Amber > Amber's Quotes

“But you can’t have yes without no. Another way to say it: if you’re not careful with your yeses, you start to say no to some very important things without even realizing it. In my rampant yes-yes-yes-ing, I said no, without intending to, to rest, to peace, to groundedness, to listening, to deep and slow connection, built over years instead of moments. All”
― Shauna Niequist, Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

“In nature, children learn to take risks, overcome fears, make new friends, regulate emotions, and create imaginary worlds.”
― Angela J. Hanscom, Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children

“Courage, dear heart.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, "Courage, dear heart," and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan's, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It's time for that to end.”
― Sebastian Junger, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
― D.A. Carson

“A magical childhood isn’t about having the best toys, gadgets, and vacations. It’s actually the opposite. It’s about simplicity. A magical childhood is about freedom. Freedom to explore, discover, and play.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Raising children is hard, full of twists and turns, missteps and mistakes, regrets and trying new things. But even on its most challenging day, homeschooling is really just an extension of parenting. Rest assured, there is no perfect school, classroom, teacher, mother, or homeschool. But we can do the best we can, one day at a time. And that’s good enough.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“The greatest thing a father can do for his children is to respect the woman that gave birth to his children. It is because of her that you have the greatest treasures in your life. You may have moved on, but your children have not. If you can’t be her soulmate, then at least be thoughtful. Whom your children love should always be someone that you acknowledge with kindness. Your children notice everything and will follow your example.”
― Shannon L. Alder, 300 Questions for a Vibrant Marriage

“Watch your habits, for they become your posture. Watch your posture, for it creates your boundaries. Watch your boundaries, for they restrict your growth. Watch your restrictions, for they create immobility. Watch your immobility, for it becomes your illness.”
― Katy Bowman, Alignment Matters: The First Five Years of Katy Says

“Scientists have found that the brains of people who spend untold hours in prayer and meditation are different.”8 Your imagination will be rewired. “Inappropriate thoughts can be combatted with positive thoughts, such as thinking of a new hobby, playing music, repeating an inspiring quote, or some other positive activity,”
― Jennie Allen, Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts

“One of the main reasons we homeschool is to foster relationships with our children, so when we prioritize the relationship over the to-do list, we are succeeding.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Czy zwróciłeś kiedyś uwagę, jak przyjemnie chodzi się boso po piasku, trawie albo ziemi?Nie bierze się to tylko z ulgi po zdjęciu sztywnych butów albo zrzuceniu wysokich obcasów. Kiedy dotykasz podłoża bosymi stopami, twój organizm otrzymuję dawkę potężnych leczniczych elektronów.”
― Qing Li, Shinrin-Yoku: The Art and Science of Forest Bathing

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“Our current model sets both food and movement as a negative. Eating food (a biological imperative) makes us feel guilty, and we turn movement (also a biological imperative) into punishment. Atonement”
― Katy Bowman, Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement

“When over the years someone has seen you at your worst, and knows you with all your strengths and flaws, yet commits him- or herself to you wholly, it is a consummate experience. To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”
― Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“You can only afford to be generous if you actually have some money in the bank to give. In the same way, if your only source of love and meaning is your spouse, then anytime he or she fails you, it will not just cause grief but a psychological cataclysm. If, however, you know something of the work of the Spirit in your life, you have enough love "in the bank" to be generous to your spouse even when you are not getting much affection or kindness at the moment.”
― Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“Marriage has the power to set the course of your life as a whole. If your marriage is strong, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are filled with trouble and weakness, it won't matter. You will be able to move out into the world in strength.”
― Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“In sharp contrast with our culture, the Bible teaches that the essence of marriage is a sacrificial commitment to the good of the other. That means that love is more fundamentally action than emotion. But in talking this way, there is a danger of falling into the opposite error that characterized many ancient and traditional societies. It is possible to see marriage as merely a social transaction, a way of doing your duty to family, tribe and society. Traditional societies made the family the ultimate value in life, and so marriage was a mere transaction that helped your family's interest. By contrast, contemporary Western societies make the individual's happiness the ultimate value, and so marriage becomes primarily an experience of romantic fulfillment. But the Bible sees GOD as the supreme good - not the individual or the family - and that gives us a view of marriage that intimately unites feelings AND duty, passion AND promise. That is because at the heart of the Biblical idea of marriage is the covenant.”
― Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

“She’d probably be working her whole life long to trust imperfect humanity with the same, but ever since that night, no matter how dire her situation, if she simply looked up to that light breaking through the night, she was reminded that she was never as alone as she felt.”
― Amanda Cox, He Should Have Told the Bees: A Novel

“Luke's crepuscular rays....
Callie pointed up. "Do you see those rays? People call them the hand of God. Proof of miracle sightings. Do you know what makes them? Just light on dust, Beck. Thinking of Luke, she said, "If that's not a miracle, that light can make something so common as dust beautiful, then I don't know what is.”
― Amanda Cox, He Should Have Told the Bees

“We stood facing each other and he told me, “There was once a great Irish warrior who was sent far across the land to retrieve the gold and treasure of a conquest. He took his most reliable and trustworthy fellows. After carrying the heavy treasure for miles and days, the great warrior sat on a rock and would not move. The fellows with him begged him to move and to carry faster, for the king was waiting for his gold.” He paused and I nudged him. “The warrior didn’t answer anyone. He sat and sat and sat. Days passed until he opened his eyes, and he told them it was time to go. ‘What were you waiting for?’ they all cried.” “What was he waiting for?” I asked, feeling a truth draw near, a tingle in my chest. “The warrior told the others: ‘We traveled too far too fast, and I waited for my soul to catch up.’ ”
― Patti Callahan Henry, The Story She Left Behind

“Every lament is a prayer, a statement of faith. Lament is the honest cry of a hurting hurt wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God's goodness.”
― Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament