None of these pictures are mine, nor are the words laced between them. It’s a combination of truth and beauty that the Lord has been romancing me with these past few weeks, in both crashing waves and the slow rise of the tide.
“…the journey toward meaning begins when we unearth our gifts. What are those unique talents and gifts that were knit together in my mother’s womb? Those natural bents that expressed themselves when I was as young as a grasshopper and lasted as long as they could until getting squashed? Sadly for many, like me, our uniqueness was squelched by peer pressure, feelings of inadequacy, or disapproval from a parent. We didn’t have the chance to explore and develop our gift. It still hangs inside us like a half-finished piece of art. But if we’ve lost it, forgotten it, or abandoned in along the way, surely God wants us to reclaim it. To stop filling our days with empty distractions that deter us from using our hearts and souls. To get off the hamster wheel.” Rebekah Lyons, Freefall to Fly
“As we grow in our revelation of our darkness and sin, we must grow that much, and even more, in our revelation of how lovely we are before God.” –Mike Bickle (IHOP)
“God has created a lavish banquet table full of love and power and counsel and wisdom and kindness, along with a vast amount of wonderful, extravagantly lovely things we can’t even imagine. And we have been invited to sit at this feast, not as His honored guests, but as His cherished sons and daughters, the heirs to His kingdom. (Ephesians 1:4-8) Jimmy Seibert (Antioch Community Church)
“Hope and sorrow in it all; there’s rescue and there’s not…Yet Jesus knew rescue wouldn’t come in the way He might have wanted it. It would not come that night in the garden. That would not be the story of rescue to be told through the ages. No, this story required Him to stay and yield to the pain. To stay in the place that broke His heart, because everyone around Him had no idea what kind of rescue would happen three days later.” Rebekah Lyons, Freefall to Fly
“That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.” The Fault in Our Stars
“Please hear me, Girl. The world has enough women who know how to do their hair. It needs women who know how to do hard and holy things.” Ann Voskamp
“In his timing, in His Perfect Plan for you, He knows how and when and with whom you will carry on the message of salvation and the kingdom to your generation. And because of that, He also knows the sufferings yet to be delivered to your door, to the secret place of intimacy of your heart with him. These things, all of it, will be for the exact and precisely Perfect Purpose of keeping you in utter dependence on Him. He knows your tendency toward independence. He has already made all grace abound so that you will have all that you need (sufferings included) to remain in deep, undeniable reliance of Him in every way. He intends to have His Way with you. He intends to form His character, fully and completely, in you, Nothing can stop that. That is His Love.”
