You don't just quit

"Yes, the job was hard, but quit? No. This was the one time in my life when I knew I was exactly where the Lord wanted me to be. And when you know something like that, you don’t just quit because you’re sleepy."
-Heather Oman, "Breathing"

Both optimism and tears.

"I find comfort in the reality that we are sent to mourn with those that mourn. We are not sent to cheer them up. Even though Jesus knew that Lazarus would rise, He did not arrive at the tomb with smiles and assurances that all would be well. The loss was real. It is because He wept at the grave of His friend that I feel I can reach to Him with my own losses....My faith is rooted in both optimism and tears."

-Melissa Young, "Feeling the Loss"

Watching with Hope

"Perhaps watching can be painful at times, because I must acknowledge that time is passing - but not because, once passed, it's forever gone. Just like the sand that slips from the top of the globe to the glass floor below, it is not spilled or lost. It is stored.

My dad has always said that his favorite age for his children is the one they are at. I like that thought. To me, that is watching with hope.

Watching the change, and seeing what's not changing.

Watching it pass, and knowing it's not leaving.

Tasting every bite, but believing in God's everlasting covenant that the meal never ends. The food is perishable, yes, but there is more to come. And all of it, ingested, becomes a part of me." 

-Emily Halverson, "The Mother in Me"

"If I expend all of my energy defending the rightness of my position, I lose the opportunity to improve."

-Melissa Young

Witness God's love

"I believe that the best way to be a witness of the beauty of God’s laws is to also witness of His deep, abiding, eternal love."

-Emily Milner

You can't force yourself.

"You can’t force yourself to grow, develop, change, evolve, or become. You can only open yourself to what life brings and allow yourself to be taught and to be changed. Whatever your circumstances are, there are lessons embedded that will enable you to become your best self. But this doesn’t have anything to do with outward achievement. The most effective lessons are the ones that seem to set you back; the only success that matters is your success in transcending fear and maintaining peace within yourself."

–Kathryn Lynard Soper