Greetings blog-world.
I’m not sure about you, but I’m having a hard time paying attention today. With the long weekend ahead, I am getting a bit jittery. Not to mention, Atlanta has been, for the most part, absolutely fabulous this week. Low 70’s. Warm sunshine. A nice cool breeze. Hardly a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. The smell of fresh jasmine permeating the air. With this distractingly beautiful weather and Memorial Day weekend ahead, I’ve been needing a little extra motivation to keep me sitting still in my office throughout the work day.
I came across this quote, printed it out, and it has been really inspiring to me this week. So naturally, I thought I would pass it along in case you were a little bit distracted today like I am. The quote is apparently by Mark Batterson, who I am not personally familiar with so you will have to correct me if I am in the wrong.
“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. 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. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. 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 worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. 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.”
– Mark Batterson
Have you recently come across a quote that you loved? It doesn’t have to be your favorite quote ever. I don’t think I could even narrow down what my all-time favorite quote is. I have a working list of quotes that I add to regularly and I like them all for different reasons and seasons.
Here is one of my Mom’s:
“Faith is not clinging to a shrine, but an endless pilgrimage of the heart, audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind- these are all a drive toward serving Him who rings our hearts like a bell.”
– Abraham Joshua Heschel
And finally, here is Amanda’s:
“What’s that smell? Is that a snuck?”
-Jackson Jones
We hope you have a fantastic Holiday weekend. Take life in. You are loved.
The Moore-Jones-Fitzpatrick women.
This has been an important quote for me to remember, in this worldly world of ours:
“I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
– Martin Luther
I have always like this one. It’s one from your mom…Not sure where it’s from. I just came across it one day:
“A daily recommitment is not to ensure that we’ll never fail, but to help us develop the mentality that every day is a new day. A new chance to follow Christ. Obedience to God is not some diet we suddenly blow. It is something to which we recommit every single day, no matter how we blew it the day before. Victorious living is not an instant arrival. It is the pursuit of one victorious day at a time until the sun sets on enough to begin forming victorious habits.” – Beth Moore
Mother Teresa — "If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one."
My goodness! 900+ children sponsored! That is so exciting! I'm a volunteer Child Advocate for Compassion — and since I began speaking in small Wyoming & Montana churches in '94 I have just passed 500 kids! You nearly doubled that in just one week — how awesome is that??!!?? We can all do our part, one child at a time, for as you know — they each have a face, a name and specific crucial needs. Thank you so much for the wonderful posts!
Yes, thats Mark Batterson. He is a preacher in Washington, DC and his blog is http://www.evotional.com. He’s a great writer!
I absolutely love quotes! I’ll play and replay some sermons just to jot down the main point in my journal. Here’s a favorite of mine.
“Study nature as the countenance of God.†~Kingsley
Enjoy the nice long weekend and sing praises to the Most High!
Love, Amy in OK
I love you guys! Melissa, you are so special to me because you so very much remind me of my strong-willed daughter who could make me cry with frustration 🙂
Yet, now at age 25 she is a Family Counselor/Social Worker that goes into the worst gang filled neighborhoods near Oakland, CA and helps children and teens with problems many of us cannot bear to hear about, much less see and hear firsthand.
When she comes to faith in HIM she will be one that will work for justice and oppression for the weak, only with the true Hope, HIM.
(Ouote)
In Your hand
I place my heart,
Body, life and soul,
Deep feelings and affections mine,
Spouse-Redeemer sweet,
Myself offered now to You,
What do you want of me?
St. Teresa of Avilla (Poem, In The Hands Of GOD)
This is my all time favorite
“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.†–Phillips Brooks
“God didn’t call us to be successful, just faithful.”
— by Mother Teresa
The Journey Continues ~
Quote favorites of mine 🙂
Asking makes the difference!
Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart!
Let Go and Let GOD!
Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can.
At all the times you can.
To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.
And when we finish our day’s work,
god will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
(Matt.25:21)
thanks for letting me share!
By the way, I am having a hard time paying attention to so I am sitting at the coast of California sipping an espresso my husband just made me, watching the ocean surf go back and forth… a perfect beginning of a celebrated weekend!
Come join me!
Have a RESTFUL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!
With “Heaven Bound” blessings,
Kim Safina
No way I could narrow it down to just one favorite, but here are two that I love:
We must stop regarding unpleasant or unexpected things as interruptions of real life. The truth is that interruptions are real life.
C.S. Lewis
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.
Michael Pritchard
Oh, and this one that I have to remind myself of very often:
There is no problem, situation, or circumstance bigger than God.
Beth Moore 🙂
Thank you for sharing those quotes. I love all of there.
This is one that has been speaking to my heart lately:
“When I learn to say yes to God’s will I am no longer preoccupied with myself, my abilities or the dreams for my life. Letting go of my dreams means my future will not be the way I always expected it to be. Only then, when I have released my death grip on what I believe God should do, the way I believe He should do it, and when I believe it should happen, am I free to fully receive what God has for me. If God calls me to put my dreams on the alter, I need to trust Him to replace them or revive them in a way that makes the original pale by comparison.”
~Gary Mayes
Have a great weekend!
~Liz
yes, jackson, that is a snuck 🙂
“In eternity this world will be Troy, I think, and all that has passed here will be the epic of the universe, the ballad they sing in the streets.”–Marilynne Robinson, “Gilead”
“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”–Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Those are the two on the refrigerator right now, at any rate.
Melissa, I know exactly what you mean about the feeling jittery today! Thank you for sharing this quote…for starters, I’m going to ride a roller coaster tonight! I’m such a chicken. And then set me God-sized goals; ones that will fail without “divine intervention.” Love you too Moore-Jones-Fitzpatrick women.
::Taylor
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaer is telling you? Who said anything about safe?’ Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis
I love that quote from Mark Batterson’s book “In a Pit With A Lion on A Snowy Day.” That was actually one of the books that I was reading when I was contemplating leaving the work force to go into ministry full time.
I left my job in this crazy economy in January and am excited about what God has in store.
His second book “Wild Goose Chase” is another great one!
“…To inoculate me from the praise of man, He baptized me in the criticism of man until I died to the control of man”
Francis Frangipane
The first time I heard this quote it struck me at the heart… I understand what he is talking about… I still am not there…Striving…
I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins that we commit, but the life that we fail to live.
-Erwin McManus from Seizing Your Divine Moment
This is my reminder that I have been freed from and forgiven of my sins and I now need to live the life God intended.
Kim . . . who is
Grafted By Grace
“Mommy, if there was a people store, I would go in and buy you.”
-Sylvia
A quote from my 30 year old daughter when she was five. She told me this while standing beside me when I was seated on a bench with her arm around my shoulders. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Have a blessed weekend everyone, remember and honor our veterans.
Love and Blessings, Debbie in Tennessee
Oh, boy!!!
I LOVE quotes!
Thought I’d just share a few that I have posted here by my desk. 🙂
Nothing so astonishes men as common sense and plain dealing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Additional problems are the offspring of poor solutions.
Mark Twain
Winning is not everything-
but making the effort to win is.
Vince Lombardi
The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vince Lombardi
Success:
Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of the Holy spirit, and expecting the results from God.
Rick Warren
Sorry! Many of my favorite quotes also come from songs, so ya’ll
“…have a fruitful day!”
I absolutely loved that quote Melissa and will need to print that off for a daily reminder….
One quote I like is “The will of God will never take you where the grace of God won’t protect you”
Have a great holiday weekend my siestas in Christ!
Thank you for the blessing of all 3 quotes. Here is my favorite for now:”We are not human beings having spiritual experiences but Spiritual Beings having human experiences.”Tei Inartd de Chardin S.J.
“For those of us who know Jesus, this earth is as close as we will ever come to hell. For those who don’t know Jesus, this earth is as close as they will ever come to Heaven.” Randy Alcorn – Heaven
“Jesus pounds ‘Do Not Enter’ signs on every square inch of Satan’s gate and tells those hell-bent on entering to do so over His dead body.” Max Lucado – 3:16 – The Numbers of Hope
These quotes are wonderful! I have several, but here’s one that fits with yours Melissa…
“I’ve imagined great victories, and I’ve imagined great races. The races are better.” – Mark Helprin
Have a lovely weekend! I’m already looking forward to the LPL Laramie recap.
Adrienne
Melissa: I LOVE quotes…
I am posting from my Blackberry..hope this comes through!
“Be careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence you can reach for. Perfection is God’s business.”
That was a great quote. My husband LOVES quotes. I’ll have to send this his way…thanks! Have a blessed weekend.
“I always thank God and marvel at His love and goodness to me in spite of myself.”
This is our family’s present quote, and it was authored by my husband:
“God doesn’t waste anything.”
“O Lord, Thou didst strike my heart with Thy Word, and I loved Thee.” — Saint Augustine
Mine is be Ghandi, one whose faith, though in the wrong god, is a faith I admire…His biography is phenom.
Anyhow, it is simple but something I must remember when I want to complain about “stuff”
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
And, Miss Melissa, your quote is phenom and I am most probably going to mull over it quite a bit today! Thanks for sharing!
Blessings!
Right now two of my favorite quotes are:
There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
~ John Andrew Holmes
and…
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
~ John Piper
Blessings, Sandy
“Never argue with a Pharisee.” Beth Moore I tell my husband that all the time.
One that has really made an impact on me, quoted by Pastor Greg Laurie:
If the infinite God were small enough for our finite minds to fully understand, He wouldn’t be big enough for our needs.
Totally needed that today! In a few short weeks, my hubby and I are going on the trip of a lifetime to celebrate our
40th birthdays. In our almost 13 years of parenthood, we have never been away from the kids for more than a night. Being away from them for a whole week is starting to cause much anxiety and is even taking away from the excitement of the trip for me. I hate that I’m doing this to myself, especially when God’s hand has been SO evident in the trip planning and all. He’s just waiting to bless us and I need to embrace it! This quote you shared is perfect timing and has helped to ease my worries. Thanks for sharing!
“Perhaps the most profound miracle of all is living through something we thought would kill us. And not just living, but living abundantly and effectively–raised from living death to a new life. A life indeed absent of something or someone dear but filled with the presence of the Resurrection and the Life.”
Breaking Free – Beth Moore
This one is one (among many) lifetime favorites:
“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.” – John Piper
THANK YOU!
Great quotes! Mark Batterson is a fantastic author…. “Chase the Lion”…. “Wild Goose Chase.” Fabulous! His blog is terrific, too!
You never know how much you believe in the strength of the rope until you’re hanging by it over a cliff. CS Lewis
With the power of the revelation comes the power to accomplish it. Beth Moore
Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins. Eric Liddell
Came across a great quote this week. Think I’m gonna frame it for both of my children. Don’t know who said it, but it’s worth repeating.
“Thoughts become words
Words become actions
Actions become character
Character is everything.”
Melinda
http://www.parentingconfessions.com
I too, along with others, needed these quotes today. I hope you have a fabulous long weekend, Melissa.
Just wanted to share my favorite quote with you, and you might already have heard it:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are more powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. You were born to make manirfest the glory of God that is within you. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the premission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Nelson Mandela)
“Don’t live for the moment. God created us for eternity. So live for eternity and enjoy the moment.”
My son has this on his facebook and I like it also. I just don’t know who quoted it.
Happy Memorial Day
LOVE ‘EM, LOVE ‘EM, LOVE ‘EM!!!!
Thanks so much.
Here’s my latest favorite quote:
“Prayer is asking for rain,
Faith is carrying an umbrella.”
Unknown author
Great stuff!
Here are a couple of my favorites:
“If evolution really does work, how come mothers only have two hands?” – Milton Berle
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” – unknown
Have a great Memorial Day!
Lany
“Live everyday as though it were your last. One of them will be.” Forgot who said it but I love it.
Y’all make me laugh. Love to you all.
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
-GK Chesterton
This is not my favorite quote, but I saw this a few days ago and it made me laugh! I have it hanging in my cubicle at work.
No energy vampires allowed!
– Anonymous
Thank you for the lift today! What a blessing the LPM blog has been to me…and please accept my apologies if I have “overstepped my bounds” in blogworld. I’m on a learning curve, and didn’t understand there is a “blog etiquette” to be observed, but the Holy Spirit is such a sweet teacher, sometimes I have to be hit over the head to learn. Like at 3:00am in the morning…
My quote for today is: “Please be patient with me, God isn’t finished with me yet!”
Pam H.
So. Cal. “Siesta”
I have but one candle to burn, and would rather burn it out where people are dying in darkness than in a land which is flooded with lights. (Anonymous Missionary)
Are your loved one coming to know all that I can be to them or are they missing the Best because they have you instead? (Amy Carmichael)
A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Atlanta, GA