10 Great Quotes from Gandalf

1. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

2. I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.

3 . He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.

4. Even the most subtle spiders may leave a weak thread.

5. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life.

6. Only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero.

7. A treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand.

8. The wise speak only of what they know.

9. The treacherous are ever distrustful.

10. A traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend.

From  J.R.R. Tolkien

Do you have other favorites?

Betsy and Laurie

Words Take Life

Laurie and Betsy

The Writing Sisters

(photo taken at Library Way, NYC Public Library)

How Can We Find Peace?

But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . peace   Galatians 5:22

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.   John 14: 27

I am trying to find peace today.  As always, there are a lot of things going on in my life.  People I love struggle and are hurt.  There are challenges and decisions.  There is just a lot to do.  Where can I find peace?

When I try to find peace by controlling my circumstances I come up short. It is only when I surrender those circumstances to God that I find peace in the middle of it all. I can surrender that control only when I have the assurance that God is good and that He can be trusted with my challenges. The answer for me lies in time spent with God:

• Spending time to pray
• Reading the Bible to understand who God is
• Remembering His faithfulness to me in the past

This reminds me that He is bigger than my circumstances, He is good and He cares about me.  That’s a relief.

“Christian peace is not the absence of troubles. It is a peace that is unshakeable even in the midst of troubles.”

“If we set our hearts on anything but God, we can lose our peace. But if our greatest love is the unchanging God, then our peace can never be taken from us.”

Tim Keller

God’s peace or my attempts to control?  It is a matter of choice.  I can choose to practice peace.

Today I choose peace.

Dear God, Please send to me the spirit of Your peace.

Then send, dear Lord, the spirit of peace from me to all the world. Amen.

Marianne Williamson

How do you find Peace?

Betsy and Laurie

About Love

About Joy

Pat Conroy on Books

“Books are living things and their task lies in their vows of silence. . . If you do them the favor of understanding them, of taking in their portions of grief and wisdom, then they settle down in contented residence in your heart.”

Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

Tell Us, Simone Weil

Do You Want More Joy?

But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy  Galatians 5:22

I want more joy.  I can come to my desk with the spirit of drudgery or the spirit of worship. With worship comes Joy.

“We have forgotten that the call to creativity is a call to worship.” 

Michael Card

Somewhere along the way I learned that work was the opposite of worship. I learned wrong.  When I engage in my work as worship, I can write with joy.  If I am writing with a sense of the wonder and expectation I revel in my work and experience joy:

The joy of creating.

The joy of connecting with God.

The joy of sharing myself with others.

 It helps to come with a sense of expectation to the desk instead of dread.  When I lose myself in the writing I do my best work.

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
Rumi

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” 
Marianne Williamson

“when we are powerless to do a thing, it is a great joy that we can come and step inside the ability of Jesus”
Corrie ten Boom

How do you experience joy?  Do you want more?

Betsy and Laurie

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

Can You Write WIth More Love?

Does it Matter What We Read?

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

“He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know.”

— Annie Dillard (The Writing Life)

What are you reading today?  Is it worth putting into your mind? Does it even matter what we read?

Betsy and Laurie