I always wanted to collect things when I was younger, but stamps and the like were never too appealing to me. So, I collected quotes. I have a really good memory so I usually have a good pop culture reference or quote from a book or movie. ( I actually had a bunch of literary quotes peppered in a dinner conversation last week but no one in my family got it. It was so disappointing.)
Throughout my journal I have tons of quotes from everything imaginable. I have a pinterest board of good quotes. I probably change what my favorite quote is once a week, but this one has always stuck with me and rings true in all aspects of my life.
"It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen." - Archbishop Oscar Romero
It's a pretty wordy quote but it's such an incredible reminder. My favorite part is this:
"We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest."
So many times I try to do everything, and everything perfectly, but I fall short. I burn out. I don't have the ability or strength or handle all of these burdens, but that's where grace comes in. It's still something I'm learning and experiencing every day, but it is so liberating.
"From the end of the earth will I cry to you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." - Psalm 61:2
With Love,
Kaitlyn
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