Quotes of the Day!

"Contentment is the equilibrium between the enjoyment of life now and the anticipation of what is to come. Contentment serves as a guard against desires gone wild. It is the key to unlock you from the bondage of unrestrained longing that wells up within your heart and inevitably begins to control your life, making you a slave to what you don't have instead of a fully engaged participation with what you do. It is the faith-filled belief that what God has bestowed now is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, not merely because it is enough but because it is good." Priscilla Shirer (Thank you, Jamesy, for sharing this!)

Priscilla Shirer wrote the book, The Resolution for Women, which Jamesy recommended to me & it looks fabulous!

Source: amazon.com via Jen on Pinterest

This next quote is as inspiring as the friend (Melissa) who shared it with me today:

"My times are in Thy hand." Psalm 31:15

Let this precious truth divest your mind of all needless, anxious care for the present or the future. Exercising simple faith in God, be careful for nothing. Learn to be content with your present lot, with God's dealings with you, and HIs disposal of you. You are just where His providence has, in its inscrutable but all-wise and righteous decision, placed you. It may be a position painful, irksome, trying, but it is right. Oh yes! It is right.
Only aim to glorify Him in it. Wherever you are placed, God has a work for you to do, a purpose through you to be accomplished, in which He blends your happiness with his glory."

January 26, Octavious Winslow (Morning Thoughts)

A Bubble Held in Awe

Source: aholyexperience.com via Jen on Pinterest

“I don’t really want more time; I just want enough time. Time to breathe deep & time to see real & time to laugh long, time to give You glory & rest deep & sing joy… I just want time to do my one life well. Life at its fullest is this sensitive, detonating sphere — and it can be carried only in the hands of the unhurried and reverential— a bubble held in awe.”

~ One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Colleen's Book List!!

Though Colleen and I have yet to meet in person, I truly consider her a kindred spirit. I've been dying to get Colleen's book list of her faves and boy oh BOY is this worth the wait! :) If you're looking for a good read, check this out. :)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011
by Colleen Chao

My all-time favorite reads

It's been four months since I began compiling this list of my favorite books, thanks to Jen Brown's inspiring suggestion. (Jen and I met through our blogs, not yet in person, and we've enjoyed the sweetest fellowship via email and Facebook. I'm so thankful for her and her ministry of encouragement in my life!) It's been fun revisiting these books I refer to as "old friends" and the fond memories of times and places I've read them.

And Jen, per our agreement, I think this now obligates you to post your own lovely list! ;)

The books I return to again and again…
The Dangerous Duty of Delight, Piper
The Importance of Being Foolish, Manning
The Grand Weaver, Zacharias
The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer
The Cross-centered Life, Mahaney



The biographies that have shaped my life…
Marriage to a Difficult Man, Dodds
A Chance to Die, Elliot
The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, The Roots of Endurance, The Hidden Smile of God, Piper
Shadow of the Broad Brim, Day
George Mueller’s Autobiography, Mueller

The books that celebrate God’s design for marriage…
This Momentary Marriage, Piper
Sacred Sex, Gardner
Intimate Issues, Dillow
What Did You Expect?, Tripp
When Sinners Say I Do, Harvey



The collections that whet my appetite for more of the Word…
Morning and Evening, Spurgeon
A Godward Life, Piper
My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers
Valley of Vision, Puritans
St. Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine

The books for my imaginative side...
All Things Great and Small, Herriot
Redeeming Love, Rivers
Christy, Marshall
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson
Emma, Austen



The books for my wordy nerdy side…
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Truss
Lapsing into a Comma, Walsh
The Elephants of Style, Walsh
Garner’s Modern American Usage, Garner
Chicago Manual of Style

The books that have sustained me in my darkest seasons…
Deserts of the Heart, Reeve
The Problem of Pain, Lewis
The Grand Weaver, Zacharias
The Swans are Not Silent, Piper
Get Out of That Pit, Moore

Fearless Excerpts

I recently read Max Lucado's book, Fearless, and it was so challenging and refreshing for me. I'll probably end up reading it again, but I wanted to share a few quotes with you that I especially liked:

"There's a stampede of fear out there. Let's not get caught in it. Let's be among those who stay calm. Let's recognize danger but not be overwhelmed. Acknowledge threats but refuse to be defined by them. Let others breathe the polluted air of anxiety, not us. Let's be numbered among those who hear a different voice, God's. Enough of these shouts of despair, wails of doom. Why pay head to the doomsdayer on Wall Street or the purveyor of gloom in the newspaper? We will incline our ears elsewhere: upward. We will turn to our Maker, and because we do, we will fear less."

"Courage does not panic; it prays. Courage does not bemoan; it believes. Courage does not languish; it listens. It listens to the voice of God calling through Scripture, "Fear not!" It hears Christ's voice comforting through the hospital corridors, graveyards and war zones."

"Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith and your fear will."

"God's resume includes Red Sea openings, lions' mouths closings, Goliath topplings, Lazarus raisings, storm stillings. . ."

"As awe of Jesus expands, fears of life diminish."

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers."

"How sturdy are the bolts of your belief? Reinforce them with daily Bible readings, regular worship and earnest communion with God."

"And so it is with Christ. The longer we live in Him, the greater He becomes in us. It's not that He changes, but we do; we see more of Him. We see dimensions, aspects, and characteristics we never saw before, increasing and astonishing increments of His purity, power and uniqueness."