Trail Wisdom

The sunshine on Saturday morning made us want to hit the trail.

We arrived and found the path too mushy to walk,

and so we walked the country road instead. 

I paused before getting into the car to photograph the sign close up.

I thought it contained some good advice for life in general...

Enjoy but do not disturb

Please stay on the trail

Take nothing

Leave nothing

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.
Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.
I have walked myself into my best thoughts,
and I know of no thought so burdensome 
that one cannot walk away from it. 

(Soren Kierkegaard)

Sweet Tweets

It would be impossible for me to rank my favorite "tweets" from this week in order of their usefulness/challenge to me.  Here are a few that really struck a chord. (The Piper quote about discipline and the Keller one would probably be at the top if I were making a list.)

• "Jesus doesn’t need your self-reformation. He needs your humility. John 1:38-39."  (James MacDonald)
• "The acid test of where your heart is: where does it go when you are alone? Your religion is revealed in solitude." (Tim Keller)
• "Discipline is hard work done in obscurity for the sake of excellence."  (John Piper)
• "Faith doesn’t ignore the severity of a problem; it just believes God has a solution."  (Rick Warren)
• "I maintain that to tell a person they are born again, while they are living in carelessness or sin, is a dangerous delusion."  (J.C. Ryle)
• "Never make a major decision when depressed. But if you can't wait, ask 'What would I choose if I WASNT depressed?'" (Rick Warren)
• "Those most passionate about grace should be most passionate about godliness." (Kevin DeYoung)
• “For having lost so much time, you have the greater need of diligently improving what time yet remains.”  (Jonathan Edwards)
• "It costs something to be a true Christian. It will cost us our sins, our self-righteousness, our ease & our worldliness." (J.C. Ryle)
• "I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God." (Horatius Bonar, 1861)

Has the Holy Spirit challenged or changed you

via a quotation you've come across recently?

Would you mind sharing it?

Prone to Hyperbole

My husband.  A mighty good man...

Don't talk bad about your husband.

To anyone.

Ever.

While reading comments to one of my recent posts, a new "country" was heard from!  I immediately went to her site to explore. That's where I found these words - put just this way.

When I went to comment, I was going to say "This is the best advice I've ever heard."  I stopped short of it, realizing how prone to hyperbole* I am. I didn't take the time to think of  what other pieces of advice might be "gooder" than this, but one came to my mind--"Come to Jesus and live" (or its equivalent).

Not talking bad about your husband.  To anyone. Ever. is still right up toward the very top of my list of good advice.   

What would YOU put "up there"?

and

Are YOU sometimes prone to hyperbole - or is it just me?

*Hyperbole according to the American Heritage Dictionary:  A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton. (This definition added for Janette!)

OH, MY!  Brenda's comment below is an important and

necessary disclaimer.  (My marriage is far from perfect,

but good enough that it didn't even enter my head to make an 

exception clause! )  Thanks, Brenda.  I DO agree.

Irish Blessings

"May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,

the foresight to know where you're going 

and the insight to know when you've gone too far."

Irish blessings were all over blog-land and facebook yesterday.  (I'm sure you noticed!)  I wish I'd kept track of all of them.  THIS one particularly captured my thoughts.  Looking back, I see that many of the bumps on my road have been because I wasn't exercising hindsight, foresight, or insight! 

Some time ago, I wrote a women's Bible study book titled "The Beauty of a Disciplined Life."  It was based on the book of Proverbs.  One passage that stands out for me in this incredibly practical book are the verses in chapter 2:1-5:  "...treasure up my commandments...make your ear attentive to wisdom...:ncline your heart ot understanding...call out for insight...raise your voice for understanding...seek it like silver...search for it as for hidden treasure..." 

Wisdom is HINDSIGHT, FORESIGHT, AND INSIGHT!  Wisdom results in a healthy fear of the Lord and  the knowledge of God (vs. 5).  How I long to be a wiser woman!  I thank God that He has given me everything I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called me to (and by) his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3).