I want to share a few of my favorite quotes and why they mean something to me. I find that many of them address the area of negative thinking, which so easily can defeat us. (And without having to stretch too hard, you’ll be able to see the timeless biblical wisdom that underlies many of these quotes.) ୬  The quote above from Dr. Seuss can motivate us to tackle challenges with enthusiasm and hope. Whatever “mountains” our day may hold, we’ll never get to great p...

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Anonymous When I was a kid, this little ditty – “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me” – was bandied around. It was just a sing-song rhyme that children repeated. However, years later I realized that this was incorrect. In fact, words sometimes can hurt us much more deeply than physical pain.  We use lots of words every day (20,000 for the average woman; 7,000 for the average man), so using words in harmful ways – or even committing sin through our speech – is virtually unavoidable. God, in his great wisdom, knows this about us, so He provides many Scriptures to highlight the battle we face in choosing to use our words wisely and well. More than 100 verses describe the verbal power we have to curse or to bless; to tear down or to build up.  Using our words properly does not always come easy. We don’t always instinctively make the right choice about what to say, when to say it, and ho...

You write your life story by the choices you make. Helen Mirren In the 1950s, the Appalachian Trail twisted through the orchard of the Belmonte family on the Tennessee / North Carolina border. Hikers often would pause at the farm, take a brief break, then continue on. How did they find their way along this lengthy trail that meandered for more than 2000 miles? They followed white marks (known as “blazes”) painted on a variety of trees, rocks and fence posts. There are roughly 80,000 blazes – signposts, really – that mark this trail from Georgia to Maine.  Kevin Belmonte has watched hundreds of hikers pass by his farm. He states that missing the blazes is a time-consuming and potentially deadly problem, because some areas of the Appalachian Mountains can “swallow up hikers like a haunted forest.” Choosing the right path, by following the white blazes, determines where hikers end up.  Choices matter. They matter because they affect the direction in which we head. ...

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard,  but must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller Our oldest daughter, Karina, studied classical ballet for more than a decade. Every time she went to class, the instructor had the group start with warm ups. Week after week, year after year, the students would run through a series of exercises before actually beginning to rehearse. The instructor – who had been a dancer herself – knew that such practices would build strong muscles and increase movement memory. Karina spent hours of intense practice, learning the dance movements, and strengthening her legs so she could dance “on point”. These were building blocks from which her body took its cues. This physical regimen laid a foundation of technique upon which entire dances eventually would be choreographed. Even more, our daughter’s continual “breathing in” of the dance steps and the music embedded a deeper understanding into her heart and ...

As you walk with Jesus, resting your head on His heart,  you will learn to know His Word,  His will, and His ways.  Your joy will abound as you remain in His love.  Sue Detweiler When our youngest daughter was little, she used to play with our nativity set all the time; imagining the story of Jesus’ birth. One day after she was finished playing, I noticed that the little porcelain Jesus was absent from the manger! Did Rachel take him somewhere? Did she hide him or lose him? No. She simply placed Jesus in her pocket, so he could be with her all the time. Rachel now is a grown woman, but I continue to think of that Christmas when Jesus was transported in her pocket so he would be near to her heart. I love that image of closeness and love. It reminds me of John 15:9, where Jesus says that just as his father loves him, he loves us and invites us to abide in that love.  A few days ago I put away our nativity set, and now – as 2019 begins – I ponder...