The Bereaved Mother

Do not judge the bereaved mother.  She comes in many forms.

She is breathing, but she is dying.

She may look young, but inside she has become ancient.

She smiles, but her heart sobs.

She walks, talks, she cooks, she cleans, she works.

She IS but she IS NOT, all at once.

She is here, but part of her is elsewhere for eternity.

Mercedes Lackey

If only.... those must be the two saddest words in the world.

After River

*Sometimes she thought it would be a blessing to be like Gus, to never have read a novel in her life, to be unaware of what she was missing, to be ignorant of the possibilities. -Nettie (Page 184)

*Keeping secrets is a lonely business.  The longer you hold them, the harder it is to let them go.  -Natalie (Pg 267)

*Guilt is a stern taskmaster.  It requires you to be on guard, always watch what you say.  -Natalie

Women of the Bible

*Victory is not overcoming sin, or the devil, or the world.  True, lasting victory is only found when Jesus overcomes me.

*The failures of those we follow can easily become our own failures if we are not careful

*God holds Adam more accountable than Eve even though she was first to eat of the forbidden fruit.  Failing to lead rightly is sin.

*Be careful what you say about the faults & mistakes of others - they may hae already been to the cross about them.

*Often, even our CORRECT criticisms of other people are motivated by an INCORRECT attitude of the heart.

*Israel was in deep trouble!  They had nowhere to look except up.  Often it is that way in our lives as well.  As long as we can figure our way out of our problems, we dont look to God.  I wonder how many times difficulties have come into our lives because the Lord has delivered us into the hands of trials to get us to the place where we will cry out to Him.