Tag: quotes

Three Day Quote Challenge #2: Day Three

CourtneyLeave a comment

“Home is where the heart is.”

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What does it mean to be home? For many of us, the word has positive associations. Many of us, when we hear this word, think of close family members, such as our parents, siblings, grandparents, and maybe a family pet. For others, we may also think of close friends—people who have watched us grow up and who have always been there for us. Still for others, we may think of a particular place that brings back found memories, such as our church or our house that we grew up in.

For the Christian, the word has an even deeper meaning. Home, for the believer, is all of these things and more. It’s a place that we’re traveling to, as we walk down the winding road of life. It’s the place that we anxiously anticipate, where we’ll be united with our Heavenly Father. This point is beautifully illustrated throughout the Bible and in numerous Christian novels.

Jesus paints a picture of Heaven in John 14:2-4, giving us a glimpse of what’s to come.

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.””

Nonetheless, we cannot discount the journey. In the midst of the greatest ups and the lowest downs, God has each of us here for a reason. We are all fellow sojourners, called to make an impact and touch the lives as we make our journey home. We may be called to a variety of vocations here—from writers, to musicians, to business men and women—but if we know Jesus, we’re all heading to the same destination. No matter how insignificant you may feel, your life matters. In this dark world, you’re called to be a flashlight. Each one of us is called to be a spark that lights a fire—lighting the way like streetlights to help others and and know their Savior. 

We are called to fight the good fight and run the race of faith. We are called to make a difference, following God’s footprints and paving a way for others. We are called to follow Jesus, trusting Him and clinging to Him as we live life—always ready to welcome others into the family of God.

We were made for something greater than this life. We were made for an eturnal home.  

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”—Hebrews 12:1 

Nominees for the last day of the quote challenge!

Processing The Journey 

Consecrated Tree 

Juni Desiree

Quote Challenge #2: Day Two

Courtney2 Comments

Hey everyone, sorry I’ve been kind of inconsistent with this blogging challenge. For the last couple of days, I’ve had a cold, and have lacked motivation to churn out a new blog post. Nonetheless, I’m feeling better and I’m happy to be back! 

Today’s quote is one by one of my favorite Christian authors and thinkers—C.S. Lewis.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C. S. Lewis

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For many, the decision to surrender everything to God can be a scary one. Becoming a Christian means handing over the steering wheel to Jesus, trusting that He knows what’s best for us and will lead us to a destination better than the one we would have chosen for ourselves. For some, it means fear of ridicule from peers who formally liked and respected them. For others, it means loosening the reins on our plans and allowing God to come in and make tweaks when needed.

But, I’ve found, the pros will always outweigh the cons. 

Jesus, while demanding everything, often takes us to places beyond our wildest dreams. For every “no“, there’s a bigger “yes” around the corner. In my own life, He’s opened doors that previously felt bolted shut, answered prayers to problems that seemed beyond fixable, and surrounded me with a family of believers that I know have my back no matter what. There’s just one question that we all have to answer before He can work in our lives. 

“Will we trust Him?”

For each person who has ever been born into this earth, there is a decision to make—follow the world, or follow Jesus. We cannot do both. 1 John 2:15 says “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” This does not mean we aren’t supposed to love people—it simply means that we must not see this present world as our home. The world promises false happiness, the kind that will soon fade away. Jesus promises eternal happiness. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 

In this world, we will have troubles—but we will also have blessings and eternal life—if we hold fast to faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelations 3:20 

Since I forgot to nominate people in my last post, I’m going to nominate six bloggers in this one! The nominees of this challenge are…

  1. Dainty M.
  2. D’Dream 
  3. FearfullyWonderfullyMe
  4. Julian For Jesus 
  5. Passion And Pixels 
  6. Thrive (AKA Nora Elkins Blog) 

Three Day Quote Challenge #2: Day One

Courtney1 Comment

Hey everyone, I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas! I can’t believe it’s’ already over, but I trust that we have more great things to look forward to in the upcoming year. 

Anyways, I was just nominated a couple of days ago by Mandie from afcrocks99 to do a three day quote challenge! I’m a little late, as I’ve been crazy busy with Christmas stuff, but better late than never, right? 

The first quote in this challenge is going to be a quote by none other than America’s sixteenth president.

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years – Abraham Lincoln

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With the new year on the horizon, I figured this would be a fitting quote to start with. We all have a number of days, weeks, months, and years given to us by God, but it is our job to decide what we do with them. How will we steward the time that’s ours to borrow? 

For many of us (myself included) it can be easy to fall into routine and drudgery. School, work, and a variety of other responsibilities often take claim to our time, making it difficult to find the time to do the things we love—the things God is calling us to.

Nonetheless, I believe that if we’re honest, we can all find some spare time in the day that is ours and ours alone. What will we do with that time? Will we spend it scrolling through social media (I’m guilty of this) or putting our God given gifts to work, and following the dreams that God had put inside of us? Will we spend our time in front of the television, or will we reach out to our friends and family, making the moments count with those who matter most to us? 

We all have a question that we must ask ourself – How will we spend our days? Someday, that time, those moments, will add up to the sum total of our life—how will we spend it?

I believe that we’re each put here for a purpose. God wants us to make our life count, touching other lives in the process. None of our lives happen in isolation—we were made for community and interacting with others. We were made to make a mark, in both big and small ways every day. 

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” – Psalm 90:12

How will you make the years in your life count? How will you bring your years to life? 

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

 

Three Day Quote Challenge: Day 3

Courtney8 Comments

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller.

I believe it’s fair to say that most of us enjoy things that are felt by means of the five senses. Music. Art. Film. Nature. It’s engrained in human beings to enjoy beauty in the world. As created beings, we were given the unique opportunity to create, and enjoy the creations of others.

But, we don’t just enjoy these things for their own sake. Most often as human beings, we connect with the world around us by means of feelings and shared experiences. I can recall many times in my own life when I heard a song, or read a story that seemed to completely get what it was like to be me. I felt understood.

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Some of the greatest things in life aren’t things that we can see with our eyes. We cannot see God, but we hold onto our faith in Him. We cannot hold concepts like love or friendship in the palm of our hand, but we know that they’re abstracts as real as you and me. We cannot see altruism and charity in tangible form, but we can see their affects in the lives of very real human beings.

So much of our living experience is made up of things that we cannot see, hear, smell or touch. Yet, these are the very things that seem to connect us the most. They’re universal things that cross divides and join us as a human race. They separate us from the animal world and give evidence that we truly are image bearers of an intelligent God. 

The Bible even speaks about the importance of setting our eyes upon what is unseen in 2 Corinthians 4:18. It says “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Faith in Jesus Christ and a personal relationship with Him is without a doubt the most significant thing in this world. We cannot see Jesus, but whether or not we choose to accept Him affects our entire eternity. 

Let us never get so caught up in this world that we forget a world that is far greater and more amazing than we can even imagine. 

The last nominees for the quote challenge are…

Cherry Drop Princess

Juni Desiree 

Musings of a Millennial

Three Day Quote Challenge: Day 2

Courtney8 Comments

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”-To Kill A Mockingbird 

I have always loved this quote from one of my favorite classics, To Kill A Mockingbird. The book, in all honestly, isn’t really about mockingbirds. The book’s main theme is doing the right thing even when everyone else is against you, and putting everything on the line to help another person. In order to do this, the main character (Atticus Finch) is forced to put himself in the shoes of a lot of different people, as he strives to defend an innocent man accused of crime.l-114822.jpg

Oftentimes, it can be easy to consider things from our perspective, but difficult to understand life in another’s shoes. Look no further than Twitter to find that too often, human beings are better at speaking than listening. As a society, we criticize other’s choices without taking the time to understand the motive behind their actions. While we may not always agree with the decisions that someone makes, we’re bound to have more compassion when looking at the world from another’s perspective.

I believe that the best way to “climb into someone’s skin and walk around in it” is to listen. Through listening, we validate that the person we’re listening to matters, and that we care about their thoughts and feelings. James 1:19 says “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”

Imagine what would happen if everyone took the time to listen and really hear the stories of those around them. If everyone did this, so many of our social ills, such as hate, racism, and violence, would fade away. Our entire world would be turned upside-down, simply by practicing the art of seeing life through another’ eyes; taking the time to listen and care and love people where they’re at. ❤️

We can be a spark that starts a fire.

Let us start a movement of love.

A movement of listening.

A movement of walking in another’s shoes. 

If you want to read more about this topic, I wrote something similar a while back. You can find it in the link here.

Since I forgot yesterday, I’m going to nominate six people today. 

Concealed Foundation 

Only Way 2 Hope 

Papberry 

Passion and Pixels 

Victoria Favor 

Aschulting 

Three Day Quote Challenge: Day One

Courtney8 Comments

Hey everyone, as I promised, I’m posting day one of the quote challenge today! 

I’d like to thank Emily for nominating me; I was super excited and honored when I saw that I got picked! As a writer, it’s always good to know that someone out there is reading your random thoughts, opinions, and ramblings. 😄

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“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”― Catherine of Siena

I’ve loved this quote since the moment I first heard it. It’s so inspirational and makes me feel like I can take on the world! It’s the kind of quote you want hanging on your refrigerator, as daily inspiration to start your morning with!

I love the message at the core of the quote: Be yourself and God will use you according to His plan and purpose. We can only serve God at our fullest when we’re completely honest, transparent, and real about who we are. This doesn’t mean that we can achieve perfection through some sort of new age-y”self actualization”. What it does mean is that God can use us as a vessel to make a difference in this world, flaws and all.

We’re all separate, yet all connected. This is something that I’ve always loved about the body of Christ. Though we’re one body, we have different parts, and each of us bring something beautiful and unique to the table. I may not be good at math and science, but that’s OK, because someone else is. God can use me exactly where my talents lie to help spread His message of love and grace to a broken world. Because I’m a writer, I can express God’s truth the most naturally through written word. If you’re a singer, make a joyful noise unto the Lord and glorify God through song. If you love science, teach about the truths of God’s creation, sharing your knowledge with the world.

We each have something special that we can bring. Whatever it is for you, do it with your whole heart, and bring a little more beauty to this world through your life. 

Never be afraid to set the world on fire for Jesus! 

 

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge: Day 3

Courtney7 Comments

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“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C. S. Lewis

I have a lot of favorite quotes-some by classic authors, some by modern writers, and some by well known public figures. Nonetheless, I have decided that for today’s post, I’m going to write about the above quote by C.S. Lewis. I love his metaphors used and the meaning behind the quote.

Plus, C.S. Lewis is just awesome.

In this post, Lewis makes the point that our faith determines our actions; how we think inevitably affects the way that we live. If we believe that there is no God, that means that there is no such thing as absolute truth and by default, no absolute meaning to life. Nonetheless, if we do believe in God, we’re called to live in a way that honors Him and make our lives here count. The earth we live in isn’t all there is, but the decisions that we make have eternal consequences (e.g.. To follow God or not follow Him).

Our beliefs shape how we see the world; this is called our worldview. It is the shining light that guides our thoughts, words, and actions. When a person is truly committed to their faith, it is bound to show in their life. The personal testimonies of those around us provide some of the strongest evidence for God’s existence. What else could change a hardcore drug addict to a committed Christian? What else could give that young single mother hope to keep going and raise her child? What else could drive the bar-hopper from the local club to the local church?

As amazed as we are when we hear stories like these, simple stories of faithfulness can be just as moving.

The timid person who finds the courage to speak up about their faith.

The person who battles temptation but finds the strength and courage to resist.

The person who has seen less-than-perfect-attitudes in fellow believers, but continues to have faith in God and their brothers and sisters in Christ. 

How we live our lives doesn’t just affect how people see us, but how they see God. We all have stories that have affected our lives, and we’re called to be a living testimony for those around us. 2 Corinthians 5:20 even goes so far as to call us Christ’s ambassadors. We cannot see the full picture of our lives on this earth, but God does. Through our relationships, work, and calling, God wants to reveal His love for the world. We all have different talents, personalities, and situations, but if we believe in Jesus and accept Him into our heart, we’re all part of one giant spiritual family. We are called to keep adding to this family. We are called to be salt and light. We are called to show the world who God is through our lives and actions. We may not be able to see God, but we can see His presence in the lives of others and in our own lives. Though we are currently earth-bound, we can feel rays of the sun from above, signaling it’s presence in our lives. And, we are called to share that light in the midst of the dark around us.

I’d love to hear your stories in the comments! How has the faith of another person helped you grow in your own faith?