So, if war and overpowering other people isn’t the way to “win,” what is? As Zig Ziglar would say: “If you’re like me, you’ll jump at the chance to bypass all the churning and scoop the cream right off the top. And that’s what quotes are…the cream of our learning.” Therefore, today I want to share a few quotes from people I actually know who are really winners in my book (and if you find yourself listed, I hope you don’t mind!), although I’ll end with words of wisdom from some of the world’s better known (though not better) “winners”:
“Wherever you are, be all there.”~Rick Larman, my pastor for 20 years
“The holy life, I have found, is often a moment by moment, day by day battle to choose faith of fear, trust over tears and God’s will over our own.”~Lynn Hanthorn, missionary and long-time friend
“That’s what I hunt for each day. People to love.” ~Tom Benedict Sr., friend’s husband (and yes, of course, my friend too!)
“Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than wrong triumphant.” ~Brad Powell (pastor of my daughter and son-in-law’s church)
“Life is blessedly short…but the I’m looking in the wrong direction, huh? With all that is in me I will press hard into our Gracious God, and find my life and joy in Him!!! And look for His dreams! I’m now on one journey I wish He would end, but then, where is faith that He is making more room for Himself in our lives? And making Himself appear ever more beautiful in our understanding?? I covet fleeting happiness, when I should be searching for joy in Him everyday!!! Bless the trials!!” ~Maggie Donahue, friend
“Love God, and love everybody else; but love God the most.” ~Stephen Armstrong, son (on his 28th birthday recently, when we always ask the birthday person to provide some “words to live by”)
And, here are some winning words from world-famous sages:
“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” ~Albert Einstein
“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there can be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” ~William Penn
“Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” ~Mother Teresa
“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” ~Carl Jung
“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” ~James Barrie
“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” ~Nelson Mandela
And, this is a long one, but I think it’s terribly profound:
“[There is a] kind of all-embracing universality evident in Mother Teresa’s prayer: ‘May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.’ Not just fellow nuns, Catholics, Calcuttans, Indians. The whole world. It gives me pause to realize that, were such a prayer said by me and answered by God, I would afterward possess a heart so open that even hate-driven zealots would fall inside… [My] sense of the world as a gift, my sense of a grace operative in this world despite its terrors, propels me to allow the world to open my heart still wider, even if the openness comes by breaking—for I have seen the whole world fall into a few hearts, and nothing has ever struck me as more beautiful.” ~David James Duncan
“There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. For they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness.” ~Charles Spurgeon
“The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished.” ~King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:11-12, the Bible
Summer Setting 