I love collecting quotes. They inspire me. They encourage me. They spur me on! I’ve spent time this past week reading through my 2026 journals and I’ve chosen my top fifteen quotes to share.

#1. “I love people who stop to gasp at rainbows - who eat ice cream just for the sake of enjoyment - who sing off key but still sing as though the angels are cheering. I love people who hurt openly - who laugh easily - who give quietly. I love people who plant gardens - of flowers - of wisdom - of faith - for the next generation. I love people who know exactly who they are even when no one is watching.” Ullie-kaye

#2. “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 am for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.” Tim Keller

#3. “Consider this…..You’ve been in a long, hard fight - a trek toward something you can’t fully see yet. You’ve prayed. Waited. Wondered if you were losing ground instead of gaining it. But what if this whole season - the struggle - the waiting - the unanswered questions - isn’t just shaping you? What if it’s doing something bigger? What if your endurance right now is teaching someone else to hold on? What if your faith - unbroken - is giving courage to someone who didn’t even know they needed it? What if your persistence is unlocking another person’s healing? What if your silence is shouting truth some else desperately needs to hear? Maybe God isn’t just pruning you for your own life. Maybe he’s using this exact season to build strength in others. (author unknown)

#4. In French, you don’t say ‘I miss you.’ You say ‘tu memanques’ - which means ‘You are missing from me.’

#5. My greatest accomplishment isn’t money. It isn’t a career. It isn’t a house and a cottage. It’s the sleepless nights. The tiny hands I held. The tears I wiped. The hugs that healed. One day I won’t be remembered for the things I owned - but - for how deeply I loved my children. That’s my really legacy.”

#6. “The less talent they have - the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools - however - find other fools who applaud them.” (Erasmus - 1509)

#7. “WITHIN ME” ‘In the midst of hate - I found there was within me an invincible love. In the midst of tears - I found there was within me an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos - I found there was within me an invincible calm. That makes me happy and content - for it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me - within me, there is something stronger - something better - pushing right back.’

#8. “On You was I cast from my birth and from my mother’s womb - You have been my God.” (Psalm 22:10)

#9. “The happiest people I know find joy in the little things………..like - warm socks from the dryer………….fresh fruit………a really good sandwich…………a song………..clean bed sheets……….laughing until your belly aches………..finishing a really good book………..dogs who greet you at the door as if you’ve been gone for years……..watching people you love win………..slow mornings…….feeling calm. Maybe the best life is just a collection of small moments we remember to notice.”

#10. “The universe isn’t GOD. It has never formed a single star. It has never heard your prayers. It has never hung on the cross…..and loved you thru hell and back. It has never roared like a lion and bled like a lamb. The universe cannot walk with you through the valley of the shadow or stitch together your pieces. It is deaf to your weeping and blind to your suffering. The universe never loved you into existence or changed a single path in your life. It has never moved mountains or breathed hope into lungs…..that were more holes than holy. The universe cannot fit into the smallest spaces of your heart and call you CHOSEN.” allie kay

#11. “Maturity comes when we stop making excuses and start making changes.”

#12. “One of the best compliments I could ever receive now are the exact same words that I used to dread - ‘she’s not like the rest of us.’ ”

#13. PUTTING THE BASKET BACK IN THE WATER by Ashlei Woods. “One day, your child will go somewhere you cannot follow. The first day of school. A journey far from home. A season when they make choices you cannot make for them. You may smile as they leave and still ache to hold on. Moses’ mother knew something of that ache. She hid her baby as long as she could. When she could hide him no longer, she made a basket and placed him among the reeds by the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen. SHE DID WHAT SHE COULD. Then she faced what she could not control. Her hands could no longer hold him but her love did not end at the riverbank. For parents…..that moment comes again and again. Trusting God with your children does not mean that you stop loving, stop showing up or stop praying. It means - bringing your child to Him - over and over and over. When you cannot see what happens next - you pray. You always pray.

#14. “I’m nicer when I like my outfit.”

#15. “Sometimes faith is building an ark when there is no rain. Sometimes it’s dipping seven times in a muddy river when you have open wounds - or marching in circles and shouting praises when your enemy is ready to do battle. And sometimes faith is tasting the sweetness of God in the saltiness of your tears.” (Stacey Sanchez)