Monday, December 15, 2008

upon finding myself awake at 4am

I realized yesterday that I have 3 notebooks in my purse most of the time. The smallest is a pocket sized orange and brown one, used for things like grocery lists, driving directions, and other little notes I feel the need to write. The large blue striped one, titled epic, is a journal that I've had for years and only write in occasionally, when big life changing things happen and I feel the need to document them, or when I have so many thoughts in my head that I need to write them down to figure out what I think or want or feel. Its like a blog, except that you aren't allowed to read it. The third notebook is one I started over a year ago. Its perfectly square and paper-bag brown. The word NOTES is embossed on the front, and I've crossed it out with a pen and written underneath, QUOTES (brilliant things people once said). I think the title is fairly self-explanatory. It is a documentation of the well spoken thoughts of others, some that I know, some that I don't. I love this quotebook more than most of my possessions, and I hope to pass it on to my daughter someday so that she can glean as much from these brilliant minds as I have. And now, a collection of some of my favorite passages in QUOTES. 

"Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait." The Hobbit

"Music hijacked worship." Aaron Story

"What if sin's most perverse quality is its ability to masquerade as self-righteousness." Steve DeNeff

"If part of being smart is knowing what you don't know, then part of being holy is knowing what you're not, admitting it, then doing something about it... Even as intelligence is not simply the absence of ignorance but also the presence of a learning spirit, so true holiness is not merely the absence of sin but also the presence of a humble and eager soul." Steve DeNeff

"In the face of overwhelming odds, if you still have a huge desire to move ahead, chances are you have latched onto something divine." Andy Stanley

"While I have no desire to let hypocrites off the hook, it seems that obedience is love's final test, but never its first. Those who back forward - who love God even though they disobey him - will end in obedience, because it is impossible for them to behave for very long in a manner inconsistent with their nature." Steve DeNeff, More Than Forgiveness

"Thought, purpose, logic, industriousness, but without radiance or love... think of it. Isn't that an accurate description of Satan?" William Sullivan

"So much of the time, we ask what we ought to do, but most likely if we aren't doing what we ought, its not because we don't know, its just that we don't want to." Dr. Marti Steussy

"Believe this:
God really loves you
no matter what
God is always good, always for you
God actually forgives you
past, present, future
God wants to be intimately close
to you
All of these things are true,
whether you believe them or not"

"Holiness has but one fear, that of losing the friendship of God." Nicholas of Cusa

"Hope is the inner conviction that there is still a chance, a future, a purpose, a justice to life. It is more that optimism. It is the bedrock belief that our story has a plot, that all of the pain and nonsense in this life will one day converge at the feet of One who can make sense of it all." Who else, but SDeN.

Ok, so that was more than I intended to write, but reading back through all of these, there were so many good ones!!!!! I hope you can get as much from them as I have. :)

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