We just had a foot of snow delivered to us this week, and I can’t think of a better quote to sum up how I feel right now:

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”

―Edith Sitwell

The winter months definitely make me want to sit back and snuggle up with my family. I love having good friends come over and just sit and talk. We did this on New Year’s with our good friends Diane and Dave, and it was a great time. So as the song says, “let it snow!”

This is certainly very true:

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.

— Philip K. Dick, novelist

I’m always amazed at the people who live their lives in the world of denial. Denying things doesn’t make them disappear. It doesn’t make them easier, either. Growing up in an alcoholic family, I know this all too well. This is one of the patterns of alcoholism in a family. Someone acts as the enabler, and that person is usually very much in denial about what’s happening in their family.

Dealing with your problems head on is the only way to get a handle on them. It’s the only way to get past them, too.

Boy, I sure know this one is true:

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”

―Ben Williams

Many times, I get discouraged. Too much, in fact. It’s always when I work my butt off and don’t see the results. Or when I’ve prayed (and prayed) for something that seems like everyone else in the world has so easily (a great relationship, good health, children, a loving family). If you’ve ever felt this way, I know you will take comfort in this quote:

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14)

Don’t let the negative aspects of the world get you down. Lean on God, and ask Him to help you through these feelings. Focus on all the good things in your life, and believe in God’s plan for your life.

As a Packer fan, you know I love this quote:

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

~Vince Lombardi

So very true! I think the best way to approach a project is to think of it in little steps. When you accomplish the first step, go on to the next. Keep going. Before you know it, you will have already accomplished so much more than you originally thought you would.

(By the way, is this a great picture of Vince or what?)

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).

“A new dress doesn’t get you anywhere; it’s the life you’re living in the dress, and the sort of life you had lived before, and what you will do in it later.”

—Diana Vreeland

Here’s a quote that circulated on Twitter yesterday, and I liked it so much I retweeted it. I thought I’d also share with you here.

The value of consistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will hear Him.
~William McGill

Image: sxc.hu.

Today is the National Day of Prayer.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America’s leaders and its families.

Won’t you join me in saying a prayer today?

Image: sxc.hu.

The first face transplant recipient in the United States, Connie Culp, bravely went in front of the cameras yesterday. Culp lost her nose, cheeks, and upper jaw when she was hit by a bullet in 2004. Her face contained nothing by her eyes, chin, and forehead. She was only able to breathe through a “tracheostomy — a surgical opening in her neck.”

She expressed her gratefulness as she stepped in front of the camera. “I want to focus on the donor family that allowed me to have this Christmas present.” Culp had the 22-hour surgery in December. Tissue from the donor was “shaped and fitted into position. Multiple layers of tissue, bone, muscle and blood vessels, nerve grafts and each artery and vein were connected.”

What an amazing gift that will transform this woman’s life. It reinforces what being a donor can mean to an ailing patient.