so i have this really smart friend....her name is abby.

yep...her name is abby. And she always has fabulous advice. And she always has some amazing quotes as her status.

"Why is it that when we are doing something that is deemed inappropriate in another's eyes, we gain a greater knowledge and understanding of ourselves and of the world around us? Is life meant to be series of events which inevitably leads to lessons being learned; that is if we are open to those lessons?"

" Drop the belief that you need more time and experience to get this, for that is merely another idea arising in the timeless Being. You know that you are. In order to negate or affirm anything, you must already be there prior to whatever you will negate or affirm. You cannot be that which you perceive. You are the perceiving core. Rest as that. To grasp this is instant freedom, to miss this is bondage." - Mooji

Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.” - Deepak Chopra

"Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there's no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again." - Max Lucado

If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature - Bruce Barton

"If the world was black and white we would not need faith; we would only need conviction" - Dr. Scott Monsma

** I honestly wish that sometimes the world would be black and white. Decisions would make sense. You get what you want.....what you deserve because that is just the way it works. Relationships would be easy...black and white. You would love a person and be loved back. Pretty simple. But life is in the shades of gray. I live in a shade of gray every day. And that is where I learn to have faith again. Where I learn that my life is not my own. That my story is already written. It is in that gray color that I remember that I have a Creator that adores me, an adoration that I don't deserve. **

It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through." - Zig Ziglar

Okay....so this isn't from Abby. But I love this too much to not share it.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Criticize by creating. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion.

So I can't say anything beyond this. Nothing I say or comment will increase the power of that quote. And that would be the worst thing....to water down the above quote.

wise things from wise people......

"because followers of Jesus are sent out to be signposts pointing to the reality of his eternal kingdom. People who are signposts are "sent ones" who go to show the world the truth about how God feels about them. To be signposts of the kingdom, we have to think creatively. After all, most of the issues we deal with don't exist in heaven.--no one is homeless there, no one is addicted, trapped in greed, a workaholic, or lonely. Sometimes heaven looks like a warm blanket on a cold sidewalk; sometimes like a college girl who keeps showing up to help you carry your baby and your sorrows. Paradoxically, signposts of the kingdom radiate the most beauty when they're planted in the middle of the most mess."

"But Kingdom life thrives also in the beautiful ordinary, not just when we're working at a church. If you're a writer, let God use your interests and abilities to grow His kingdom in you and through you. That doesn't require that you write only about Jesus or put a fish symbol on your manuscript. It means that you write as one who lives for and in another dimension.
If you're a businessperson, don't bow your knee to fame, money or making a name for yourself. Instead excel in your area of expertise so that people can see what good, true, and beautiful business looks like. If you're a musician, architect, at home mom, or the guy with the burrito cart down in Pioneer Square downtown, the kingdom of God is here and inviting you to collaborate with what God is doing in your real world. You have a permission slip. You can let performing and achieving and striving go. You can invite the life of God to rise up all around you. You can sing it into your everyday world. Experience the seed."

- Rick McKinley

"Our Father who is in heaven …” With these words Jesus escorts us into the Great House of God. Shall we follow him? There is so much to see. Every room reveals his heart, every stop will soothe your soul. And no room is as essential as this one we enter first. Walk behind him as he leads us into God’s living room.

Sit in the chair that was made for you and warm your hands by the fire which never fades. Take time to look at the framed photos and find yours. Be sure to pick up the scrapbook and find the story of your life. But please, before any of that, stand at the mantle and study the painting which hangs above it.

Your Father treasures the portrait. He has hung it where all can see.

Stand before it a thousand times and each gaze is as fresh as the first. Let a million look at the canvas and each one will see himself. And each will be right.

Captured in the portrait is a tender scene of a father and a son. Behind them is a great house on a hill. Beneath their feet is a narrow path. Down from the house the father has run. Up the trail the son has trudged. The two have met, here, at the gate.

We can’t see the face of the son; it’s buried in the chest of his father. No, we can’t see his face, but we can see his tattered robe and stringy hair. We can see the mud on the back of his legs, the filth on his shoulders and the empty purse on the ground. At one time the purse was full of money. At one time the boy was full of pride. But that was a dozen taverns ago. Now both the purse and the pride are depleted. The prodigal offers no gift or explanation. All he offers is the smell of pigs and a rehearsed apology: “Father, I have sinned against God and done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21).

He feels unworthy of his birthright. “Demote me. Punish me. Take my name off the mailbox and my initials off the family tree. I am willing to give up my place at your table.” The boy is content to be a hired hand. There is only one problem. Though the boy is willing to stop being a son, the father is not willing to stop being a father.

Though we can’t see the boy’s face in the painting, we can’t miss the father’s. Look at the tears glistening on the leathered cheeks, the smile shining through the silver beard. One arm holds the boy up so he won’t fall, the other holds the boy close so he won’t doubt.

“Hurry!” he shouts. “Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get our fat calf and kill it so we can have a feast and celebrate. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost but now he is found!” (Luke 15:22–24).

How these words must have stunned the young man, “My son was dead …” He thought he’d lost his place in the home. After all, didn’t he abandon his father? Didn’t he waste his inheritance? The boy assumed he had forfeited his privilege to sonship. The father, however, doesn’t give up that easily. In his mind, his son is still a son. The child may have been out of the house, but he was never out of his father’s heart. He may have left the table, but he never left the family. Don’t miss the message here. You may be willing to stop being God’s child. But God is not willing to stop being your Father.

~Max Lucado

dear....you know who you are......

This thing called life is confusing to me sometimes. I don't understand why things happen, I don't understand why some things don't happen and sometimes I just stand there speechless.

I don't understand why Haiti experienced such a devastating disaster. I don't understand why there are so many things in my life that could fit into the unknown category. I don't understand why in a world of such beauty, there is so much pain. I don't understand why the young Maddie Milner, at age 14, died in a tragic ski accident, doing what she loved.

I don't get it. And all the things that I don't get weigh me down. It is almost a feeling of trying to keep your head above water, just trying to catch your breath. Wave after wave after wave knock you down. Rough waters keep pushing you further and further away from the shore. All you want, all I want, is a day. A day to just stop and be. To catch my breath and to find some stable ground. And for just one minute, to know all the answers. To have that moment of clarity where everything makes sense. When all the sacrifices, low moments and celebrations make perfect sense in the grand story of my life.

Maybe the beauty of this life is within the mystery. The beauty is in our mess. Because I know whose mess I am!

Maybe it is all about love. Learning to love people without an agenda and expecting nothing in return. Learning to accept love, and find freedom in that. Maybe it is to do what you love.

Maybe it is to wade through all the crap, dark moments and suffocating situations and cling to that one shred of hope. Because that one little handful of hope, turns into an arm load of hope, and so on. The darkness becomes a little more light. And that light grows brighter and stronger until you can't remember the source of the darkness.

I am learning that I really don't understand life at all. And I am not supposed to. I can't see the big picture of my life. I don't know where I will be in a year, five years or 10 years. But I am learning, and learning slowly that I have to let that go too. I am learning that the daily struggles are just minor bumps in my journey. And that journey was never intended to be easy and smooth.

Dear you know who you are................

I am writing this to myself as well as I am writing it for you. We all are that person once in a while that can't seem to find stable ground. So maybe I am writing this to numerous people.

Live in today, loving people, being loved and doing what you love. Find the beauty in not knowing your entire story but knowing exactly who is writing it. Dig in for the journey. It isn't easy. But some day, we will have that moment of clarity where everything makes sense. And the ground beneath our feet will stop moving. And finally, for just a second, we can take a deep breath of air that will fill our lungs and revitalize our souls at the same time.

Hang on.

Dig in.

Hold tight to the God that adores you.

Find your handful of hope.