Little House on the Ridge
a place for quotes about life, faith and learning
Your Father's Tender Hand
A child had a little garden in which she planted many flowers, but they never grew. She put them in, as she thought tenderly and carefully, but they would not live. She sowed seeds and they sprang up; but very soon they withered away. So she ran to her father's gardener, and when he came to look at it, he said, "I will make it a nice garden for you, that you may grow whatever you want." He fetched a pick, and when the little child saw the terrible pick, she was afraid for her little garden. The gardener struck his tool into the ground and began to make the earth heave and shake for his pickaxe had caught the edge of a huge stone which underplayed almost all the little plot of ground. All the little flowers were turned out of their places and the garden spoiled for a season so that the little maid wept much. He told her he would make it a fair garden yet, and so he did, for having removed that stone which had prevented all the plants from striking root he soon filled the ground with flowers which lived and flourished.
Just so, the Lord has come, and has turned up all the soil of your present comfort to get rid of some big stone that was at the bottom of all your spiritual prosperity, and would not let your soul flourish. Do not weep with the child, but be comforted by the blessed results and thank your Father's tender hand!
The Small & Simple
Freedom
Watch Your Step
Loved
Listening for Stories
Remembering Them
Carrying
Your task is to be faithful; to do the next thing. And when you cannot get up on your own, let someone carry you, knowing that in due time you will be called on to do the same for others. And when you are blessed with the responsibility of carrying someone else, then your own experience with suffering, your own experience of depending on others, will give you the wisdom and empathy you need to love them well. Christ's body here on Earth is one of His greatest mercies to us. - Alan Noble
Lie Still
Thoughts & Feelings
Interwoven
Rest
Smile of Heaven
Children
Just like us, children have bad days. Days when they're tired, not feeling well, lose their temper, or are emotional for no reason. This doesn't make them bad, it makes them human. - Sarah Boyd
Let's
Let's take them out to the rivers and forests, the mountains and the oceans. Let's let them daydream for hours at a time. Let's let them experience boredom and, in so doing, give them a fertile seedbed for imagination, play, and wonder. Let's let them swim in the creeks, run in the fields, get dirty, stay up late to see the stars, and catch bullfrogs with their bare hands. - Ainsley Arment