Life will break you

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could." - Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum

Shelly drove off to San Diego in a U-Haul this morning amid the freezing rain. Last I heard she was almost out of Iowa, still safe and tear-free. Please pray for her and her friend Sarah's safe journey.

Those of you who know me deeply, know that in my home, I surround myself with meaningful quotes, so that I see hope everywhere I look. Perhaps you need some today too:

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we had planned in order to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell

"Create your own stage. The audience is waiting." - from a recent fortune cookie

"Adversity introduces us to ourselves." - President George W. Bush, 9/14/01

"You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you." - Mary Tyler Moore

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" - Erma Bomback

"It doesn't matter where you're coming from...It's where you're going." - the coffee coaster on my desk

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." - Romans 8:28 niv

Love & blessings in your new year! ~Manda