A year ago, I started The Next Right Thing Journal. It has been an AMAZING tool to keep me reflective over the course of weeks and months as opposed to my daily journal (which I love). Every month requires a quote, and so today I share with you the quotes I’ve loved for 2021 (and one for 2022).
February
“It’s like you’re a character in this book that everyone around you is writing and suddenly you have to say ‘I’m sorry, but this role isn’t right for me. And you have to start writing your own life and doing your own thing.” – David Levithan
I’ve loved David Levithan since high school, but this quote in particular just hits. I think we all have to remember that other people can’t dictate our lives and fit us into the boxes they have conceived of us. And it’s a HARD thing to do. But we’re all better off living the versions of ourselves that we want to be versus living a version of ourselves others want us to be.
Related Post: Lingering questions and David Levithan | quote series
March
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God. – John 6:68-69 by Simon Peter
I wish I knew when or how this Scripture landed as something meaningful to me, but it did. This passage reminds me that Jesus too longed for community and desired reassurance. It reassures me that there is a reason I still believe in God, even if I don’t always feel the way I want to about Him.
April
Although I feel undone, I got so much to offer – Edge of the World, Citizen
UGH. I’ve tried to see this band on two occasions, the first was in December and I ended up getting sick, the second for this coming May but I have a situation going on that I’ll discuss more in the future (not to mention my graduation weekend !!!). SO I bought tickets for their September show, and I am STOKED. I will be deeply saddened if I don’t end up going for some reason.
This song means a lot to me. I think I just felt undone by the world, by circumstances I couldn’t control, relationships that weren’t working and I couldn’t fix. This lyric just reminds me that even though I feel broken, there’s so much left of me to give and that’s worthy of giving to someone else.
May
“If God is leading you to where love can be found, trust that He won’t you miss it” – me, thought on a bus ride back home to Hereford
WOW. Your girl was having some wise spiritual thoughts. As a Christian, I have to remind myself, especially not knowing what’s next for graduation, that if something is in God’s plan for me, He will make it happen with or without my help. I don’t need to manipulate circumstances to enter into God’s will. He will align my steps to make sure I walk there.
Related Post: Modern Love, V-Day & waiting for my turn
June
“The great moments of your life won’t necessarily be the things you do, they’ll also be the things that happen to you. All these little parts of the machine constantly working, making sure you end up exactly where you’re supposed to be, exactly when you’re supposed to be there. The right place at the right time.” – HIMYM
I was on a HIMYM kick in 2021, so yeah. For a long time, I LOVED the concept of fate and how things are meant to be, a releasing of this anxiety that I, a tiny human, has to figure it all out. Instead I can embrace that things will happen to me in a perfect timeline. Just another month of trying to let go of control.
July
“We cannot will ourselves to someplace other than where we currently are.” – William Bortz
This month I read this book by Bortz called The Grief We’re Given, and it was SO GOOD. I just needed to be reminded that I take myself with me when I go and that I can’t force myself out of a place, specifically emotionally. It’s easy to want to rush the stages of grief, instead of feeling deeply and fully.
August
“In order for beauty to come from ashes, something needs to burn.” – Emily P. Freeman
I loved seeing this quote on Emily’s instagram and more recently, thinking about it in light of Ash Wednesday. This idea that death springs forth new life. It’s a great paradox, but in order to make space for something new to come, we need to clear out what is already here.
Related Post: Books & Songs for Fall 2021
September
“Hey Jesus, will You still be my friend if I can do nothing for you? Hey Jesus, You see all my dysfunction but You never stand in judgment, do You?” – You Know, Bethany Barnard
Another set of song lyrics. This song was stuck in my head fall 2021. I love worship songs, but Bethany’s album is a lament album, which is perfect for what headspace I was in. I love how this song is directed towards Jesus in a pleading, questioning sort of way. Often that’s how I come to God-with more questions than answers. Just asking who is Jesus really.
October
“Even if I have to die miserable, I’m going to keep my vows.” – Andy Squyres’s friend’s dad
“Though your promise counts for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.” – Leonard Cohen
Andy Squyres has likely the best Instagram page out of all of my fellows. If you have to follow anyone, follow him! These two quotes are from one of his IG posts. And it kind of ended up being the theme of my most recent wallpaper. Being in a relationship with God can feel miserable. There, I said it.
But I love the dad’s perspective. Even if it hurts me, I’m going to be faithful. We often think of faithfulness only limited to marriage relationships and family, but faithfulness to God, the one who we cannot see, the one who we cannot touch, that faithfulness has its own level of difficulty. It’s hard to believe God is working when you cry out to Him, but I love the idea of remaining firm, even if you never get the answered prayer you wanted.
November
“Sometimes confession is telling the truth about my actual life and it becomes an entrance to a different kind of healing, the slow work of God.” – Adam Russell
I loved the Ferment podcast, and that’s where this quote comes from. Confession usually has the connotation of telling your sins to a priest, but I love Adam’s spin on it. When we get real at what’s underneath the surface, we are invited to be seen and known and affirmed. And we need that. Because that leads to a healing in our hearts that makes space for change.
December
“The hardest thing to remember is that the darkness shapes the way we step into the light.” – me, Feb 22
Winter is always a hard season for me. It’s hard to dress, it’s hard to even want to get out of bed. This quote was a reminder that I am formed in the darkness even if I don’t know what that looks like. Even if I don’t like it. The darkness does what only light cannot.
Related Post: February 2022: chaotic and sweet
January
“Think about your habits. Be honest to God about them, and if you know they are not in line with a disciplined life, pray for His help and start doing something.” – Elisabeth Elliot
And we end with Ms. Elliot. A quote on habits makes a lot of sense for January. Faith means directly your life towards God and moving! Sometimes people do one or other, not realizing that one can inform the other if you let it.
Okay, gentle readers. That’s enough blabbering from me. Let me know some of your favorite quotes down below!
Signing off,
Gigi
