For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Only the dear Lord knows what may befall us, just around the bend.

Have ya ever thought that it's not what we think we ought to do that's essential for happiness, but what the Lord's leading us to do . . . and to be?" She smiled. "Ofttimes that can be two very different things.

I'll tell my darling the story of the determined woman in my family tree who wholeheartedly believed that we're all here by design . . . that none of us is an accident in God's eyes. Our heavenly Father's hand is at work in all of our comings and goings—and in the choice of a life mate.

God holds my tomorrows, she thought. I will be content with whatever comes my way.

Best not to tiptoe around what you're yearning for, eyeing it, longing for it . . . or you'll miss your life ahead, it read.

My heart knew that all the dear ones God had placed in my path had been part of His beautiful plan, one that had brought me to this remarkable season of thanksgiving . . . and led me home.

trust in God's provision for the direction of their lives. "This means believing the Lord will stand strong when you cannot . . . that He will hold you up

Simplified living is about more than doing less. It's being who God called us to be, with a wholehearted, single-minded focus. It's walking away from innumerable lesser opportunities in favor of the few to which we've been called and for which we've been created.

Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.

Whenever you step into what you are called to do, it gives life back to you and doesn't drain you as much as it builds you. There is a divine grace.

No one who discovers who God has made him or her to be would want to be anyone else.