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Quotable Quotes  --  gems left in notes, essays and poems

Children are often our best teachers. The children who come to live at the Youth Ranch have experienced  events in life that ought not happen to anyone, especially small children. But insight and wisdom flourish wherever the soil is good, and children surprise us with their depth, courage and capacity to put it all in perspective.

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Your road is there
before you find it . . .
and it will be there
until it is found.
Leroy '95, age15

The fears within
cannot win . . .
unless you let them.
Mike '94, age 14
God sends me a message
with every mistake I make,
but it's up to me to listen.
Lyle '87, age 18
I got tired of no one wanting
me for a friend.
How tired did I get?
Tired enough to change.
Chris '93, age15
There is so much to be done.
How can we do it all?
I believe the world could be
so much more if everyone
took some responsibility.
John David '87, age 17
When you get very quiet,
Jesus hears your heart.
Jonah, age 7

 

It seems that people who suffer from depression have a greater depth of feeling and are more sensitive.  Depression is a way of getting in touch with the soul without being distracted by the outside world.  We turn inside of ourselves to look for the answers that we need.  For me my worst depression helped me to discover myself, my thoughts, and my feelings.  It helped me realize how unhappy I was and that eventually I would have to face all of my experiences.  It is so easy for me to block off what I don't want to think about and I try to put off depression by not dealing with these things.   Some things I am not ready to deal with and don't know if I ever will be; mostly because I'm afraid to.  Sometimes I'm afraid to deal with these things because letting go of that experience is like losing a part of myself that I am so accustomed to.   If I ever finally get down to the bottom I wonder who I will be or become.  I am afraid of changing who I am and also that by opening myself--making myself vulnerable to pain.

Thoughts from Jennifer '92, written recently as a young adult