The Fringe Hours Quotes

“Self-care needs to be included in what you should be doing. It is not a privilege. It is a necessity.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“The reason so many women today struggle to make themselves a priority is because they are trying to be everything for everyone.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Once I freed myself from the bondage of perfection and embraced a lifestyle that made time for my passions, I was happier in all of my pursuits and responsibilities.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I made a decision a long time ago that I was going to choose joy. I even painted a big rectangle on my wall and printed it in big letters so I wouldn’t forget to make that choice every day. The major word in that rectangle isn’t joy, it’s CHOOSE. It’s looking around me when life is difficult and trading every complaint I have for something beautiful in my life that far outweighs it. I know, it’s that Pollyanna personified thing again, but living joyful beats being cynical any day of the week.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“No one wins when you compare. You don’t win. Your family doesn’t win. Your friends don’t win. You must be in control and not let comparison take hold of your mind. Rather, focus on yourself, your family, and where God has you in your life.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Is saying yes to this project, activity, or commitment going to better me or my family? Do I really want to do this? A friend once said to me, “If it isn’t a heck yes, then it’s a no.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“As Lysa TerKeurst says, “We must not confuse the command to love with the disease to please.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I love this Marianne Williamson quote: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“You must eliminate self-imposed pressures in your life to enjoy a more fruitful life. You cannot be everything for everyone. Moreover, if you do not make time for yourself, you will flatline. Pursue a life of joy and contentment, and you will be happier, healthier, and more at peace. Making time for yourself is both necessary and fulfilling.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I read it in a book, one line, and carry it around with me for days, a new map: “The literal translation for the words ‘pray always’ is ‘come to rest.’” . . . Prayer is the essence of rest, the essence of theology, the essence of idol destruction, the essence of communion. We came from His breath and we’re most our real selves when our breath is offered back to Him.6”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Now, you might be saying, “Jessica, I am not crafty.” I hear you. But I am not talking about crafts. I am talking about living out the God-given passions that are inside of us. Creativity isn’t crafting; it is any original expression you pursue—running, playing music, gardening, sewing, cooking, and so on are all creative acts. Even activities like volunteering and throwing parties are creative pursuits because by giving of ourselves for others we are expressing ourselves in a meaningful way. Moreover, these are activities that inspire us in an indescribable way. And when we make room in our days to include them, we feel more alive and joyful.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“But the lesson here is one we must embrace: sometimes we have to let go of self-imposed have-tos and settle for good enough. Just because you’re passionate doesn’t mean you have to do it. Though my windows aren’t dressed in that amazing fabric, they aren’t bare anymore. And that is good enough.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“We have just enough time and money to compare ourselves to others who have more time and money, and we think we should be able to accomplish everything they do and have, without being able to see the sacrifices others have made to have the things they do. We grew up learning we could do anything we put our minds to, but the reality is that you just can’t have it all. So when we fail to live up to our own expectations, we think it is because of a problem within us instead of recognizing the very real limitations that come with having finite resources of time, money, and talent.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Change is often like that—hard, but good in the end.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I believe how you spend your 5-to-9 determines how you'll spend your 9-to-5.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Good enough is not about aiming lower or doing less or slacking off. It’s about knowing that what’s good enough for one woman isn’t necessarily what’s good enough for another. And that if we’re living up to our own standards, there isn’t anything more to want. Some people call this perfect. We call it the New Perfect.”8”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Yes, you might have been born with an innate ability to nurture, and you might feel mothering is your highest calling. But I know that somewhere, maybe deep inside of you, another desire burns. One that is just for you. It might be ignited when you sit down with a good book and a candle burning, in solitude. Or it might be awakened when your feet hit the pavement for an early morning run. Whatever it is, find it.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“One always has time enough, if one will apply it well. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.6”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“We all know people who tend to overstep their bounds. Maybe it is a mother-in-law who tells you how to run your house or a parent at school who always manages to get you to volunteer for events you don’t want to participate in. These types of people can be very draining on us emotionally, demanding too much of our time and energy. For you to be the best woman you can be, you need to put boundaries around those relationships.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“You make time for what is important to you.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“When your husband is deployed you are the cook, the cleaner, boo-boo kisser, nightmare chaser—there’s not a single stinkin’ break when your husband is deployed. Ever. I think it was during the deployments when I realized none of it mattered because when you don’t know if your husband is coming home and when you see your friends lose their husbands, you realize it doesn’t matter if the floors are clean. Who cares that my baseboards are spiderwebby?”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“No one is actually keeping score on what you are doing and not doing. Life isn’t like SportsCenter where a person’s activities are listed with scores assigned to them.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I don’t think that life—especially motherhood—should be about martyring yourself out. No one is keeping score but you,” said Laura. “Who is keeping score? Who knows if you order pizza one night or feel like, ‘I am having a bad day, I need to go get my nails done.’ Maybe your husband knows because you have to leave him to go do that, but that’s it.”4”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“I also have my hands in everything and often believe that I have to be the one to do something for it to be done right. This is unreasonable. No one else forces these expectations on me. I do it entirely to myself.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“My friend Karen says that life is like a sound board. When music is mixed, the sound technician needs to adjust the levels to make the music sound its best. If one person or instrument needs to be really loud, everything else can’t be loud too because the board can’t handle it and, more importantly, the music won’t sound its best. The same is true in life. If one thing is dominating during a particular season, that’s okay, as long as adjustments are made to other areas. Without those adjustments to “reduce the volume,” distortion and chaos will result. But if you make those adjustments, your life song will bring the most beauty and pleasure possible in your life.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Many times we let the fact that other people are involved cloud our judgment, instead of focusing on what we need personally. At work, we say yes to projects when our plates are already too full. At home, we say yes to our kids when it is not necessary. We say yes to school parties and PTA commitments. We say yes to volunteering at church. And each time we say yes because we want to please someone else, we are negatively impacting ourselves. I”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Beth Moore says, “Untreated guilt is the most fertile soil on earth for growing affliction.”3”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“Activities and passions pursued during the fringe hours make a life more beautiful and the participant feel more alive and more uniquely herself.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You

“When we live using our God-given talents and passions, I believe we are pleasing him and more fully living the life we were born to live.”
― Jessica N. Turner, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You