Joline Atkins

“Rationalization begins with a look in the mirror.”
― Brennan Manning, Dear Abba: Morning and Evening Prayer

“Every message that people receive is filtered through the messenger who delivers it.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

“God, go with us. Help us to be an honor to the church. Give us the grace to follow Christ’s word, to be clear in our task and careful in our speech. Give us open hands and joyful hearts. Let Christ be on our lips. May our lives reflect a love of truth and compassion. Let no one come to us and go away sad. May we offer hope to the poor, and solace to the disheartened. Let us so walk before God’s people, that those who follow us might come into his kingdom. Let us sow living seeds, words that are quick with life, that faith may be the harvest in people’s hearts. In word and in example let your light shine in the dark like the morning star. Do not allow the wealth of the world or its enchantment flatter us into silence as to your truth. Do not permit the powerful, or judges, or our dearest friends to keep us from professing what is right. Amen.”
― Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church

“Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God. Solitude requires discipline, worship requires discipline, caring for others requires discipline. They all ask us to set apart a time and a place where God’s gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith