You’re doing better than you think. You’re in the middle of your motion, so it’s hard to see where you are. But so long as you’ve been taking one heavy step forward after another, no matter how awkward your stumbling, then this is worth celebrating. Every moment you’ve done right is a miracle in itself.
— J.S.
Art by here_as_in_heaven
I am with you.
I am for you.
I am sorry.
I love you.
I want to help.
— J.S.
[Art from Nikolette Montaño]
The fear of moving forward is often obliterated by moving forward. Do it scared.
— J.S.
Art by Pam Carbungco
“My assumption is that the story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all.”
— Frederick Buechner
The heart of God will never change no matter what you do,
and it’s His unchanging heart that changes you.
— J.S.
“The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds him liking more and more people as he goes on — including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.”
— C.S. Lewis
A short video of our wedding at the Rusty Pelican in Tampa, FL. Wedding photos here and engagement photos here. We just had our one year anniversary. I also proposed two years ago on Valentine’s Day. Quite an adventure, it’s been.
— J.S.
The world says, “Clean up your mess” and suffocates us into conformity. Jesus stepped into our mess and gave us breath called grace.
Everyone else is saying, “Catch up” and “Get over it” and “Not enough.“ God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” “I am close to the brokenhearted” and “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
You will squeeze from people what only God can freely offer. You will please people up to a point: but only God is truly pleasable.
Everyone is desperately racing to be accepted by incremental measurements: but at the cross, we are equally zero, and at the cross we are equally welcome.
When everyone else abandons you in your weakest vulnerability – God does not leave. He cannot. He is the endless constancy. He is unconditional. He is the one we’ve all been looking for.
— J.S.
I love you just because I love you. It isn’t for anything else but you. Not for cash or status or my ego or an accessory, not because I’m afraid of loneliness, and it’s beyond the first bursts of chemistry. Love is hard work and it requires all of me, everything, with no guarantees, except the love in itself that’s promised and true. That’s just-because love. I love you for you.
— J.S.
Marriage is hard. Pretty pictures and bite-sized highlights might give you a false impression that it only takes sparks and looks: but the gritty reality is work, tears, and sacrifice. It’s a dance, everyday, to compromise and serve. In the depth of this tough humility, there can be great beauty. Real joy requires a fight from our very best.
— J.S.
This is the first time anyone has ever made art out of my words. A quote from my book. I’m absolutely amazed by the beautiful skill and artistry, and the fact that anyone would make art out of anything I’ve said. Thank you so much, Alyssa!
Alyssa’s Tumblr blog and Instagram! Her art is incredible.
“In your crushed swollen chest where the hurt pulls in: Christ comes to fill the broken places like so much water in cracked earth, new breath stretching your lungs, so we may thrive and bloom and stand on our shaking feet again.
Turn. He is there.”
My book What The Church Won’t Talk About is here.
“Ask yourself, ‘If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?’ When you have found the answer, go and do it.”
— C.S. Lewis
“And the more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.”
— G.K. Chesterton
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'”
— C.S. Lewis
“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.”
— G.K. Chesterton
“All along, I was worse than I thought. But all long, I was more loved than I thought.”
— Timothy Keller
When it all looks out of control: He’s still at the helm.
— J.S.
My wife and I during the wedding ceremony. She was crying; apparently I had a dust cloud over me.
— J.S.
One of our first wedding photos from the photographer. I proposed a year ago on Valentine’s Day, the best decision I ever made.
— J.S.
J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain 