Smile

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.

Anne Frank

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

John Keats

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.

George Sand

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves

Helen Keller

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Helen Keller

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.

Mark Twain

If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator

W. Beran Wolfe

Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Loaves-Tom Holladay

Have you ever asked yourself, Why doesn’t God make our lives easier? Why doesn’t He just
give us all the time that we need while we live in this world? Why doesn’t He just give us all the money we need while we live in this world? Why doesn’t He just give us all the resources we can possibly need?

I think you probably know the answer. I know it for myself at least.

If I had all the time, all the money, all the resources I needed in this world

I would have never looked to God and trusted Him.

Never.

I’d just have trusted in myself the rest of my life.

Jesus loves impossible situations.

He’s God!

Impossible circumstances do not bother Him.

He doesn’t discard what we have and do something better. He uses what we give Him to do something greater. That’s what I love. It’s not like the boy comes up and says, .Here, Jesus, five loaves and two fish. And He goes, “That’s nice, that’s cute,” And throws them over into the trash. “Now watch what I, Jesus Christ, can do!”
No. He takes the loaves and He takes the fish and He uses what the boy gave Him to meet everybody’s need. It’s incredible. That’s what God does. He uses what we give Him to meet the needs.

Anytime you face a problem or a challenge and you feel small next to the problem, there’s no way you’ll lead in that circumstance. The world has a lot of problems and challenges that are tall. And if we don’t lead in that circumstance, nobody’s going to lead.

So you don’t measure the problem or challenge according to your own abilities.

Sometimes often the answers to the most important and biggest questions of life are not
figured out logically.

They’re discovered relationally.

The reason God allows impossible circumstances in our lives is to remind us of the fact that He is there.

We can turn to Him.

Little in the hands of Jesus becomes much.

The Only Exception

When I was younger

I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind

He broke his own heart

And I watched

As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that

She would never let herself forget

And that was the day

that I promised I'd never sing of love

If it does not exist

But darling,

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

Maybe I know, somewhere

Deep in my soul

That love never lasts

And we've got to find other ways

To make it alone

Keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this

Keeping a comfortable,

distance

And up until now

I had sworn to myself

that I'm Content

with loneliness

Because none of it

was ever worth the risk

Well,

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

I've got a tight grip on reality

But I can't

Let go of what's in front of me here

...

Ohh---You, are, the only exception

And I'm on my way to believing

Oh, And I'm on my way to believing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXewWr8V6Vg

Selah II (random)

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

Alan Cohen

You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

Marian Wright Edelman

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.

Soren Kierkegaard

You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

George Bernard Shaw

No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to flee and fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams

Jesse Jackson

To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.

Tony Robbins

Our obedience is love
Joel Houston


"Love;
it will not betray you,
dismay
or
enslave you...
it will set you free..
be more like the man you were made to be"

The Question God Is Asking Us

I’m not asking you how much you know about Me.

I want to ask you “Do you really know Me.

Do you really want Me?”

Living for Nothing and Living for Something

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy”

George Bernard Shaw

“One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have whole-hearted enthusiasm. One needs to feel that one's life has meaning, that one is needed in this world”

Hannah Senesh

“Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose”

Helen Keller

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose”

Robert Byrne

“Where am I? Who am I? How did I come to be here? What is this thing called the world? How did I come into the world? Why was I not consulted? And If I am compelled to take part in it, Where is the director? I want to see him”

Soren Kierkegaard

“As a teenager, I often wondered how the ending will be like. What does the end look like? It’s not an image that we can comprehend because we’ve been waking up every day with a today—there has never been an end for us. So what is it like? And in the midst of those thoughts, I wonder, ‘What have I done to deserve “the end”?’ We all do come to a point where we reflect our achievements, our whole life, and wonder has there been really anything accomplished?? I believe purpose has been planted in all of us; a sense to make something of ourselves; beyond the surviving and living, there’s something else within us there always wants to go further, to try harder for more. Only difference is between the wanting and the doing.

There is a difference between living for nothing and living for something.

Some of us chose not to live out that in built gene of purpose, and decide to focus on the surviving and living. My story is that, I was dead until I recognized the part of me that wanted to fulfil purpose. And until I chose it, and till now am totally committed to it.

What is my purpose?

Jesus Christ.

And ever since that day of recognition and realization, my life has never been the same. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is my story, my life.

It’s time to question yours”

Annemarie

“But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for”

Paul Coelho

Romans 8:27-29

(New Living Translation)

And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Revelation

I always go into this state of deep thought every night before I sleep. It’s just a habit that I can’t seem to get rid of (psychologically this has been proven to affect your dream out comes-you tend to dream about what you think about before you sleep, which thus explains my out-of-this-world dreams). I can’t even remember where my thoughts started off this one night, but it led on to what you’re about to read after this paragraph. As the thoughts came, I started typing it out on my phone, I didn’t reread it, or think about it, I just typed what was on my mind. I do however remember thinking, “I wonder what will happen in the end..?”

It’s really ‘philosophical-ish’; deep in that sense. And I may sound so crazy, but, really, if you were in my shoes, living my life, you’d know exactly what I meant.

"Because when I look at You, I see hope, I see light, I see a future. That even though the world is falling apart and everything can go so wrong…I know I can still smile; because I see You and when I do, all my fears, questions, confusion, everything is swept away. I’m assured that at the end of this, everything I’ve been through will still matter and that who and what I live for still counts for something…I look at You and I just Know..I just Know things I can’t even calculate, can’t even comprehend—things that are so illogical…Yet, there’s this voice, this light inside of me that keeps me warm and away from the confusion…I’m so at peace…It’s such a strange thing to experience, but I know it’s all wonderful and worth it…Because through it all, I’m still smiling-always smiling, always happy…Never failing to see a reason to wake up every morning-a reason to live-He gives me a reason, a reason to do all that I do… "

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (New Living Translation)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”