God is with you in the spectacular, and he’s with you in the regular. There is dignity in both places. - Jennifer Dukes Lee

Before the foundations of the world, He loved you.
Before the fall of Eden, He loved you. Before He sent His Son splitting through the cosmos to this world, He loved you. Before He died upon the cross, He loved you. When He rose again, He loved you. And He's coming back again because He loves you. When you took your first breath, He loved you. When you messed up bad, He loved you. When you made good grades, He loved you. When you won and when you lost, He loved you.

Cicero said that gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. If that’s true, then my happiness does not cause me to be grateful for what I have. My gratitude for what I have causes me to be happy. Gratitude births the virtue of happiness.

My prayer regimen is a small act of surrender, a practical way to deliberately pull my gaze from myself to my Savior — a lesson I learned years earlier on long car rides to news assignments but have now begun to put into daily practice. Eyes cannot look in two different directions. I want mine on Jesus — not on yesterday’s failures or successes, not on today’s agenda, and definitely not on the world’s scorecards.