Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate Quotes

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “Thank You”? WILLIAM A. WARD”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Fear is passion in a negative direction.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Accept yourself. Recognize that you are not defined by what you do, but by whom Papa God ultimately designed you to be. And remember, you’re a work in progress. Your actions do not dictate who you are and whether or not you’re acceptable to Him. You are!”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“But we have to remember that our worth comes from Christ; it’s not dependent on how other people treat us. I love this statement I saw on a plaque: I MAY NOT BE PERFECT, BUT JESUS THINKS I’M TO DIE FOR. So true. We are exquisitely precious in the sight of our Lord, treasured beyond measure. And in the end, that value is the only kind that counts.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“•    Be an intentional blessing to someone. Devote yourself to caring for others. Even when your own needs begin to dominate your attention, set aside time daily to tune in to others. Pray for their specific needs and speak blessings to those you encounter each day. Make them glad they met you.     •    Seek joy. Each morning ask yourself, “Where will the joy be today?” and then look for it. Look high and low—in misty sunbeams, your favorite poem, the kind eyes of your caretaker, dew-touched spiderwebs, fluffy white clouds scuttling by, even extra butterflies summoned by heaven just to make you smile.     •    Prepare love notes. When energy permits, write, videotape, or audiotape little messages of encouragement to children, grandchildren, and friends for special occasions in their future. Reminders of your love when you won’t be there to tell them yourself. Enlist the help of a friend or family member to present your messages at the right time, labeled, “For my granddaughter on her wedding day,” “For my beloved friend’s sixty-fifth birthday,” or “For my dear son and daughter-in-law on their golden anniversary.”     •    Pass on your faith. Purchase a supply of Bibles and in the front flap of each one, write a personal dedication to the child or grandchild, friend, or neighbor you intend to give it to. Choose a specific book of the Bible (the Gospels are a great place to start) and read several chapters daily, writing comments in the margin of how this verse impacted your life or what that verse means to you. Include personal notes or prayers for the recipient related to highlighted scriptures. Your words will become a precious keepsake of faith for generations to come. (*Helpful hint: A Bible with this idea in mind might make a thoughtful gift for a loved one standing at the threshold of eternity. Not only will it immerse the person in the comforting balm of scripture, but it will give him or her a very worthwhile project that will long benefit those he or she loves.)     •    Make love your legacy. Emily Dickinson said, “Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.” Ask yourself, “What will people remember most about me?” Meditate on John 15:12: “Love each other as I have loved you” (NIV). Tape it beside your bed so it’s the last thing you see at night and the first thing you see in the morning.     •    “Remember that God loves you and will see you through it.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Papa God is the rightful owner of everything you consider yours, and if circumstances beyond your control remove it from your possession, He knows. He cares. And He has something special for you just beyond the next bend in the road.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“The earth and everything on it belong to the LORD” (Psalm 24:1 CEV). So although the bank account, trust fund, or mortgage might display our name, we’re not the real owner. Papa God is.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“You may not feel forgiving, but if, out of sheer obedience to Christ, you voice your pardon anyway—every day if need be, until it “takes” in your heart—true forgiveness will follow. In other words, feelings often come after the decision to take action.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Emotions affect your immune system, for better or worse. Happiness heals like a medicine. Bitterness kills like a disease. Releasing bitterness can dramatically help the underlying causes of many physical ailments.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“As the story goes, during LaGuardia’s stint as judge, a little old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread for her starving grandchildren was brought into court. The fine was either ten dollars (a considerable sum in those post-Depression days) or ten days in jail. Surmising the woman’s destitute situation, Mayor LaGuardia reached into his pocket and paid the fine himself, and then passed a hat around, stating, “I’m fining everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread in order to eat.” The old woman went home with $47.50 in her purse and hope shining in her eyes. Mayor LaGuardia demonstrated compassion at its finest in that courtroom. Compassion is empathetic willingness to enter someone else’s distress. To not only share their suffering, but take it one step further in attempting to alleviate it.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Praise Papa God for His caring attributes—patience, forgiveness, faithfulness, grace, healing, protection, provision, renewal, rest, security, and wisdom, to name a few—that are full of loving-kindness for His beloved children. He’s always”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Scientists, who in the past have generally disregarded the role of thankfulness, have now discovered that gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions and can literally make people live longer, happier lives.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Sometimes an expression of gratitude can make all the difference in the world to people who desperately need to know that they count, that we value them. That their actions, however small, are appreciated … a harried waitress, the overworked clerk trying to whittle down a long waiting line, a lonely parking lot attendant, the day-care worker up to her elbows in dirty diapers.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to Worry at night. UNKNOWN”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Sure, it’s important to acknowledge guilt when guilt is due. But we don’t have to dejectedly walk away from the Accuser with that guilt weighing us down forever. We can be forgiven, redeemed, and rebooted. We may be guilty, but we’re not incarcerated in a “guilted” cage. Mercy has unlocked the door.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“So if God has already paid the price, and loves me enough to send His Son to die for me, why do I need to struggle so hard trying to be accepted by others when I already have total acceptance by God?”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“If we allow fear to continue to wreak havoc in our lives unimpeded, it can eventually erode our self-esteem, relationships, and even our faith.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“No amount of striving, no passion for perfection, no accomplishment of mine will ever measure up to God’s standard of sinless behavior. So if God has already paid the price, and loves me enough to send His Son to die for me, why do I need to struggle so hard trying to be accepted by others when I already have total acceptance by God?”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Whatever you do, whatever job or undertaking you complete, no matter how well it turns out, you find all the petty faults in it and subsequently translate it into failure. You’re never satisfied with your performance, and you begin to view the world with an eye for errors. You focus on the lackluster performance of others and are constantly disappointed when they don’t live up to your unrealistic expectations.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“The Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4 NLT). That, dear sister, is the difference between an unholy spirit and the Holy Spirit. One has a BB gun and the other has an AK-47. And the Enforcer is on our side.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries

“Our fears spotlight what matters to us most … those hidden corners of our life in which we trust Papa God the least.”
― Debora M. Coty, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate: Wit and Wisdom for Sidestepping Life's Worries