Some of my favorite quotes and sayings have come from signs I pass along the road, especially in front of churches, banks, and real estate offices. I always smile when I think about one I saw a few years ago. It said something like, “If God is your co-pilot, maybe you ought to trade places.” I saw a new one a few weeks ago, and it struck me as both clever and profound. It’s becoming even more so the more I think about it. It [...]
I don’t know how anyone can look at a newborn baby and not believe in miracles. I remember that being one of my first thoughts as I was holding my son shortly after he was born. This was more than thirty years ago, but I can still recall the sense of awe and reverence I felt as I gazed at the gentle rhythm of his breathing, at his tiny, fragile fingers, and at his small but perfectly-formed features. How could all of this not be [...]
There’s a saying that goes, “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.” Another one, closely related, says, “God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.” Both of these sayings were on my mind last weekend while I was attending a “Called & Gifted” Workshop that was held Friday and Saturday at my church. If the name sounds vaguely familiar to you, it may be because I attended – and wrote about – a Called [...]
“Be careful what you wish for.” I was surprised to discover how relevant this old adage was to me in relation to something I started recently and wrote about a few weeks ago – my intention to start running my life as if I were back in school. I’m now treating the projects and activities I am currently involved in as classes and homework assignments. The revelation that came as I started incorporating this plan into my life was that in many ways, I’ve been [...]
A book I am currently reading has a number of inspirational and relevant quotes in the margins. One that I just read, and had never heard before, is an Irish proverb that says, “Pray for potatoes with a hoe in your hand.” A few days after I read this quote, I was at Sunday Mass, where one of the readings – from the Book of James – was about the relationship between faith and works. Specifically, the message is that if you say you have [...]
“The best way to defeat my enemy is to make him my friend.” Abraham Lincoln said that, and it’s become relevant in my life in a subtle but powerful way. Not that I have any enemies that I’m aware of. But there are people with whom I’ve had arguments, disagreements, and differences of opinion that occasionally got – or threatened to get – rather heated. Not to the point of violence, but to the point of anger, hurt feelings, grudges, or even the end of [...]
“I know God will never give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.” I don’t remember the first time I read or heard that saying, but I do know it made me smile and nod my head. I can relate. I’m sure most people can. And I smile and nod whenever I come across it, or when it pops into my mind for some reason. When I feel weighed down with responsibilities and obligations, for instance, or [...]
I got a lot of feedback on the column I wrote last week – much of it from women who are roughly my age and who are living a life that is anything but “retiring.” In case you missed it, the column was inspired by the George Eliot quote, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been,” and was about women – myself included – who discovered a new talent or calling, and who pursued new dreams and adventures in what might [...]
“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” I have a bookmark that has this George Eliot quote on it, and I smile every time I look at it. It makes me think of people like Grandma Moses, who was in her late 70s when she first started painting, after arthritis forced her to give up the embroidery she had enjoyed for most of her life. She, of course, could be the poster child for it never being “too late.” But Grandma [...]
Note: For ten weeks, Betty is using the Dream Coaching® program to work on finishing and publishing a book about her trip to Uganda, and is reporting on her progress in her weekly column. To read the series from the beginning, visit www.findyourburiedtreasure.com/blog. The introductory post is dated May 3, 2013. Failure can lead to success. Not only is this something I know to be absolutely true, it’s also the message of Session 7 in the Dream Coaching program. In order for failure to lead [...]
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