God included the
hardships of my life in His
original plan. NOTHING
takes Him by surprise.
~Elisabeth Elliot
I started this blog soon after the death of my beautiful 17-year-old son, Hayden, as a way to deal with my grief. I titled it "Dear Hayden" because at first I wrote as if I was writing to him. My use of the word "dear" ended up being twofold: "used as an affectionate or friendly form of address" and "regarded with deep affection; cherished by someone." Many posts are saved quotes, song lyrics, Bible verses, poems, etc. with credit given to the actual authors as much as possible. Enjoy~
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
People pleasing
People pleasing is a
form of emotional
unavailability, too.
It's difficult for anyone to get to know the real you if
you downplay your feelings, needs, and wants in
your relationships.
Mundane
The mundane is the magic for the
faithful reward.
When God calls us to persevere you must
be confident He will diligently
reward those who seek Him.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Wounds
Some days I look at my life and feel
like all I have to offer the church is wounds.
Then Jesus whispers, "Me too."
And I'm reminded that there's
redemption beyond our scars,
beauty from ashes, and
a God who knows it all
and redeems it all.
~Karen Smith
The strong one
When you're the strong one, people don't give you permission to hurt. ~Iyanla Vanzant
Wait differently
The moment you begin to UNDERSTAND
that God is never late, you begin to wait
DIFFERENTLY.
One of them
You are currently living at
least one of the prayers you
used to pray.
Reflect on that today.
Too much
When a man doesn't want to change
he will find any woman that's ok with
his lifestyle so he doesn't have to grow up.
That's why these men will purposely
destroy a relationship with a real
woman because she sets boundaries and
has standards that she stands heavy on.
Don't ever think you're not enough for
these men: 9 times out of 10 you're just
TOO MUCH for them to handle and
they need a weaker woman who
accepts the bare minimum.
Hardships
God included the
hardships of my life in His
original plan. NOTHING
takes Him by surprise.
~Elisabeth Elliot
Thursday, April 18, 2024
His wealth
From Counterfeit Gods
"The solution to stinginess is a reorientation to the generosity of Christ in the gospel, how he poured out his wealth for you. Now you don't have to worry about money - the Cross proves God's care for you and gives you the security. Now you don't have to envy anyone else's money. Jesus' love and salvation confers on you a remarkable status - one that money cannot give you. Money cannot save you from tragedy, or give you control in a chaotic world. Only God can do that. What breaks the power of money over us is not just redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that understanding makes in your heart - the seat of your mind, will, and emotions. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding and identity, our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without a complete change of heart will be superficial and fleeting."
Pain
Pain that brings you
closer to God will
always be better than
comfort that keeps you
away from Him.
~J.C. Ryle
Not nice
My life got better when I realized
I didn't have to be nice. Nice got
me ran over, stressed out and
disrespected.
I'm not nice. I'm a good person.
There's a difference.
Heal your bloodline
When you heal your Self, you
heal your bloodline. There is
no greater love than this.
~J. Mike Fields
Let go
Time to let go
of the one
who isn't ready,
and wait for the one
who will always
take your breath away.
~Mark Anthony
Didn't consent
If you didn't feel you had a
realistic, survivable choice,
then you didn't consent.
~Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle
The boat
When God calls you to walk on water,
don't stay in the boat.
Miracles grow where
faith and hope are planted.
Stay young
The whole time
I was looking for someone
to grow old with,
until I found the one
I wanted to stay young with.
~Kirk Diedrich
Desiring little
There are two ways to be rich:
One is by acquiring much, and
the other is by desiring little.
~Jackie French Koller
Heal
Heal sis, heal. So you can see that
attention is not love, attachment
is not connection and the bare
minimum is not effort.
Feel needed
I read somewhere that when we don't feel wanted, we make ourselves feel needed.
And I realize now that is what I've been doing my entire life.