Quotes and Such 2012
From my Blessing Box to Yours – Kim Crawford
Take time this year for God. God took time for me this year, as He always does. He was in events, experiences, words, emotions, and loved me so much. God protected us when a tornado destroyed our home on top of us. He lifted us from the miry bog and placed our feet on solid ground. He put a new song in our mouths (Ps. 40:2-3 paraphrased). Even though we walked through the valley, God was with us. (Ps. 23:4 paraphrased). I wish I could list every person who was a blessing to us this year, but the number is too large to begin to try and figure out. Each of you who reached out to us during the aftermath of that tornado – you are a blessing in our lives forever. It began with a text from my precious friend Ellen who said, “A tornado is coming. Same path as April. Are you awake?” The blessings poured out from friends, family, and strangers in abundance after that. To Ellen, I respond now, I am awake and I see God blessing my life continually. From my blessing box to yours my friends:
1.”Little faith will bring your soul to heaven, great faith will bring heaven to your soul”
Adrian Rogers
2.I don’t go through things, I grow through things…(lady who was very sick, when asked how she coped with all her suffering).
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
3.Lord, this is your will and I stand on it! “This God – His way is perfect” Psalm 18:30
4.I finally realized…if God can’t keep me, I can’t be kept…(a sweet precious lady who was suffering and asked how she coped).
“The Lord lives and blessed be the rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.” Psalm 18:46
5.”You are a living soul who is going to live somewhere forever.”
Billy Graham
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.” John 5:24
6.Old Irish Proverb “Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for God will last.”
7.”Make God’s will a big deal.” Bro. Bill Wilks, Pastor – Northpark Baptist Church
8.”Don’t live like an atheist. So many believe in their heart but live like an atheist (paraphrased).” Bro. Bill Willks
9.”A lot of people are saved but not surrendered.” Bro. Bill Wilks
10.Quotes from the movie October Baby:
“I couldn’t believe something so small could have such power over me.” (regarding the baby)
“I didn’t see non-viable tissue. I saw the face of a child. Every abortion stops a beating heart.”
“To be human is to be beautifully flawed.”
“Thank you for wanting me.” – (As Hannah was going off to school, this is what she said to her father.)
11.I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
12.“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
13.”Let the tears of Jesus fall on your face.” Jeff C.
“You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle.” Psalm 56:8
14.“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
15.I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
16.“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”
17.“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”
18.”Having a famous painter next door was like having God’s finger pointing me toward painting.” Thomas Kinkade
19. (Movie: Life of Pi)
Adult Pi Patel: Faith is a house with many rooms.
Writer: But no room for doubt?
Adult Pi Patel: Oh plenty, on every floor. Doubt is useful, it keeps faith a living thing. After all, you cannot know the strength of your faith until it is tested.
Adult Pi Patel: I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.
Pi: If every unfolding we experience takes us further along in life, then, we are truly experiencing what life is offering…
Adult Pi Patel: And so it is by God.
20.”When I was a young boy, my mother told me, ‘Your talents are God’s gifts to you, and what you do with those talents are your gift to God,'” Thomas Kinkade
21.”We also found an unbroken egg under our rose bushes after the storm. It wasn’t our egg. Our eggs were also unbroken and in the fridge rolled down the hill. This unbroken egg came through the tornado from someone else’s fridge. This was God saying, “I’m with you. I have a plan. I have you in my hands!” Kim Crawford
22.The Blessing Box reminds us to “Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4, ESV).
23.Looking at the rubble that was our home moments after crawling out…”We can do this. We have lost nothing, we have everything. We have each other and Jesus Christ.”
24.During the tornado, “Lord we believe you will protect us, save us. Lord we believe you will.” There was a moment when we didn’t see how we could possibly make it out alive. As the house crumbled on top of us, I thought, okay, Lord, you are saving us by taking us on to heaven.”
25.You can’t unscramble the eggs!
26.”Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt
27. When someone is suffering I have learned:
Listen in an effort to comprehend
encourage expression
give permission in your responses for them to express their feelings
people must feel what they feel when they feel it
learn to walk at the same pace emotionally as the person you care for; there is no magic switch to flip to end grief – it takes how long it takes
grief is as individual as snowflakes
grief attacks at unexpected times from innocent words and from every direction
find one good friend who will listen and will not tell you how you should feel
you don’t resolve or get over grief – you learn to live with it somehow
must listen to the music of the past to sing the music of the present and dance into the future
grief belongs to the griever – they own it – you cannot change someone’s grief
you can’t heal what you don’t feel
you have the strength to give yourself permission to put one step in front of the other
God is not afraid of our emotion.
Say to people, “I’m so sorry” “I don’t know what to say to you”
Don’t try to fix someone’s grief or take it away – you cannot!
Don’t tell people not to cry – God gave us tears.
Call them and say, “Tell me about it.”
How does that make you feel?
How can I pray for you?
What do you need from me?
What would God say to you right now?
28.Communication tips I have learned:
Eye contact
Silence – Be quiet and listen. Don’t follow with your own story but let them tell their story.
Reflection of meaning – “If I’m hearing you correctly…” “So you seem sad…” Paraphrase or repeat back to them exactly what they said.
Empathy – “If I were you, I’d be angry too (sad too).”
29.Metaphors and images bay be God’s gift for you in the moment. Sharing an image can turn a key.
30.”I ask God everyday…am I going to trust God today? Jamie S.
31.”The greatest loss might be what dies inside of you while you live.” Renee J.
32.”The Lord broke in to our family.” Jeff C.
33.”Holy Boldness” Edward P
34.”Once in a navy blue moon” Edward P
35.”Kim – say professionalist instead of perfectionist – you are a professionalist” Jamie S.
36. “Our entire community was as low as we could get. On our faces, crying out to Jesus (during the tornado – a neighbor.)”
37.”Love is patient. Love is kind.” 1 Cor. 13:4
38.”Love edifies.” 1 Cor. 8:1
39.When married, ask God to tell you a list of your faults / sins. Right those down and work on those rather than focusing on those of your mate. (paraphrased – Dr. Gary Chapman)
40.What women want from men: to care about their feelings…to hear “I”m so sorry. Tell me about it…I see why you would feel that way.” That’s all – piece of cake!
41. Does that make you sad, mad, glad or scared? Carol G.
We are all feeling sad, mad, glad, or scared in some form at all times. We are made to feel these emotions. They allow us to experience life, have relationships, and know that we need something greater than ourselves. Emotions help us realize we need God. They help us know that we are loved, or danger is near, to remember those from the past, and to look forward to the future. Embrace your emotions and feel free to allow them in your life. Somehow in our society we have confused self-control and being emotional creatures. Expressing emotion is not lack of self-control. Bottling up emotion is not self-control. We need to express our emotion in order to be able to have self-control. When we express our emotion in it’s appropriate time, healing and growth occur. There is a time for emotion. There is a time for life. There is a time for everything…in God’s time.
New International Version (NIV)
A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
kim crawford
2012
Unveiled & Untangled 