I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

Wisdom makes decisions today that will still be good tomorrow.

The only way our faith will ever strengthen is for us to use it. We need to apply thought and prayer to our decisions and then trust God for the outcome. We need to set our sights on growing in faith, not shrinking back for fear of failure.

Outside our comfort zone, though, is where we experience the true awesomeness of God.

If you desire to please God with the decision you make and afterward it proves to be a mistake, it's an error not an end.

Hope is the melody of the future. Faith is dancing to that melody right now.

My heart struggles to make peace between God's ability to change hard things and His apparent decision not to change them for me.

If I'm trusting myself, I will stare at all the possible ways I could fail. If I'm trusting God, I will stare at all the possible ways He'll use this whether I fail or succeed.

We think we want comfort in the I-don't-know times of life. But comfort isn't a solution to seek; rather, it's a by-product we'll reap when we stay close to the Lord. What if the comfort and certainties we crave today are a deadly recipe for complacency that will draw our hearts further and further away from God?

Hoping doesn't mean I put myself in harm's way. It doesn't mean I ignore reality. No, hoping means I acknowledge reality in the very same breath that I acknowledge God's sovereignty.

Today's choices become tomorrow's circumstances.

Yes, Lord. I want Your patience to invade my desire to fly off the handle." "Yes, Lord. I want Your perspective to keep my emotions in check." "Yes, Lord. I want Your provision so things don't seem so overwhelming." "Yes, Lord. I want Your courage to do what I feel You calling me to do." "Yes, Lord. I want and need more of You in every moment.