Sunday morning reads.

"It is manifest that the anxiety that shadowed too many of my days was that I should miss the path of righteousness. Better that anxiety perhaps than a cavalier carelessness, but the years since have proved to me over and over again that the heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted on."

- Elizabeth Elliott, Passion and Purity, pp. 49-50.

Anointing.

Our God is a God of purpose and intent, and he intends to impact the lives of people. He never gives a blessing, extends a gift, offers an opportunity, or creates a solution without a specific purpose. To whom God has handpicked for specific calling, established with his power, and anointed by His Spirit have been given that privilege of being a conduit through which those blessings can flow to others.

Often servant hood and submission mark the truest test of an anointed person.

I envy their peace in the midst of trial and their ability to make keen decisions with deep spiritual insight and wisdom... Many would consider these rare individuals weak and indecisive. To the contrary, it shows strength. Determining the wisest thing to do is to seek God's direction - having the incredible benefit to access the ear of God.

I feel completely ill-equipped to accomplish this. But in accordance to God's word, I fully believe I have been created, established, pre-designed, and equipped by God to fulfill that purpose. I am not capable in my flesh, but by God's glory I have been anointed. As his workmanship, my main purpose is to glorify God.

- Priscilla Shirer, Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed. 

Encouragement from my ethics book.

"Penderson (2000) reminds us that culture is complex, yet this complexity can be viewed as a friend rather than foe because it helps us avoid searching for easy answers to hard questions" (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011).

My friend Kyndall and I used to sit for coffee and discuss where we thought our lives to be going, to confusion of deciding what to do with our lives, along with the excitement of being able to accomplish anything we put our minds to.

During our sophomore year, she discovered a quote from a speaker that she put up on her wall - "Sometimes the answers are in the questions." Some situations are so complex that the solution is to just keep asking more and more questions. And there is some beauty in that.

Letter to a friend.

You mentioned needing encouragement, and this passage encourages me when I'm not feeling particularly hopeful. It's about David, he's battling some army, but then he stops and "encourages himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:1-6) before going forward. It was impressed upon me how we can "encourage ourselves," and that it isn't our external circumstances dictating our inner emotional state and frame of mind, but our heart that must be continually on guard to stay encouraged, hopeful and determined to walk in the Lord's will. Since we are supposed to know what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17) - it makes sense that this is something that the Lord would want for us: clarity of mind, heart, and having the wisdom to discern and know his will for our lives.