Hi all,
I’ve collected a lot of quotes, thoughts, and made many observations over the years, which I write down. I enjoy reading through them from time to time as I glean new truths or chuckle all over again, and I thought you might enjoy reading some too. If I know who said it, I give them credit. My own observations, I just let stand. These range from the deep and thought-provoking to the humorous….hope you enjoy! There should be something for everyone.
First though, some wisdom on marriage:
You marry someone different from you. That’s not a problem to fix. That is a person to learn about and learn from.
(John talking) I have fallen in love with many women during my 48 year marriage (as of this writing) to Barb, and each woman I’ve fallen in love with has been embodied in her. This is key: Keep falling in love with whom your spouse becomes at each season of life, because the spouse you have now is not the spouse you married. Go back to the original reason you fell in love with your spouse, and then find that nugget again in each and every season of life.
I fell in love with my wife when we were teenagers. I fell in love with her all over again when she became a mom. I fell in love with her all over again as I watched her raise our three sons. I fell in love with her again when I saw and admired her strength and resilience through many difficulties life has thrown us. I fell in love with her again when I saw the amazing grandma she became. I fell in love with her in our empty nest years, her long-held zeal for righteousness, and observing how she has made me a better man, a better follower of Christ. Yes, I’ve fallen in love with many women during my marriage to Barb, and each one of them has been her in the various seasons of life.
Observations, quotes, thoughts, funnies
A lawn mower cannot outrun a bee. (Personal experience after mowing over a nest of ground-nesting yellow jacket wasps.)
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot do for men permanently what they could and should do for themselves. Abraham Lincoln.
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe but yourself. Augustine.
We should not judge others by their actions but judge ourselves by our intent.
Your worth as a human being was not given at the cross, it was measured by the price paid at the cross. Your worth was given to you when you were created.
God works the supernatural through the natural so people can choose what to believe.
Social media trains people to react rather than respond. Reaction is instant, response requires thought and seeing both sides of an issue.
I’m thankful my children didn’t follow in all of my footsteps. It’s easier to sleep at night. A friend.
Don’t judge the book of my life by the chapter you walked in on.
Some people are too smart: They think the simple things like real love, home, and the good old stuff are silly. They think those are for idiots.
Motivation starts something in motion, but dedication is the root that sustains that motion.
Ignorance is not knowing. Stupidity is refusing to fix that.
Be a voice not an echo.
We live in a culture of lies that says if you were an unplanned baby you were unwanted and unloved.
Hopefully you always have a home for your family, even if you don’t have a house to put it in.
A comment about a mean person: He isn’t the devil, but he’s on his payroll.
There are many people who are not interested in receiving advice on how to solve their problem; victimhood is their point.
We are responsible for obedience, not the results from that obedience, for they are not always immediate nor evident at the time.
If it can’t be cured it must be endured.
Some people seem to have an allergy to common sense.
Humility comes from knowing your own value in Christ.
Our destination makes the trip worth it.
The hardest personal journey you will take is the one that leads to the truth. Therefore most often the difficult choice will be the God-choice.
God’s delay is not God’s denial. (Singer) Frankie Avalon
Trying to build the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God is like having the spokes of a wheel without the hub. Actress Irene Dunne
We make decisions and those decisions determine our destiny.
Some people define truth as that which they can make other people believe.
You don’t see things the way they are, you see things the way you are.
Do disaster is a single event.
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. Corrie ten-Boom.
More next week. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
