“Trying to go faster than the Lord’s timing is like trying to cross a bridge before the entire structure is built. Trust God. Trust his timetable. He will help you traverse stormy waters safely.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Forgiveness does not mean we minimize the sin or ignore the consequences that occurred as a result. It means we maximize our faith, trusting that both justice and mercy will be extended at God’s hand towards those affected.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Your opponent's wrong doesn't automatically make you right. Most fights aren't about who's right; they are contention over degrees of wrongness.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“So what if you’re right? So what if you’re wrong?
In the end you might be surprised to find that God doesn’t care so much about whether you were right or wrong but whether, despite it all, you were kind or cruel.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Who cares who's right or wrong when the last word is a kind apology?”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Fear is the devil's most powerful tool because he can't always convince a good man to do wrong, but he can paralyze his will with fright, keeping a good man from doing what is right. It eventually results in the same end.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Laughing in the face of danger doesn't negate the fear, it simply enables you to smile at it.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Memories of past.
Heartaches of old.
Courage of brass.
Lessons of gold.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“A stubbornly proud man cannot humble himself; he has neither the strength nor the courage. So have pity, then, and forgive him.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“I am stronger than temptation.
I am stronger than addiction.
I am stronger than habit.
I am strong enough to change.”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“A great amount of compassion is communicated in the simple act of taking someone’s hand and holding on tightly. It creates a spiritual vein through which strength, comfort, and hope are transfused to revitalize the soul.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Everyone needs a support system, be it family, friends, coworkers, therapists, or religious leaders. We cannot do life alone and expect to keep mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy. Everyone needs some sort of support system on which to rely.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“I thank God above that I have someone in my life with whom I can share the whole story of why I am the way I am.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“You can endure almost anything if you have someone at your side who cares.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Gentle, honest, heart-to-heart conversations—the deep kind that reach inside your soul to fan at dying embers, making them glow and emit warmth that soothes both flesh and mind—are worth more than the combined wealth of universes.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Friendship true is a vow of care.
A warm embrace when in despair.
A loving presence waiting there
to lift a heart, its burdens bear.
Friendship true is an earnest prayer.
A tongue of praise for one’s welfare.
A smile ’mid laughs as light as air,
and thoughtfulness most kind and rare.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“What is so rewarding about friendship?” my son asked, curling his upper lip into a sour expression. “Making friends takes too much time and effort, and for what?”
I sat on the edge of his bed, understanding how it might seem simpler to go at life solo.
“Friendship has unique rewards,” I told him. “They can be unpredictable. For instance....” I couldn’t help but pause to smile crookedly at an old memory that was dear to my heart. Then I shared with my son an unforgettable incident from my younger years.
“True story. When I was about your age, I decided to try out for a school play. Tryouts were to begin after the last class of the day, but first I had to run home to grab a couple props for the monologue I planned to perform during tryouts. Silly me, I had left them at the house that morning. Luckily, I only lived across a long expanse of grassy field that separated the school from the nearest neighborhood. Unluckily, it was raining and I didn’t have an umbrella.
“Determined to get what I needed, I raced home, grabbed my props, and tore back across the field while my friend waited under the dry protection of the school’s wooden eaves. She watched me run in the rain, gesturing for me to go faster while calling out to hurry up or we would be late.
“The rain was pouring by that time which was added reason for me to move fast. I didn’t want to look like a wet rat on stage in front of dozens of fellow students. Don’t ask me why I didn’t grab an umbrella from home—teenage pride or lack of focus, I’m not sure—but the increasing rain combined with the hollering from my friend as well as my anxious nerves about trying out for the play had me running far too fast in shoes that lacked any tread.
“About a yard from the sidewalk where the grass was worn from foot traffic and consequently muddied from the downpour of rain, I slipped and fell on my hind end. Me, my props, and my dignity slid through the mud and lay there, coated. My things were dripping with mud. I was covered in it. I felt my heart plunge, and I wanted to cry. I probably would have if it hadn’t been for the wonderful thing that happened right then. My crazy friend ran over and plopped herself down in the mud beside me. She wiggled in it, making herself as much a mess as I was. Then she took my slimy hand in hers and pulled us both to our feet. We tried out for the play looking like a couple of swine escaped from a pigsty, laughing the whole time. I never did cry, thanks to my friend.
“So yes, my dear son, friendship has its unique rewards—priceless ones.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“If I could have one friend,
just one in all the world,
I know that I would not seek out
a boy or pretty girl.
The friend I’d dare to choose
to stand by me each day
would be a dragon fierce enough
to scare the world away.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Laugh, and the world longs to be your friend.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“Maybe love isn’t meant to be bliss never-ending.
Maybe love is unwavering support and befriending.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“On a grim and dismal day that shattered my last ounce of confidence, I broke down and whimpered, “I’m awful and hideous and incompetent and boring and utterly useless.” And then you grinned at me and said, “That’s okay.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“To obtain wealth beyond measure, seek to make more friends than money.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“To a man, sex is the ultimate expression of love. It is pure pleasure. But to a woman there exists something greater than pleasure―gestures of adoration. A gentle caress on the cheek, an attentive smile, a soft kiss while swept away in a slow dance, the whispered words 'You're beautiful'―these are the tokens of love that women cherish.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The pleasures of being a novelist are many. But the greatest by far is the manner in which I live through my characters; experiencing every detail of their story as it unfolds gradually and personally within my own creative psyche. I'm like a cat with untold lives, because each new book is my rebirth.”
“There are still blue skies and rainbows and days bathed in sunlight.
There are colorful shade trees filled with sweet bird songs.
And there are wishing stars in the heavens as well as angels in God's service.
So lift up your eyes.
Refuse to be unhappy.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“There is no other company in the world I've found more pleasurable than my own. For no one else has ever been as accepting of me or as thoroughly entertained by my quirkiness. It is a sweet thing to like yourself.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“There are many roads in this world that will guide you to pleasurable, fun, and exciting destinations that do not end in any form of lasting happiness. So before you step on an enticing path, figure out where it leads.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“It is to our own detriment that we underestimate the might of small and simple things.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“All I ever wanted from you was to know that I was wanted by you. That would have changed everything.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“I understand it was Derian who spoiled everything. He purposefully tainted your view of me and forced you to go along with him. I know none of what happened was your idea or your desire, Eena.”
She didn’t bother getting up, but spoke from her curled position. Her voice was weak, still heavy with despair. “Derian didn’t force me to do anything.”
“But had he not influenced you, we would be enjoying a pleasant dinner again, telling stories and laughing. I’m sure that would be the case. You would be happy… and so would I.”
Eena chuckled briefly without amusement.
“You must admit we shared some enjoyable evenings, didn’t we? There’s really no reason we can’t put this whole mess behind us and start from where we left off.” He sounded genuinely serious.
“You forget,” she reminded him, “I overheard your conversation with the Ghengats. This isn’t about Derian, it’s about you.”
“Alright,” he admitted, sighing a sound of acquiescence, “so I’m not everything you’d hoped for. But really, what man can ever live up to a woman’s terribly high expectations?”
This got her attention. She almost stood up to face him, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Leaning forward, she retorted, “Expecting a man to respect you, to be honest with you, and, oh yes, to not be a shameless murderer—I don’t think those are overly high expectations!”
He shrugged, casually excusing his faults. “Nobody’s perfect.”
“What do you want?” she finally asked with exasperation.
He squatted to her level to state his desire. “I want you.”
The expression on his face—the look in his weary blue eyes—appeared strangely sincere. But there was one thing Eena had learned from all of this: never trust a master of deceit.”
Source: Eena, The Dawn and Rescue
“It’s a difficult thing having a heart made of glass; people don’t seem to realize how easily it shatters. How often I’ve swept up the pieces and carefully glued them back together.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It seems my heart is made of tissue paper; I wish the world would handle it more delicately.”
Source: A Heart Made of Tissue Paper
“Every heart has a layer of sadness, whether deeply buried or covering the surface for all to see.”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year
“What is this thing of intangible substance that wreaks consequential havoc on our lives? What is this sensitive thread that runs through heart and mind, and when given the slightest tremor grasps hold of all sanity, dragging the afflicted down to insufferable depths or flinging him weightless to euphoric heights? What is this magic we would deem imagination, fantasy, or pretend if not for the evidence of power manifest by human consequences? Effortlessly controlling us, it affects the infected in an instant. It takes but one word, one thought, one act to become immersed.
To stop it is hopeless.
To stifle it, demanding.
To think to master it is both improbable and pretentious.
What is this invisible hand that blinds our eyes and reigns hearts with a string? It is nature's drug and poison we call emotion.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I love you because you loved me first. Yet you love me, saying I loved you first. Funny, our love thrives believing the other person started it.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The written word can make one pause and contemplate. It can make a reader sigh to dream or question a belief in considerable depth. But all of that is nothing if those words fail to touch the heart and make one feel.”
“God is always watching. Always.
It is more feasible to think you can hide your thoughts and actions from yourself than to hope you can hide them from God.”
Source: Hope Evermore: Quotes, Verse, & Spiritual Inspiration for Every Day of the Year
“Honesty is the beating heart in good people.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Honesty is considerably more than the absence of lying. It is the absence of deception, of cheating, of stealing, of treachery, of guile. But that is not all, honesty is the inclusion of virtuous characteristics as well: loyalty, justness, truth, accuracy, reliance, sincerity, openness. Honesty is every word, every action, and every intention being both bare and noble.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“It isn’t the education, the job, the promotion, the salary, the material increase—none of that. The real gold is the integrity you gain or lose throughout the process. If you don’t want to cross a line, don’t approach it.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Why be honest when no one else is?” This seems to be the motto of all sinking ships.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“You cannot deceive God; He already knows. He always knows. Concentrate on being honest with yourself.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“Your failure or success is nothing compared to your integrity throughout the process.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“No matter how many lies you use to disguise it or how many excuses you bury it beneath, the truth will never cease to be true.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“Truly, there is magic in fairy tales.
For it takes but a simply-uttered 'Once upon a time...' to allure and spellbind an audience.”
Source: Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
“WRITER'S NIGHTMARE"
"I felt a grip on my arm that shook my body, forcefully pulling me toward a tunnel of darkness. The threat of consciousness stole my steady breath. For a moment I believed myself to be under siege; ripped from the sky in mid flight, my wings useless against the monstrous claws shredding my reality. I struggled to remain, to be left alone, aloft. Reaching with wings that through the power of imagination were suddenly feathered arms, I grabbed at the air. My hands clutched at something solid. Wooden. A desk. My head spun as I held the furniture, suffering the illusion of falling.
"I was flying," I gasped, realizing suddenly that it had all been a dream. "My best fantasy ever."
Lifting my head from its resting spot on the writing desk, I worked mentally to secure the fading images, hoping to capture their essence to memory before they faded away forever. Bitterness tainted my heart against the hand that had jerked me into sensibility. Why was I always so callously awakened while doing my best work? Why not let me dream?”
“I wish to live in the world behind my eyes. It is a wondrous world; one worthy of dreams. Worthier still of bringing to life.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“My favorite thing is to get lost in an imaginary world that is so real in my imagination, I know I will replay fond memories of time spent there for years to come.”
Source: Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year
“I found a room, both quiet and slow,
a room where the walls are thick.
Where pixie dust is kept in jars,
and paper rockets soar to Mars,
and battles leave no lasting scars
as clocks forget to tick.
I guard this room, both small and bare,
this room in which stories live.
Where Peter Pan and Alice play,
and Sinbad sails at dawn of day,
and wolves cry 'boy' to get their way
when ogres won’t forgive.
With you I’ll share my hiding place,
this room under cloak and spell.
We’ll snuggle up inside a nook,
and read a venturous story book,
that makes us question in a look
what nonsense fairies tell.
In fictive plots and fabled ends,
Our happy-e’er-afters dwell!”
Source: A Heart Made of Tissue Paper
“What if stars were the glimmering tears of a giant, welling in his cheeks, waiting to fall at the first tender stroke of emotion? What if the moon were a wide-open eye gazing down on our tiny, little world and its tiny, little inhabitants as they rush to and fro in pursuit of tiny, little dreams? What if the sun were the glowing heart of a great beast, pumping hot blood to keep him alive while providing warmth for our pitiful world? Ahhh, imagination; it is a wondrous thing!”
Source: Slaying Dragons: Quotes, Poetry, & a Few Short Stories for Every Day of the Year