"It is the simple things in life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. - Ecclesiastes 11:8

"It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the End of our journey, He is also at every stopping place." - Elisabeth Elliot

My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. - Exodus 33:14

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank


Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. - Psalm 90:12

"There was never a night that had no morn." - Dinah Mulock Craik


Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. -  Psalm 30:5b

"If everything is going your way, you are probably heading in the wrong direction."

In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. - Jesus, as quoted in John 16:33

"The Church of God is not a restful garden, but a working vineyard." - St. Lucy Filippini as quoted by Melanie Rigney in "2014 Daily Lenten Reflections"

I am the vine, you are the branches . . . apart from me you can do nothing. - Jesus, as quoted in John 15:5

"Make the most of the best and the least of the worst." - Robert Louis Stevenson

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

"When one door is shut, another opens." - Cervantes

Knock, and the door will be opened to you. - Jesus, as quoted in Matthew 7:7c

"The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist, the opportunity in every difficulty." - L.P. Jacks


Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. - Romans 12:2

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton

You are the light of the world. - Jesus, as quoted in Matthew 5:14

"An optimist is the human personification of spring." - Susan J. Bissonette

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. - Song of Songs 2:11-12

"All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. - Jesus, as quoted in Matthew 7:2

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. - John 13:17

"It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand." - Michaelangelo

God to Moses: "What is that in your hand?" - Exodus 4:2

"Love looks beyond what people are to what they can become." - Our Daily Bread (9/26/2009)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"Trust God to do His work in His way and in His time." - P. Hia, Our Daily Bread (9/7/2009)

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. - Psalm 27:14

"Patience means awaiting God's time without doubting God's love." - Our Daily Bread (9/2/2009)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

"God's love does not keep us from trials; it helps us get through them." - Our Daily Bread (8/12/2009)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Romans 8:35, 37

"Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do. He reveals who He is." - Oswald Chambers


Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. - Psalm 37:7a

"Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wants us to be." - St. Therese of Lisieux


He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. - Philippians 1:6

"Faith is the virtue of the storm, just as happiness is the virtue of the sunshine." - Ruth Fulton Benedict


It (your faith) is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. - 1 Peter 1:7b

"Do not have your concert first and tune your instruments afterward. Begin the day with God." - J. Hudson Taylor

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. - Psalm 5:3

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”  ― Helen Keller

For the LORD God is a sun and shield. - Psalm 84:11a

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. - Psalm 121:8

Smiles increase your face value.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful. - Proverbs 15:13

"The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." (Portia) - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. - Matthew 5:7

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." (Atticus Finch) ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

The integrity of the upright will guide them. - Proverbs 11:3

“The most important story we'll ever write in life is our own - not with ink, but with our daily choices.” ― Richard Paul Evans

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths. - Psalm 25:4

“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.”  ― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me. - Psalm 138:8

"It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not." - Denis Waitley

The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. - Habakkuk 3:19