Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

I’ve been thinking about discontinuing the Week in Words for some time now, for several reasons. Only a very few people participate in it, and maybe a few more than that read it. I thought I’d be posting more quotes from books, but I tend to want to save those for when I review the book. I have a file where I put the quotes I collect through the week, and the last couple of weeks I haven’t put any in there and have had to go looking for something for the WiW. And sometimes I’ll have something else on my heart I want to post on Mondays, but I don’t like to have more than one post a day.It’s starting to feel more like a chore or a weight than a joy.

I have enjoyed it so much. Those of you who have joined in have provided some good food for thought to start off the week. If someone else wants to take it over, that’s fine with me. If you want to rename it, post it on a different day, or whatever, once it’s yours you can shape it as you want to. If you do, let me know and I’ll post a note to that effect so that others who might want to continue with it will know where to go.

I’ll probably still post quotes from time to time, just because I like them and want to share them. Before the WiW I would occasionally post a handful of quotes on one topic, and I might do that some times.

As for today’s quotes:

This was from Everyday Battles: Knowing God Through Our Daily Conflicts by Bob Schultz which I mentioned before in my review here, but in case anyone didn’t see it:

If you find yourself frustrated because you’re losing, don’t lash out in anger. Discover why you’re getting beat. Let it motivate you to learn new skills or develop more strength.

He goes on to mention wrestling with one guy repeatedly through the years and never beating that guy, but learning things he could use in other matches. I had a similar experience with Scrabble on Facebook: one friend used to beat me every time when we first started, but now I’ve learned some of her tricks and win about as often as she does now. In the larger issues of life, whether a besetting sin or not achieving victory in some area, instead of just getting discouraged, we can ask the Lord for wisdom about what we should do differently. Sometimes we might new new skills or strength or methods: sometimes we might need more dependence on Him.

And this was from Don’t Mistake Doing What You Love With Doing What’s Important, HT to A Holy Experience:

The difference between doing what’s important and doing what you want is that the important stuff is usually harder. It’s not so much fun. It generally won’t fulfill all of your deepest personal longings. Working a boring job to provide your family with financial security often gets a bad rap from motivational wonks who would have us drop everything to pursue our dreams, but I believe there’s something valiant, even noble about it.

That’s kind of the lesson in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (which I saw on TV and was relatively clean but may have been edited for TV). Each had a dream that was never fulfilled as they had envisioned it, and had a job they didn’t really like, but each touched various lives in ways they hadn’t realized. There is a time and a place for stepping out on faith and dropping everything to pursue your dreams, but that’s only under God’s leading. Moses in the desert, David as a shepherd, Joseph in prison, even Christ as a carpenter, each had to be faithful for years in one place before it was God’s time to step into a larger area of responsibility and the ministry they would become known for.

And finally, my last quote for the Week in Words:

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Acts 20:32.

Though I love gleaning wisdom from others, the most important source is the Word of God itself.

You can share your family-friendly quotes in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below.

I hope you’ll visit the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder. And I hope you’ll leave a comment here, even if you don’t have any quotes to share.

Thank you all, once again, for your interest in The Week in Words.