Mary Cummings

“We probably can do more to affect the quality of our lives by controlling our expectations than we can by doing virtually anything else. The blessing of modest expectations is that they leave room for many experiences to be a pleasant surprise, a hedonic plus. The challenge is to find a way to keep expectations modest, even as actual experiences keep getting better.”
― Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

“We want deliverance without the desert. But God deliberately designs deserts to draw us to himself. [...] It can feel like the desert itself is the source of the pain, but, in reality, the desert often serves to reveal a heart issue: what we think we can't be happy without. In other words, sometimes the desert reveals the comforts, idols, and treasures we lean on for sustenance. [...] The hope we have in the desert is the assurance that God will never leave us, never forsake us, and never send us to a place he isn't going with us.”
― Ruth Chou Simons, Now and Not Yet: Pressing in When You’re Waiting, Wanting, and Restless for More – The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift for Christian Moms

“Most of us will not have to die for our faith, though it might come to that, even for those living in the West. But we will all face moments when we will have to choose between Christ and something else that vies for our ultimate allegiance.”
― Gerald Sittser

“When your love for a person is so profound that it’s part of who you are, then the absence of the person becomes part of your DNA, your bones, and your skin.”
― Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful