“Let’s not get too settled in, too satisfied with the good things down here on earth. They are only the tinkling sounds of the orchestra warming up. The real song is about to break into a heavenly symphony, and its prelude is only a few moments away.”
from Heaven . . . Your Real Home, by Joni Eareckson Tada

I was sitting, torn by grief. Someone came and talked to me of God’s dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly. He said things I knew were true.

I was unmoved, except to wish he’d go away. He finally did.
Another came and sat beside me. He didn’t talk. He didn’t ask me leading questions. He just sat beside me for an hour and more, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply, left.

I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go.

Joe Bayly, The View from a Hearse

It is difficult—if not impossible—to turn on the light of objectivity by ourselves.
We need guidance from the Holy Spirit and usually the honesty, love, and encouragement of at least one other person who is willing to help us.

—Robert McGee, The Search for Significance

Attitude
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company . . . a church . . . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will react in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude . . . I am convinced that life is 10% what happens and 90% how I react to it.
-Charles Swindoll

From Strengthening Your Grip, Charles R. Swindoll, ©1982, Word, Inc., Dallas, TX. Used by permission of Insight for Living, Anaheim, CA 92806

 Somehow, pain and suffering multiplied on earth as a consequence of the abuse of human freedom. . . . Since the Fall the planet and all its inhabitants have been emitting a constant stream of low-frequency distress signals. We now live on a groaning planet.

-Philip Yancey,
Where Is God When It Hurts?

All things work for our good.
Though sometimes we can’t see how they could.
Struggles that break our heart in two
sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what’s best for us.
His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim
and you just can’t see Him,
remember you’re never alone.
God is too wise to be mistaken,
God is too good to be unkind,
So when you don’t understand,
When you don’t see His plan
When you can’t trace His hand,
Trust His heart.

“Trust His Heart”
by Eddie Carswell & Babbie Mason

My Lord held out a rock to see
within it, hid some gold.
But I did not know of its worth,
for I had not been told.
Refined within a process
that only gold withstands,
impurities were set apart
now gold lay in His hands.
God said, "Your life has trials,
but see them as I do.
Your body's as a rock to me.
This gold the soul of you."
 by Carla Muir