Shannon L. Alder

"Tolerance is nothing more than patience with boundaries."

"I am not a human being. I am a human BEING. Just be."

"Sometimes we can spend too much time trying to fix our life that we forget to live."

"You can spend the rest of your life fighting to be respected, accepted and understood by the people you have created a life with or you can start living a life where that isn't a daily goal and ambition in your relationship."

"It is not the self respect and pride that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind to your children that matters. A strongly marked personality can influence descendants for generations. Those blessed with a patriotic genetic legacy should run to the top of the mountain and roar with all fervency, “If they can over come, so will I!” When you know the ghosts that stand in support of you, you can begin to see life as they did—a life of joy, possibilities and freedom."

"A true love story has always been about the journey, not the ending."

"Fear and focus are the only two things standing between you and staying positive."

"Writing is the only way to run away from home, without ever leaving."

"The best part about being a writer is getting the last word."

"Reasoning with senselessness will never build faith. Faith is strengthened when you stop collecting fragmented signs and questionable hunches, in order to build an acceptable reason for your wrong decisions and less than desirable circumstances."

"The purest love always reveals itself during acceptance."

"See it for what it is and own it, rather than rethink it so you don't have to deal with the trauma of the abuse. This is the only way to move on--through acceptance."

"Lack of communication has a way of clipping our wings, which keeps us from flying. When things are left unspoken, we forget that everyone is destined to share the sky together."

"Communication is the one class no one graduates from. Even the wisest man's words will be misinterpreted by a fool."

"When you are standing in the middle of a storm you have two choices: Pray to God that it goes away. Or, start praying to God that he gives you the wisdom to figure out why you're standing in the middle of a storm."

"When you are offered a miracle take it. Otherwise, show God your tail so he can move on and give it to someone who doesn't want to be in hell any more."

"The most spiritual people I’ve ever met were not “givers” they were communicators. You don’t give people crumbs. You give them the whole piece of bread when that is what they are asking for, in order to be healed. Christ was never about hiding behind a Facebook page, an email, a prayer circle, a bible, or a church. He was about talking, listening and healing-- face to face. He walked among sinners and ate with them. He devoted his time to people that were brokenhearted, difficult to like and fake as the religious beliefs they clung to. So, why is it that so many people profess to believe in Christ, yet they have forgotten what real love is----communicating?"

"Sometimes all you need is one person with a guilty conscience to come forward and do the right thing. Often, the miracle you need resides inside of yourself, when you humbly ask for forgiveness."

"Respect should be found in your own heart and never demanded, sacraficed, begged for or negotiated. If you have to explain why you deserve it then you never had it."

"Churches were never meant to be mental hospitals. They were supposed to be military outposts under orders to storm the gates of hell. Every believer is on active duty and called to serve a higher purpose with the rank of their blessings and talents."