A multitude of small delights constitutes happiness.
Charles Baudelaire

Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.
George MacDonald

Cover the blemishes and excuse the failings of a friend; draw a curtain before his stains, display his perfection; bury his weakness in silence, proclaim his virtues on the housetop.
Robert South

Sojourn in every place as if you meant to spend your life there, never omitting an opportunity of doing a kindness, speaking a true word, or making a friend.
John Ruskin

The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.
Augustine

The vigour of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.
George Mueller

Half of love is listening.
Carol Weston

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish you to be.
Thomas a Kempis

A lady of forty-seven who has been married twenty-seven years and has six children knows what love really is and once described it for me like this: "Love is what you've been through with somebody."
James Thurber

The thousand-mile journey starts with one step.
Japanese proverb

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
Emily Post

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.
Ann Landers

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
Blaise Pascal

One reason I don't drink is I want to know when I'm having a good time.
Nancy Astor

So I cried- it's better to be sensitive than unfeeling.
Carol Weston

That it will never come again
is what makes life so sweet.
-Emily Dickinson

The Bible without the Holy Spirit is like a sundial by moonlight.
D.L. Moody

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
Anne Lamott

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
Douglas Adams

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Mother Teresa

A lie may well fool someone else, but it tells the truth about you to you.
John Wesley Harding

True friendship is measured, over time, by its effect on you. Has the association in some way changed...you?
Philip Yancey

What do people mean when they say, 'I am not afraid of God because I know He is good?' Have they never been to a dentist?
C.S.Lewis

When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.
C.S.Lewis

Virtue- even attempted virtue- brings light, indulgence brings fog.
-C.S.Lewis

The bad part of it, especially for me, lies in the fact that science of all things seems to demand the existence of God...
Sigmund Freud, letters

Read not to contradict- but to weigh and consider.
-Sir Francis Bacon

I had a very pleasant evening, though... there was no particular reason for it; but I do not think it worth while to wait for enjoyment until there is some real opportunity for it.
-Jane Austen

We do need to guard against making absolutes out of personal standards that are not specified in Scripture, or assuming that others are sinning if they don’t adopt our standards about issues that may not be traps for them. But why are we so prone to defend choices that take us right to the edge of sin, and so reluctant to make radical choices to protect our hearts and minds from sin?
-Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Effectiveness is doing the right thing. Efficiency is just doing the right thing. Excellence is doing the right thing at the right time, and doing it well.
-Stephen Anderson

A woman was given not for a man’s whims but for his character. She elevates him in true masculinity. It takes a woman to make a real man. This is God’s design, and we tamper with it at our peril.
-Richard D. Phillips and Sharon L. Phillips

A vital Christian, radiating that hidden beauty of the heart, is more attractive to the right sort of Christian man (the only kind you want) than the raving beauty who is hollow within. A woman who is developing her domestic abilities, who is reasonably attractive, and who is a vital Christian in her own right is an irresistible person.
-Jay E. Adams

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.
Abraham Lincoln

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
-Mother Teresa

If Christians spend as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.

Live every day so that when people speak evil of you no one will believe it.

The real issue in the creation/evolution debate is not the existence of God. The real issue is the nature of God. To think of evolution as basically atheistic is to misunderstand the uniqueness of evolution. Evolution was not designed as a general attack against theism. It was designed as a specific attack against the God of the Bible, and the God of the Bible is clearly revealed through the doctrine of creation. Obviously, if a person is an atheist, it would be normal for him to also be an evolutionist. But evolution is as comfortable with theism as it is with atheism. An evolutionist is perfectly free to choose any god he wishes, as long as it is not the God of the Bible. The gods allowed by evolution are private, subjective, and artificial. They bother no one and make no absolute ethical demands. However, the God of the Bible is the Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Judge. All are responsible to Him. He has an agenda that conflicts with that of the sinful humans. For man to be created in the image of God is very awesome. For God to be created in the image of man is very comfortable.

Marvin L Lubenow

No two Christians will ever meet for the last time.

The next moment is as much beyond our grasp, and as much in God's care, as that a hundred years away. Care for the next minute is as foolish as care for a day in the next thousand years. In neither can we do anything, in both God is doing everything.

C. S. Lewis

Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.
George Mueller

"Though we cannot think alike may we not love alike?"
John Wesley

If I did not believe in God, I should still want my doctor, my lawyer and my banker to do so.
-G.K. Chesterton

A true love of God must begin with a delight in his holiness.
- Jonathan Edwards

A passage for Sunday

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
- Proverbs 3:5-6

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, secretly all nature seeks God and works toward him.
Meister Eckhart

“I have an irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better for my having lived in it.”
~Abraham Lincoln

No one knows how it is that with one glance a boy can break through into a girl's heart.
Napoleon Bonaparte

A true man does not need to romance a different girl every night, a true man romances the same girl for the rest of her life.

Character is simply habit long continued.
-- Plutarch

Grace was in all her steps. Heaven in her eye. In every gesture, dignity and love.
-- John Milton

True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

No birth certificate is issued when friendship is born. There is nothing tangible. There is just a feeling that your life is different and that your capacity to love and care has miraculously been enlarged with out any effort on your part. It's like having a tiny apartment and somebody moves in with you. But instead of becoming cramped and crowded, the space expands, and you discover rooms you never knew you had until your friend moved in with you.
-- Steve Tesich

It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

“If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped.”

-Evelyn Underhill

"The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this: the glory of God. The universe was made to show it, and we were made to see it and savor it. Nothing less will do.”

- John Piper

The heart does things for reasons that reason itself doesn't understand.
- The Princess Diaries

Jonny Diaz 'A More Beautiful You'

This isn't a 'quote' exactly, but the whole song should be imbedded into the hearts of every girl. The youtube link was passed on to me from a friend, (thank you!) and I wanted to share it with all of you.

By the way, if any of you have something you want to share, just pass the quote along and if its good and I don't already have it I'll add it. :)

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
Corrie ten Boom

Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.
Max Lucado

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
C.S. Lewis

Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected.
Jonathan Edwards

Always seek peace between your heart and God, but in this world, always be careful to remain ever-restless, never satisfied, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Jim Elliot

A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.
A.W. Tozer

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you.
C.S.Lewis

Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.
A.W. Tozer

Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!
David Livingstone

We have a God who delights in impossibilities.
Andrew Murray

God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies.
Hudson Taylor

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Success can be as painful as failure if you are not equipped for it.
T.D. Jakes

The best test of a sanctified man is to ask his family about him.
C.T. Studd

When a man is at his wits end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with reality.
Oswald Chambers

when we consider our heroes of the faith, remember this.

J.C. Ryle wisely observed, “The best of men are only men at their very best. Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles – martyrs, fathers, reformers, puritans – all are sinners, who need a Savior: holy, useful, honorable in their place – but sinners after all."

( see 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 and 3:5-8)

For Sunday-

Give me the love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can dismay, The hope no disappointments tire, The passion that will burn like fire, Let me not sink to be a clod: Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
~Amy Carmichael

Let's not confuse the "good life" with a life well lived.
Chuck Colson

Christians need to help people understand that religion is not a matter of sentiment but a matter of truth. Insisting that the truth claims of Christianity, and of other faiths, be taken seriously isn't "intolerant." On the contrary, it accords them the respect they deserve.

God is not the author of confusion.
Chuck Colson

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
-Jim Elliot

A failure in our prayer life is generally a failure to know Jesus. "If you knew who was talking to you, you would ask me!" A prayerless Christian is like a bus driver trying alone to push a bus out of a rut because he doesn't know Clark Kent is on board.
And the implication is that those who do ask- Christians who spend time in prayer- do it because they see that God is a great Giver and that Christ is wise and merciful and powerful beyond measure. ...
The chief end of man is to glorify God. Therfore, when we become what God created us to be we become people of prayer.
John Piper

The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.
...
For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit unbelievers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God and to meditation on it... that my heart might be brought into experiential, communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning.
George Mueller

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
C.S. Lewis

There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.
C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

The difference between a failed wedding and a successful one comes down to one very simple thing- the guest list. Was Christ invited?
When He is our Guest of Honor, our Wedding Coordinator, the Testator of our covenant, not only will our celebratory wine never run out, but it will get tastier and tastier as the love story progresses.
...He designed marriage to be an earthly sampling of eternal love in heaven with Him as our Bridegroom. And His version of love, just like fine wine, gets better and better as time passes.
... Ask Him to fill you full of Himself, the Living Water, and transform your relationship into a miracle that proves that poetic love only gets sweeter and sweeter with the passing of time.
Eric and Leslie Ludy

To love a spouse amid the flame of honeymoon passion is human, but to love a spouse all the days of your life, even before you ever lay eyes upon that person- this kind of love is divine.
Eric and Leslie Ludy

This is not a quote, but a thought that I heard recently- God created the two sexes so that people would realize that they are not sufficient alone. Adam and Eve were created to perfectly complement each other. Each showed a part of God's character, but it wasn't the fullness of it- the two need to be brought together to make one. ONLY God is sufficient in Himself. People need the balance of the sexes. It takes a little bit to think through, but it makes sense! Sometimes it takes work, but we really can bring out the best in each other if we work at it. We need each other to bring out the best of the godly masculinity and femininity that is within us.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.
-Napoleon Hill

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

-Robert Jastrow

Whence comes this idea that if what we are doing is fun, it can't be God's will? The God who made giraffes, a baby's fingernails, a puppy's tail, a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite's call, and a young girl's giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no mistake about that.

Catherine Marshall

When I was young, I was sure of many things; now there are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour. He is well-taught who learns these two lessons.

John Newton

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.

Abraham Lincoln

"The real character of a man is found out by his amusement."
-Joshua Reynolds

"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

"Jesus accepts you the way you are, but loves you too much to leave you that way."
-Lee Venden

"An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons - marriage, or meat, or beer, or cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning."
C.S.Lewis

"Christ did not Die to Redeem a Bride who would keep Him on the Porch while she watched Television in the Den. His will for the Church is that we Open the Door, ALL the Doors of our Life. He wants to join you in the Dining Room, spread a meal out for you, and Eat with you & Talk with you. The opposite of Lukewarmness is the Fervor you Experience when you enjoy a Candlelit Dinner with Jesus Christ in the Innermost Room of your Heart. And when Jesus Christ, the source of all God's creation, is Dining with you in your Heart, then you have All the Gold, All the Garments, and All the Medicine in the World......"
-John Piper

A friend is someone who, upon seeing another friend in immense pain, Would rather be the one experiencing the pain, Than to have to watch their friend suffer.
-- Amanda Gier

Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say.
-Author Unknown

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.
Bernard Meltzer

"Being in love is serious thing, honey. You've saved yourself physically; it's okay to save yourself emotionally, as well. That way when you commit yourself in love to a young man, it'll be incredibly special."
Karen Kingsbury, "Above the line: Take One"

"The bigger the mountain, the greater the view on the other side."
Karen Kingsbury

Home's the better place...
God only gives us so many days with our loved ones.

Karen Kingsbury

'above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.' proverbs 4:23

"Above all else? Good grief- we don't even do it once in awhile. We might as well leave our life savings on the seat of the car with the windows rolled down- we are that careless with our hearts. ...
We live completely backwards. "All else" is above our hearts. ...
But God intends that we treat our hearts as the treasures of the kingdom, ransomed at tremendous cost, as if they really do matter, and matter deeply."
-John Eldredge

Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle.
-Philo of Alexandria

The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage. And one of his all-time favorite disguises is that of a lying spirit, to abuse your tender heart with the worst news he can deliver- that you do not really love Jesus Christ and that you are only pretending, you are only deceiving yourself.
-William Gurnall

Suddenly Faramir stirred, and he opened his eyes, and looked on Aragorn who bent over him; and a light of knowledge and love was kindled in his eyes, and he spoke, softly. "My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?" "Walk no more in the shadows, but awake!" said Aragorn... "I will my lord," said Faramir. "For who would lie idle when the king has returned?"
J.R.R. Tolkein, The Return of the King

Most of us are afraid of our guidance, our intuition,our 'hunches'. We try to close our minds to them, thereby increasing our restlessness and losing the benefit of the heavenly warning that would tell us when and how to pray.
-Agnes Sanford

We don't seek wisdom because it's a good idea; we seek wisdom because we're dead if we don't.
-John Eldredge

If you're not pursuing a dangerous quest with your life, well, then, you don't need a Guide. If you haven't found yourself in the midst of a ferocious war, then you won't need a seasoned Captain. If you've settled in your mind to live as though this is fairly neutral world and you are simply trying to live your life as best you can, then you can get by with the Christianity of tips and techniques. Maybe.
...
But if you intend to live in the Story that God is telling, and if you want the life he offers, then you are going to need more than a handful of principles... [you are going to need Him] Narrow is the way, said Jesus. How shall we be sure to find it? We need God intimately, and we need him desperately.
...

Approach the Scriptures not so much as a manual of Christian principles but as the testimony of God's friends on what it means to walk with him through a thousand different episodes. When you are at war, when you are in love, when you have sinned, when you have been given a great gift-- this is how you walk with God. Do you what a different mind-set this is? It's really quite exciting.
-John Eldredge

The early Christian churhc symbolized the Resurrection, healings, and miracles because the church thought those things were central. The reason the first and closest friends of Jesus focused on miracles, healings, and hopeful aspects of the faith such as the Ascension and Resurrection was simply that those are what God himself wants us to focus on. Those are the point. Those make Christianity such very good news. A dead man is not a great deal of help to us; a dead God is even worse.
...
We say Christ died for us, and that is true. But Christ was also raised for us. His resurrection was as much for us as his death was.

-John Eldredge

Everything you love is what makes a life worth living.
-John Eldredge

When we hear the words eternal life, most of us tend to interpret that as "a life that waits for us in eternity." But eternal means "unending," not "later." The Scriptures use the term to mean we can never lose it. It's a life that can't be taken fron us. The offer is life, and that life starts now.
-John Eldredge, from Waking the Dead: the glory of a heart fully alive

Above all else, gaurd your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23

We and the world, my children, will always be at war.

Retreat is impossible.

Arm yourselves.

-Leif Enger

The glory of God is man fully alive.
-St. Irenaeus

greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

Don't forget-
I am faithful.
I have demonstrated ultimate Love by laying down my life and then taking it up again- for you.
I live in your heart through faith.
I am your strong tower.
My love blows every other love you've ever experienced out of the water.
My Spirit is with you as a deposit- a guarantee- of what is to come.

Jesus

(idea taken from Leann Weiss-Rupara, words mine)

My precious child,

Call upon Me when your heart grows faint. I'll faithfully lead you to a Rock that rises above your circumstances. I'm your hiding place. I'll protect you from trouble, filling your life with songs of deliverance. Let me heal your broken heart and your hurts. May your sould find rest in Me alone. When you draw close to Me, I'll draw so close to you.
Holding you,
Your God of Refuge
(see Psalms 61:2-3, 32:7, 147:3, 62:5, James 4:8)

Leann Weiss-Rupara

Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer of godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.
Richard Hendrix

Heavenly Father:
With all the sitcoms on TV, it's so easy to get sarcastic and cynical in our homes. Remind me of the power of my words. Let me use my words to build people up instead of shredding them. Make me an instrument of healing. Use my mouth to challenge others to become all that You created them to be. Father, help me have an attitude of gratitude to You. Without You, I am lost. Help me catch others doing good and praise them. Thanks for the many ways You encourage me through Your Word, and through other people. I'm asking You to change me so that I'll consistently strive to add value to the lives of those around me.

Leann Weiss-Rupara

Hug them, kiss them and tell them that you love them. Don't miss the chances that life is giving you to spend with people you love. There are no rewinds.
-Adam Sandler

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce. But still only light and flickering. As our hearts mature, our love becomes coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.
-Bruce Lee

God's love takes us on journeys we do not wish to go; makes us travel by roads we do not wish to use; to take us to places we never wish to leave.
-Dr. John Ashley Null

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
-Henry Drummond

When a husband and wife both want their partner to receive life's best before they do, you have a marriage that's going to exceed every wedding day dream. Their love not only lasts; it continually grows.
-Gary Smalley

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
-Ruth Bell Graham

My Treasured Child,

Enjoyment of life is a gift from Me...
You can always count on the guaranteed promise of My faithfulness.
I keep my unbreakable covenant of love to a thousand generations of your family when you love Me and keep My commands. When you're committed to Me in everything you do, your plans will succeed. I stockpile my great goodness, saving it for you and others who fear Me and take refuge in Me.
Blessing you,
Your Eternal God.
(see Ecclesiastes 5:19-20, Dueteronomy 7:9, Proverbs 16:3, Psalm 31:19)

Leann Weiss-Rupara

God knows, right down to the final nub, exactly where you are in life. He sees. He cares. He is aware. And best of all, He is touched by it.
-Charles R. Swindoll

Dear Father of Love:
Sometimes love can be so confusing and so shallow. It's easy to get distracted by the world's definition of love and to focus on outer beauty instead of inner beauty. Show me what true love is. Remind me that real love isn't what I can get out of a relationship; it's about what I can give of myself. Show me that love is a long-term commitment, not just a fleeting feeling. Remind me that the secret to a loving relationship is keeping You at the center. And thanks for Your promise that as I seek You first, You'll take care of ALL of my other needs.
Leann Weiss-Rupara

It is within the fire of selflessness and sacrifice that strong bonds of friendship are formed.
-Jimmy Evans

The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this this world is a woman's heart.
-Josiah G. Holland

God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And his love- if you will let it- can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving.
-Max Lucado

Real love isn't about a day; it's about a lifestyle. It is priceless and can't be bought with money. It's only possible through selfless, humble, committed, unconditional, patient love. But I'm convinced the type of love we truly desire directly conflicts with today's pop culture "love" driven by shallow feelings, self-centeredness and instant gratification. No wonder our divorce rate is so high when our culture endorses bailing out of any relationship the first moment we're not feeling "happy" anymore. True love can never grow and thrive with a "me first" attitude.
Leann Weiss-Rupara

God is the artist... you are a work of art in progress, a divine poem being written across the pages of time.
-Candy Paull

Love is always a choice. That's what makes it meaningful.
-Gary Chapman

"God gave us wings... only we call them horses."

This is great. :)

you can take no credit for being a beauty at sixteen.
but if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul's own doing.

A positive attitude may not solve all of your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Lots of things in life will catch your eye... but not many will capture your heart. Pursue those.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.
C.S. Lewis

"I am not a perfect girl.
My hair doesn't always stay in place,
I spill things a lot and I am pretty clumsy.
My friends and I sometimes fight,
Some days it seems as if nothing goes right.
Sometimes I even get a broken heart.
But when I stop and think about it,
and take a step back,
I remember how amazing life really is,
and that maybe, just maybe
I like being imperfect...
Because I can depend on a perfect God."

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.

I would rather live my life as if there is a God,
and die to find out there isn't,
than live my life as if there isn't,
and die to find out there is.

When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has opened for us.
Alexander Graham Bell

We realize that what we are accomplishing is a drop in the ocean. But if this drop were not in the ocean, it would be missed.
Mother Teresa

Over the following months I learned what real love was. I found out that it wasn't some good feeling I would get when everything was smooth sailing, but it was the calm, peaceful, and sure feeling I felt no matter what was going on.
Rhonda Marks

Things I've learned lately...
Midnight laughing cleanses you,
Little girls need to feel pretty,
Having fun with someone opens the door to friendship,
And Christmas is love.

As our high-speed world asks you to log on, and e-mail a friend, I'm asking you to talk to your friends, hug them, let them know you're there for them.
Sasha Sulkosky

Every day is a treasure box of gifts from God, just waiting to be opened. Open your gifts with excitement. You will find forgiveness attached to ribbons of joy. You will find love wrapped in sparkling gems.
Joan Clayton

I'm not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
Louisa May Alcott

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.

Peace is seeing a sunset and knowing whom to thank.

Never speak loudly to one another unless the house is on fire.

Never be yoked to one who refuses the yoke of Christ.

We can measure our likeness to the Saviour by the range of our sensitiveness to the world's sorrow and pain.

We can't be blind to other people's faults; but we can be infinitely tender, comparing their worst with our worst and not their worst with our best.

A man [or girl] may lose the good things of this life against his will; but if he loses the joys of heaven, he does so with his own consent.

The love of heaven makes one heavenly.

I believe...

I believe laughing is the best calorie burner... I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.
- Audrey Hepburn

"You were made to fill a purpose, that only you could do, there could never be a more beautiful you."
From the song, Beautiful You by Jonny Diaz (listen to the whole thing- it is a wonderful 'girl song')

"The only way you can tell if he loves you, is if he puts a ring on your finger and never lets go of your hand."
-Baylee

"Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the decision that something else is more important than your fear."
-Princess Diaries

"She who does not make the world better for living in it has failed to be all that a woman should be."
Karen Andreola

The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, "This is love." God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, "This is love."
--Joshua Harris

It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desire which He creates.
--Amy Carmichael

"Trust Me, My child," He says. "Trust Me with a fuller abandon than you ever have before. Trust Me, as minute succeeds minute, every day of your life, for as long as you live. And if you become conscious of anything hindering our relationship, do not hurt Me by turning away from Me. Draw all the closer to Me, come, run to Me. Allow Me to hid you, to protect you, even from yourself. Tell Me your deepest cares, your every trouble. Trust Me to keep My hand upon you. I will never leave you. I will shape you, mold you, and perfect you. Do not fear, O child of My love, do not fear. I love you."
--Amy Carmichael

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
--Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
--Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“A REAL man, the kind of man a woman wants to give her life to, is one who will respect her dignity, who will honor her like the valuable treasure she is. A REAL man will not attempt to rip her precious pearl from it's protective shell, or persuade her with charm to give away her treasure prematurely, but he will wait patiently until she willingly gives him the prize of her heart. A REAL man will cherish and care for that prize forever.”
Leslie Ludy

"This time on earth for unbelievers is as good as it's going to get in the big picture of eternity, but for us Christians our lifetime here on earth is as bad as it's going to ever get for us because we have Heaven for forever!"
-Author Unknown

High school isn't about finding your husband; its about finding your bridesmaids.
-Author Unknown

It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.
~Mark Twain

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!" - Song of Songs 8:4

“Either sin will keep you from the Word, or the Word will keep you from sin.”

– John Bunyan

fellowhip of the unashamed

Author Unknown-

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I wont look back, let up, or be still
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheep living, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, detoured, compromised, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of meritocracy.
I wont give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go until He comes, give till I drop, preach till all I know, and work until He stops me. And when he comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me - my banner will be clear!

Wait-

Wait for the guy who pursues you, the kind of guy who brings out the best in you and makes you want to be a better woman..

Wait for the guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot..

Wait for the guy who kisses your forehead and wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats..

Wait for the guy who holds your hand in front of his friends and thinks you're just as pretty without makeup..

Wait for the guy who turns to his friends and says, "that's her"..

Wait for the guy who will be your best friend, the person who will drop everything to be with you..

Wait for the guy who praises God for you and encourages you in your daily walk..

..and most importantly, wait for the guy who is more in love with God than with you.

...
I cry and wish to die
To curl up in a ball
And never stand again.
But then I hear a voice
Whispering softly, gently to me
''Give it all up, my dear, I know how you feel,''
''I died for you, and I'm here to tell you that I love you.''
I sob as I listen to the voice of GOD
Then with a 'yes' and an uplifted hand
I give up all my dreams
All my hopes, all my life
All my fears and all my hurts
I give up everything that I once longed for
And realize I need something more.
I surrender my life and let HIM take control.
Then, his arms surround me so tenderly
My tears stop, replaced with joy.
I feel His love within me, so strong, it heals my heart.

... Bridget

"Life is your myspace, you can post anything, anywhere, anytime. But be careful what you post, others can read it."
Raych Horwood

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
~Theodore Roosevelt

"Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."
~St. Francis of Assisi

"Just tell 'em I'm a nobody that's trying to tell everbody 'bout a Somebody that can save anybody."
– Denver, Same Kind of Different as Me

words to live by

Dance like there is no one watching, sing like no one is listening, and live every day like it is your last.

To My Mirror:

You're only a picture of me. You're gone as soon as I leave. And you're no more than a piece of glass.

Consider a painting by Rembrandt or a bronze by Degas or a violin by Stradivarius or a play by Shakespeare. They all have great value for two reasons. One, their creators were masters and second, they are few in number. But there is more than one of each of them. On that reasoning, you are the most valuable treasure on the face of the earth, for you know who created you and there is only one of you. Never, in all the billions of humans who have walked this planet since the beginning of time, has there been anyone exactly like you. Never, until the end of time, will there be another such as you. You are the rarest thing in the world.
-Author Unknown

The truth...

"It was my fault that He was there
It was my sin that placed Him there
And I can hear myself cry among the crowd, 'Crucify!'
And then I run outside and weep
For I am one of the lost sheep
Yes, He left the ninety-nine for one who yelled, 'Crucify!'
-Michelle M.B.

"A lily doesn't try to become like the thorns around her. Instead she stays a set-apart, lily-white princess for her Lover. Be like the lily, set apart for only God and when the time comes, only one man."

I want to be cherished as the girl who always smiles even when her heart is broken and the one that could always brighten up your day, even if she couldn’t brighten her own.

Character in a saint means the disposition of
Jesus Christ persistently manifested.

Oswald Chambers

I'm a Daughter of God. Not a perfect person, but changed by the love of God and restored to perfect beauty by the blood of Jesus Christ!

"Don't fall for a guy, unless you know he's willing to catch you"

Love is not blind, or God would be blind. Love sees everything and yet still chooses to love in spite of fault. Lust is blind.
-Kieran Atkins

Meeting Modesty

Who is Modesty? (source unknown)

Who is Modesty? Webster describes her as “freedom from conceit or vanity” and “propriety in speech, dress and conduct.”
OK . . .
But who is she really?
She’s passionate about God and love. She seeks to build others up, encourage them and help them find a beauty beyond appearance. When she is worn, she doesn’t disappoint or make others feel uncomfortable. Never causing guys to stumble and lust. She lives and breathes true beauty.
She is subtle and pretty. She conforms to whoever puts her on and displays her beauty far better than makeup can. She doesn’t hide what makes us unique but highlights it, making us confident in every detail of who we are.
She is difficult and stubborn. She does not waver. Her standards can be high. She isn’t a follower. She’s a leader.
She is a great friend but hard to listen to. Her standards are above ours, and when we want to be like the world, she makes her opposition clear.
So Modesty introduced herself to me when I was 17, and we’ve had our ups and downs, but through it all I try to remember that she is here only to help me.
When I get up in the morning the first thing I put on is her, and then I make my clothing choices. Striving to make God smile. Not the world. Not lust. Not friends. Just God.
What about you? Have you met Modesty?

Dear Lord,
I need your warm arm around my shoulder,and your hand over my mouth.

Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.

The perfect plan- well worth waiting for.

His Plan for Your Mate
Author unknown

Everyone longs to give themselves to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God to a Christian says no, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and contented with giving yourself totally, unreservedly to Me, to have an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone.

I love you, my child. And until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with me exclusive of anything else--exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to have the best! Please allow me to bring it to you--you must keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things--keep learning and listening to the things I tell you--you must wait.

Don't be anxious, don't worry, don't look around at the things you think you want. Just keep looking up to me or you will miss what I have to show you.

And then, when you are ready, I will surprise you with a love more wonderful than any you would ever dream. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready...I am working at this very minute to have both of you ready at the same time...until you are both satisfied with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experiance the love that exemplafies your relationship with Me, and this is perfect love. And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty and perfection and love I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly, I am Almighty God.

"There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still"
Betsy Ten Boom (said in a Nazi concentration camp)

The preoccupations of seventeen year old girls- their looks, their clothes, their social life- don't change much from generation to generation. But in every generation, there seem to be a few who make other choices.
-Elisabeth Elliot, A Chance To Die (biography of Amy Carmichael, who dedicated her life to service in India)

"True beauty comes from within, a place so serene and tranquil that all who behold the bearer of such beauty desire the Source, and in desiring, seek, and in seeking, find Jesus Christ; the Author of Beauty."
-Noella

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring Him a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what can I give him--
Give my heart --Christina Rossetti

"A life touched by God always ends in touching others."
~Erwin McManus

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
-C.S. Lewis

"Wanted kisses are sometimes sweeter than had ones"
R Moody

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
-Corrie ten Boom

You can't just follow your heart...because your heart can be deceived; you need to lead your heart.
~ Fireproof

Some Favorite Definitions

a smile: something that makes the world a better place.
modesty: tight enough to show you're a woman, loose enough to show you're a lady.
being happy: maybe everything isn't perfect- but you have chosen to see beyond the imperfections.
you: the living expression of God's kindness (how are you doing?)
love: not a fight, but something worth fighting for.
happy endings: God's specialty
beauty: the outward expression of what is in your heart; a God centered life.
life: only what's done for Christ lasts.
courage: not the absence of fear, but the determination that something else is more important than fear.
friends: people who accept us for who we are yet help us to be who we should.
fashion: a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to change it every six months.
confidence: the ability to admit when you've screwed up.

"When any of these girls feel like they are not enough, Father, remind them that to you they are everything."
Unknown Author

"A girl worth kissing is not easily kissed."

As daughters of Eve we have the power to change our worlds with gifts of life and love.
Lisa Bevere

“A woman is a perfect gift. We are complete with present, wrapping, string and card.
The card is in an envelope, don’t let it be opened, your envelope is modesty. Save the card for your husband. The string is your kiss, don’t let it be stolen away from you. The package is you, don’t let it be unwrapped but inside the covenant of marriage.” Lizzy Gardner

Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving
My warrant is the Word of God
none else is worth believing
Though all my heart should feel condemned
for want of some sweet token
There is One greater than my heart
whose Word cannot be broken
I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
'till soul and body sever
For though all things shall pass away
His Word shall span forever.
-Martin Luther

A Maiden's Prayer

Lord, please grant me...

...the willingness of Mary of Nazareth
...the obedience of Ruth
...the devotion of Esther
...the serving spirit of Martha
...the listening ear of Mary
...the hospitality of Lydia
...the faithfulness of Lois and Eunice
...the leadership of Deborah
...the trust of Hannah
...the searching heart of the Queen of Sheba
...the boldness of Priscilla
...the humility of Abigail

" 'For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' "
Jeremiah 29:11

Humility is like underwear: Essential, but indecent if it shows.

"You are a princess in God's court"
Lisa Ryan

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.

He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.

Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.

He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.

What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary.

Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.

-Author Unknown

Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.
-Matthew Henry

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." -José: "Bella"

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after awhile he gets to know something.
-Wilson Mizner

"Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
-Corrie Ten Boom

"We cannot do great things on this earth. We can only do small things with great love."
-Mother Teresa

A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus, the pure soul which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the angels in the sunshine of eternity."
St. John Vianney

"Your best guy friend will most likely be the kind of guy you will marry."

"Don't date him unless you want to marry him."

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength."

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
-Mother Teresa

"I have held many things in my hands and lost them all; but the things I have placed in God's hands, those I always possess." -Joyce Sleelbrurg

"Be like a postage stamp- stick to one thing until you get there."
-Josh Billings

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Phillipians 4:6

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship him, than a prisoner can blot out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."
- C.S. Lewis

"If we discover within ourselves a desire wich nothing on earth can satisfy, we should begin to consider if perhaps we were created for another world"
- C S Lewis

Audrey Hepburn's beauty tips

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone."
-Audrey Hepburn

"If you want to catch the eye of a godly guy, work hard at becoming a godly woman."

Watch your thoughts,
they become words.
Watch your words,
they become actions.
Watch your actions,
they become habits.
Watch your habits,
they become your character.
Watch your character,
it becomes your destiny.

"Purity isn't obtained by following a list of rules and requirements, it is a daily choice to live for God. There is no limit to how pure you can keep yourself; how far are you willing to go?"
Author Unknown

The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Proverbs 18:21)

A word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
(Proverbs 25:11)

"Adam bears the likeness of God in his fierce, wild, passionate heart. Eve embodies the beauty and the mystery and the tender vulnerability of God."
- John Elderedge.

She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world.
-Adlai Stevenson

"Before he can be your knight in shining armour, he must first put on the full armour of God."
Author Unknown

"To be rescued, one must first be a princess.

Know also that not by every knight is it worth being rescued.

Know thou assuredly that not every knight weareth shining armor."
Sarah Mally

"Anger is one letter away from danger."
Author Unknown

"Behind every sweet girl is a VERY protective dad"
Author Unknown

"Don't marry the person you think you can live with, only marry the person you know you can't live without"
Author Unknown

"If you believe that God has a marriage partner for you, then in His eyes you are already engaged. Act accordingly"
Author Unknown

"A girl should be so lost in God that a guy must seek him to find her."
Author unknown