Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection. If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspira

A great relationship is about two things: First, appreciating the similarities, and second, respecting the differences.   Unknown The older I have gotten and the more life experience I have gained the more today's quote has been learned.  I'm beginning to learn that I don't need to feel or be threatened by people in my life who aren't exactly like me; whether that be in hobbies, beliefs, behaviors, work ethic, politics, parenting styles, etc.  It's easy to appreciate the similarities I share with others, it's a lot harder to respect differences.  I think it is harder to respect differences in each other because our culture doesn't encourage that.  While our culture says it promotes diversity and tolerance it acts completely opposite.  In fact, differences in the above things I mentioned often create division and derision.  Respect is not encouraged.  I don't know about *you* but I think that needs to change.  Regardless of what our culture says or doe

Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.   Margaret Shepard Sometimes I feel like I am standing on a cliff and whether I turn to my left or right or look in front or in back of me the only way to get off the cliff is to leap.  Sometimes it is the only way to get from point A to point B.  But too often that leap looks to scary, to intimidating  to impossible.  But if point B is the destination then I have got to muster up my courage, squeeze my eyes shut if I must, and step off into the unknown, trusting that point B will catch me.  Sometimes all we have is faith in the form of a leap.  Trust your instinct about to take it, you have more courage than you think you do.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.      Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.      I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NLT I think life is pretty scary.  It asks us to take risks, it asks us to have courage, it asks us to feel things we'd rather not, it asks us to be open to things we may never consider on our own.  Life has joy, sorrow, happiness, fear, and every other emotion you can think of.  Life holds lessons for us, if we are willing to learn.  Life is pretty scary.  And sometimes the scary is good, thrilling even.  But sometimes the scary is bad, isolating at best.   I know a fair number of people.  I watch them all tackle life and I wonder, when the bad scary of life hits, how they do it.  How do they get through loss of any significant kind, tragedy, etc without grasping the hand that created them in the first place?  I cannot imagine trying to walk through the bad scary parts of my life without God.  I

There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed.   Gandhi We are a wasteful, selfish people.  We are.  Quit sputtering, calm down, and allow reality to be your perspective. Did you know that in the U.S. alone we waste 96 billion pounds of food?  Food that is edible.  In Europe and the U.S. half of all prepared food gets thrown out.  If, out of the food that was thrown away, only 25 percent was recovered 20 million people could be fed.  While it is true we can't send our bread to Africa (it would get moldy before getting there) it is true that each of us, within our own communities, can help to alleviate the hunger problem.  Yes, even in Africa or India or wherever poverty is highlighted because of the intense need.  How do I know that even in the third world developing countries the hunger need can be alleviated?  Because greed makes its home in all countries, not just the seemingly rich ones.  There is greed in every nook and cranny

Your past is just a story.  And once you realize this, it has no power over you.   Unknown If you are letting your past be part of your present then your story just may be holding you hostage and keeping you from progressing. Ever read a book where the story line just kind of seems "stuck"?  Not much changes throughout.  Chances are you may not finish the book - what would be the point?  Chances are if you were asked to review the book your review might use words such as "dull", etc.  A good story needs many things to keep it moving forward, to keep the audience - even the characters - engaged, and to bring it to an ending that brings closure. If you use your past as your story line for your life today you might be stalling out.  Certainly our pasts can be important and bear weight on our present and even future but they should not be the driver of your story presently.  The past should stay where it belongs...in the past.  It served its purpose as background and

You may think the grass is greener on the other side.  But if you take the time to water your own grass it would be just as green.   Unknown Oh I like today's quote.  A lot.  Why it has never occurred to me in this way I don't know, but I sure am glad I am thinking about it now. We are a lazy bunch aren't we?  We want the green grass but we don't want to put the work in to keep it green.  But the only way to keep it healthy and green is to put the work in. Sometimes our grass has got crabgrass and weeds.  Take a careful look, is it because of your neglect?  Or is it because the soil wasn't nutrient rich to begin with?  If it's because of your neglect own up and do what it takes to remove it.  If it is because of depleted soil then you may need to move. Sometimes our grass is getting brown and dried up.  Take a careful look, is it because of your neglect?  Or is it because the heat is relentless through no fault of your own?  If it's because of your neg

We do not have to become heroes overnight.  Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up...discovering we have the strength to stare it down.   Eleanor Roosevelt What's a hero?  Anyone who has the courage and fortitude to stare at what is seeking to intimidate and looking it up and down and then tackling it.  It doesn't matter what the thing is because a hero is one who conquers.  Do not feel the pressure to conquer overnight, it will take time.  The best heroes are ones who allow the process to happen and allow complete victory.  Rush it and you'll miss important steps.  Rush it and you'll think you don't have what it takes to take it down.  But you do, you have what it takes.  And I do, I have what it takes.  Let us become heroes because we are conquering those things and people in our lives that seek to intimidate.

We accept the love we think we deserve.   Stephen Chbosky Oy.  When I read this quote I thought to myself, "ouch."  I recognize this in myself, how about you?  With immediate clarity I realized I have, in the past, sabotaged relationships that might be offering more love than I think or feel I deserve.  I'm willing to bet *you* have done it or still do it as well.  Somehow along the way of my life journey I let bad and wrong belief about myself define the love I will accept.  And I've let that definition dictate my relationships and the level of affection.  I've decided certain things about the interactions in my relationships and become uncomfortable when someone comes along that once to crash through that definition and challenge it.  Or I accept less because I don't deserve more.  Ugh, right?  But I'm pretty sure *you* know exactly what I am talking about. How do you see today's quote in your life?  Or do you?

You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.   Johnny Depp The heart feels what it feels. Absorbs what it absorbs.  Even the hardest hearts that have walls built up feel and absorb.  Unwillingly yes but even those hearts feel.  Unlike the eyes that can close to the hard things that will make us feel things we don't want to, our hearts cannot close to those things.  I've seen this happen when traveling through the slums.  I know a woman (no it's not me referring to myself in third person) who walked through the slum of Mathare Valley with me.  She closed her eyes to what she saw and she tried and tried and tried to close her heart but she couldn't.  And the more she tried the angrier she got and the more upset she became.  She found a person to be the target of her anger.   Someone who she funneled all that she was trying to ignore her heart was feeling.  If she would have

Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else. David Foster Wallace I think today's quote is interesting.  I think it is true and I find that interesting...and disturbing.  :)  Perhaps because we all grew up learning from loved ones that we are different from others.  But a funny thing has happened as we have grown up.  We have found out through life experience, maturity, interactions, etc that we aren't really all that different from others, right?  And what a disappointment, right?  Well we are going to have to get over it.  I know that's harsh but it's the reality.  We aren't different from each other but we are all unique in our own ways.  Be okay with that.   Just because you aren't different doesn't mean you are not special.   Develop your unique qualities and accept that you are just like everyone else in other ways, you aren't that different.  Once you accept th

Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.   Jacob M. Braude BOY HOWDY!  Isn't this the truth?!  I have enough trouble trying to change things about myself much less trying to change another person.  Besides, it's not my job to change others.  If I focus on others then that means I am not focused on myself and myself is the only person I should be working on.  Same goes for *you*.  What could be or would be different if we all focused on ourselves and the changes we know we need to make in our own lives?  Improvements to our self usually means we settle down and quit nitpicking on others.  What a relief for them and us!

Hurt me with the truth but never comfort me with a lie. Unknown  It's so tempting to soften the blow for someone by lying to them.  But in the end, when they discover you have lied instead of spoken truth the hurt is double than it would have been with the truth.  Yes, the truth may hurt but it is better than the lie.  The "comfort" the lie pretends it offers is insincere and damaging.  The "hurt" the truth presents offers eventual healing, restoration, and growth - spiritual and personal.  Which would you rather have?  Damage to relationships and self because of deception or ultimate healing to relationships and self because of truth?  I say bring on the truth.  What say you?  

Be kind to unkind people, they need it the most.   Anonymous But it's so hard. Right?  Right.  SO HARD.  But it's so true.  Right?  Right.  Think about the times that you have been unkind.  Haven't you appreciated the kindness of someone even though you didn't deserve it?  And I just pointed out the problem of overflowing kindness.  We tend to only extend kindness to others when we think they deserve it.  In our skewed perspectives we think people have to earn the right to be treated kindly even though we are appalled when others put that same requirement on us.  Could we BE more hypocritical?  Could we BE more of a jerk?  I mean really.  And I will be the first to raise my hand and call myself out on this behavior.  I have a really hard time being kind to unkind people.  I know the reasons why I struggle with it, some of the reasons lean toward people "deserving" it, other reasons do not.  But I am not sure that it could ever be said of me that kindness for

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. Unknown Today's quote is actually just a portion of the longer version which is my favorite blessing.   In my life one of the most comforting things in my life is that I am held in the palm of God's hand.  It is my hope that perhaps that comforts you as well.  Even when the road does not rise up to meet you but takes you down low in the valley, even when the wind pushes against you for a season, even when the sun is covered by the clouds, and the rain comes down in a torrent instead of gently you are held, I am held, by God in the palm of his hand.  You are not just held but in fact you are engraved on his hands.   Engraved implies permanent, so we are each permanently imprinted on the hands of our Maker.  May that bring you comfort no matter what the winds

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James Ah.  Today's quote is a hidden gem.  But I think I would add to it, no offense to Mr. James.  The art of being wise is also knowing what to address.  There is a fine balance between knowing what to overlook and what to address.  And there is wisdom in knowing how to do either; how to behave and how to speak (those two things cover a lot of ground).  Wisdom includes timing and timing is everything.  Address or overlook in the right time frame and things go well.  Address or overlook in the wrong time frame and things will go poorly.  Wisdom requires patience, to overlook or address.  Wisdom requires speaking carefully, with grace, and with truth.   When have you seen wisdom work well?  When have you wished you exercised wisdom?  

A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame someone else.   John Borrough The evidence of a strong character is accepting and owning your failures, the consequences of them, and the lessons of them.  In every failure there is something to be learned and if you try to place the blame for your failures on others then you are missing out on important life experiences.  Own up and quit blame shifting!  It's so unattractive to shift blame to others.  Newsflash: If you think appearing perfect and without blame makes you appealing your thinking is faulty.  *We* all know you aren't perfect, make mistakes, and can't accept personal responsibility for your mistakes so *we* all don't find you so attractive after all.  However, if you would accept personal responsibility for your failures (which that is what mistakes are) then *we* might soften toward you.  You only fail when you blame shift and try to place ownership on others.  Otherwise you

Deep experience is never peaceful.   Henry James  Boy howdy isn't this the truth!  When we go through experiences that take us deep there is always some upheaval that comes along with it.  Why is that?  Because in order to grow and learn from the experience we must rid ourselves of toxic things and people and that is never a calm process, it always involves some sort of tearing, removing, refining, grief.  Always.  But embrace it all.  Embrace the process deep experiences take you through.  Embrace the reality that on the other side there will be lessons that have been learned and growth that has occurred.  Go ahead and grieve if you need to but embrace even that, knowing that the upheaval of the deep experience is leading you to healthier relationships, a healthier perspective on yourself, a healthier view of future situations that are sure to come up, etc.   In the ocean the deep waters may be calm but in our souls going deep will bring unrest, it will stir up all the soil t

A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.   Herb Caen Don't you hate it when you take too big of a bite and your mouth is full to capacity, and then some?  Man I feel so silly when I do that, like I should know better.  How about you?  Well in today's quote the same idea is applied to our life situations. Sometimes we take too big of a bite of life - a conflict, a job, a relationship, pretty much anything where wisdom is necessary - and we discover that we need some extra teeth to chew through what we've bit off.  That's when we start bringing forth those wisdom teeth.  The gums bleed and the pain is excruciating but the teeth are necessary for getting through the bite.  To get through life successfully we need wisdom, without it we won't get very far.  We feel silly when we realize we need more wisdom to get through something hard, we feel like we should have known better but we usually don't realize the bite was

Nothing is more exhausting than the task that is never started.   Gretchen Rubin (heavy) SIGH.  Yep.  Really is there anything else to say?  Continuing to put off the task that needs to be started ends up exhausting us because we build it up to be this big, monumental thing that is going to suck years of our life away in trying to complete. The reality?  It will take upwards of 1 hour.  (Unless, in the example of house cleaning, you have completely hoarded out your home.  That's a little different.)  And 1 hour is on the high end of things.  :)  No really, I'm speaking from personal experience here.   Yes the thought of the task might be exhausting but never actually completing the task is going to be the thing that eventually wears you down.  So just do it.  Practice some discipline and get 'er done, whatever it is.  

Motivation: Doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done when we want to do it.  Discipline: Doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done when we don't want to do it.   Bobbi Deporter (I think!) Today's quote makes a lot of sense to me.  When it comes right down to it, it doesn't matter if I am motivated, it matters if I am disciplined.  The most common example is exercise but I can think of all sorts of other things this applies to.  Cleaning house, grocery shopping *grin*, parenting (seriously!  think about it...), writing (that's a super specific example for me), conflict resolution, relationships (again, that may be a bit more specific to me), etc. What builds character?  Being driven by discipline not necessarily motivation.  Now, motivation can turn into discipline.  It has its part to play but if the motivation never transforms into discipline then you just stay stuck at wanting but never doing.  Oh sheesh.  I type that and am reminded about

Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults because it makes a victim of both parties.   Gene Tierney   When a person, you or someone else, acts out in jealousy it has a domino effect.  The feelings of jealousy, the behavior of jealousy, doesn't stay contained within just you, it reaches out and like octopus tentacles it grabs others and wounds them.  Yes, it wounds .  Jealousy creates irrational behavior, hurtful words, damaging actions, justification, and isolation.  It probably also creates other wounds but those are the first that came to mind.  Ouch.  Want to be part of that ?   Recently I watched jealousy do its damaging work on some people that I love.  It's painful to watch, it was or is even painful to watch the person who is jealous.  The fallout from irrational behavior caused by jealousy can last days, weeks, months, even years.  Both parties involved have to pursue resolution and healing for what the jealousy did and usually that is  separate  from one another

Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.   H. Jackson Brown, Jr.  I think we might all have that "thing".  The thing you know you are meant to do, the thing you know you are created to do, the thing that you know if you did it other people would benefit, the thing that brings honor to your Creator.  But the world and this life do all they can to keep us from doing that thing.  We get thrown insecurity, jealousy, fear, doubt, criticism, circumstances that delay, etc and those things thrown at us put in a position of defeat.  Don't let the defeat win!  Don't let what seems to be actually be.  Dig deep and honor what your heart is telling you to do.  Oh sure, it will probably take you longer to get to it than you want but part of that time you are learning and growing and will be able to use that time to enhance the "thing", whatever it is.  Don't despise the time and the obstacles you have to navigate, use

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.   Benjamin Franklin We've got a problem.  We really don't like to take personal responsibility and we make excuses to make sure that we don't take responsibility.  And what happens is we become good-for-nothings.  That's right I said it, now deal with it.  When we try to excuse everything away we prove ourselves to be untrustworthy, insincere, immature, and lacking in character.  When the only excuse you can find is you then own up and deal with the fall-out.  Even if the excuse isn't you but isn't right take some responsibility and deal with it in a mature fashion.  A person who lives their life blame shifting and excusing themselves away is a drain on their families, relationships, workplaces, etc.  Don't be a drain!

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Sadness , I think, causes us to build walls around our hearts and lives.  Something about  sadness  creates in us a fear of letting others in or close so we make ourselves an obstacle.  Sometimes we are aware of the sadness in others, sometimes we are not.  But to sorrow alone is one of the worst things I can think of to do.  It is in sorrow that we need the comforting touch of another, the gentle voice of someone who loves us, and the clarity with which someone else can provide.  What would happen if we chose not to build walls with our sadness but instead built gates and openings and let others in.  Might our sorrow cease and we bloom with warmth?  

Our questions never hold up in the presence of God.  His presence is the answer.  John Schultz Once I am really and truly in the presence of God all of my questions seem insignificant.  Once I am in his presence I realize that all that matters is him.  He is the answer to all that my mind is trying to figure out.  If I could keep this realization at the forefront of my mind and heart things in life would be a bit easier I suspect.  If I could be mindful of remaining in his presence then my days would look and feel a lot different.  There is liberty in uttering the answer, and believing it, "I don't know but God does" and then letting God work the answer into my life.  It is one thing to utter that, it is a whole other thing to be in his presence and believe that.      Job is a great example of this.  He had lots and lots of questions for God but he also knew that even though he wasn't privvy to the answers God had them.  And so Job trusted in God's presence bein

Is fat really the worst thing a human being can be? Is fat worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, boring, evil, or cruel?  Not to me.   J.K. Rowling Rowling asks the best question.  I've actually been thinking about this lately.  We look at someone and immediately assign value to them based on their appearance.  And the sad reality is that we look at overweight people, specifically, and we pass judgment on them.  We, out loud or quietly, degrade them by assuming they are lazy, undisciplined, lacking self-control, etc.  If watching Biggest Loser has taught me anything it has taught me that overweight people are overweight for a reason and it isn't laziness, lack of discipline (at the core of the issue), etc.  And it has proved that overweight people are kind and generous and most importantly have value and worth.  I'd rather be friends with someone overweight but amazing than friends with someone who fits the mold of our culture but is jealous and shallow and has a

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.   Khalil Gibran Think about it... right?   When I'm unsettled about something, processing something, trying to work something out I talk - in my head, to myself, out loud to others, out loud to myself *grin*, or I engage in any number of other forms of "talking" that exist. All the chattering indicates a lack of peace about *it*, a lack of resolution/solution/conclusion, an unease.  I do quit talking about *it* when I have come to a place of peace, acceptance, resolution/solution/conclusion.   What about you ?  Do you find today's quote to be accurate in your own life?    

People were created to be loved.  Things were created to be used.  The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.   Unknown Today's quote is put really well.  Whoever "unknown" is they said it perfectly.  When we put things (jobs, financial gain, big people toys, electronics, success, etc etc) ahead of people and use those people to get those things then we have thrown our world and the worlds of others into disarray.  No thing should be loved more than a person.  Things won't love you back, they won't fulfill you long-term, they won't give you what you are looking for - only people can assist in those pursuits.  I say assist because I have personally experienced that only God can truly love you, fulfill you, and give you what you are looking for but he will ask people to participate in your life to accomplish those.  :)  But I digress... How does this topic look in your life?  Do you place a higher and greate

Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength.   Betty Friedan   I love getting older. Oh don't get me wrong, the physical ailments of aging aren't much fun but even those can be relieved with exercise and other things.  What I love about getting older is exactly what Friedan points out in today's quote, aging provides us opportunity to grow in character, to gain more life experience, to apply what we've already lived through to our days and to our interactions with other people.  We don't lose when we age but we gain!  If I think back to even 5 years ago I wouldn't want to return to that time.  I love what I've learned and grown in in those years.  And you couldn't pay me enough money to go back in time and be a high schooler again!  The only way I would consider going back is if I could take with me the wisdom I've gained over the years.  Aging has provided me, and hopefully you, the opportunity to grow in wisdom a

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.   Alan Cohen I adore today's quote.  I am challenged by today's quote.  Today's quote starts my Rolodex of names, searching for the ones who love me in the ways today's quote describes and reminding me of who I love in this way.  In our humanness love is a tricky thing because we place conditions on it.   We place external and internal conditions on our love for others, we base it on performance, we define it according to our baggage.  Love in our humanness is a tricky, tricky thing.  And oftentimes we equate love and worth/value.  So if we are having a hard time loving someone then we also are probably having a hard time treating them with worth.   Back to the actual point of today's quote, if we are having