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.
Here are a few thought-provoking quotes I came across this week:
From a friend’s Facebook:
“Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God’s plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins.” Eric Liddell, Olympian
We probably would not think of God as “helpless among the ruins,” but we sure can act as if we’re thinking that way. When we’re bowled over by circumstances, we can remember that He is not.
By the way, if you’ve never read a biography about Liddell, I’d highly recommend it.
Seen at Women Living Well:
“If you have been afraid that your love of beautiful flowers and the flickering flame of the candle is somehow less spiritual than living in starkness and ugliness, remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and gave you the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to his creation. Creativity is his gift to you and the ‘raw materials’ to be put together in various ways are His gift to you as well.” ~ Edith Schaeffer, The Art of Homemaking.
I read that book years ago and want to do so again some time. I used to struggle with whether wanting things to be pretty and pleasing was somehow unspiritual, but the realization that God made the world beautiful and enjoyable rather than just functional and utilitarian helped. We have to balance that, of course, with the available time, funds, and other responsibilities, and Mrs. Schaeffer discusses this in her book.
In a similar vein, I saw this quote at my friend Mary Beth‘s some weeks ago:
“We have our own small square of life on this planet, and it’s our choice to do with it what we will. We can bring order and beauty to that place we have been given. We can touch the people who come within our sphere of influence with love and care and comfort.” ~ Claire Cloninger
On a different subject, this was quoted in the devotional book The Invitation by Derick Bingham commenting on John 21:3:
But what good can failure do? It may shut up a path which you were pursuing too eagerly. It may put you out of heart with things seen and temporal, and give you an appetite for things unseen and eternal. It may teach you your own helplessness, and turn you to trust more implicitly in the provision of Christ. It is clear that Christians have often to toil all night in vain, that Christ may have a background black and sombre enough to set forth all the glories of his interposition. ~ F. B. Meyer, Love to the Uttermost
One of the biggest struggles I had in college was not in failing per se — I wasn’t flunking, but I was failing in my usual good grades despite good efforts, and I felt like I was failing. One of the most poignant and timely messages I ever heard was one at college on failure. I can’t remember the details, but it was a lesson I have never forgotten that God has purposes in our failure or falling short.
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 don’t forget to leave a comment here, even if you don’t have any quotes to share. I usually try to visit everyone who comments, but often I forget to check Mr. Linky for those who participated but didn’t comment.
Stray Thoughts 