Quotes from Gary Smalley

Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child's life and it's like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.

God specializes in impossible situations.

Love is a decision. Not always an easy one.

Life is relationships; the rest is just details.

When we honor someone we give that person a highly respected position in our lives. Honor goes hand in glove with love, a verb whose very definition is doing worthwhile things for someone who is valuable to us.

You have to take control of your life, stop being a victim of your past, and start moving on to something new. You have to make a choice. You have to change. Even when the change is scary.

Children raised in a couple-centered home more fully understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. God's love manifested in marriage speaks more to kids than any Sunday school lesson or sermon. This truth is the essence of Ephesians 5:25. Marriage is used as a word picture for God's love for the church. What is your marriage teaching your kids about Jesus?

Do you see the common thread in all this thinking? Two words: misplaced expectations. When you expect people, places, and things to fulfill your wants, you will be disappointed. And anytime you put your expectations for help in the wrong place, the result is fear.

Ask Christ to reveal what your wife needs, where she is hurting, and how she is hurting. Seek His help to identify with her pain and understand your wife better. Ask Him to help you become the man He longs for you to be.

It doesn't matter what others do to me or what circumstances I face every day, I determine all of my feelings, sad or happy, by what I choose to think and how I choose to react to what happens to me. I love that freedom.

when they look to God for their fulfillment, it takes the pressure off of their spouses, children, and friends to fulfill them.

For Better or for Best

I have been learning that everything that happens to me can become a joy to me.

stress is the gap between what we expect from God's creations and what we're actually receiving. Since only God can meet our deepest needs, the more we look to people and things to satisfy us, the more gaps we'll have and the more our frustration will increase.

Ask yourself the "So what?" question. Ask it several times. Where does it lead you?

every aspect of a woman's emotional and physical existence is dependent on the romantic love she receives from her husband, says Dr. James Dobson.

We look to our friends or family members or spouses to fulfill our wants. And there's something functionally dysfunctional about such a dependency.

Anger is to marriage what termites and rot are to trying to rebuild a home.

In a relationship I can influence—but not control—the thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behavior of another.

we can choose how we will participate in relationships, we have no choice about whether we will participate in them.

EVERYTHING IN LIFE THAT TRULY MATTERS CAN BE BOILED DOWN TO RELATIONSHIPS.

How do you show up for your relationships? Are you healthy or crippled? Are you prepared or needy? Are you ready to give or too tired to talk?

Choice equals change. Making a choice is often difficult because it requires change. And that change can be threatening.

COMMUNICATION IS UNDERSTANDING, NOT DETERMINING WHO'S RIGHT.