Lisa Anderson Quotes & Sayings

Fear stops a lot of people. Fear of failure, of the unknown, of risk.
And it masks itself as procrastination. — Lisa Anderson

Of all the Wonders in the World, the greatest wonder of all, was sharing it with you. — Lisa Anderson

First, singles can't learn everything from singles. Duh. Nor can young adults learn everything from other young adults. To think that we're an island unto ourselves and can operate healthily under that construct is both arrogant and misguided. For one thing, we just don't know enough. We need older, seasoned believers to get up in our business and tell us what's what. We need to know where you've walked and what you've learned from the journey. — Lisa Anderson

Here are a few of the mantras I commonly received - see if any of them sound familiar: "Make sure you can support yourself; it's a tough world out there!" "You're so smart; you don't want to waste your intelligence [implied: by getting married too soon]." "We're expecting big things from you." "You have your whole life ahead of you - have fun while you can!" "Relax; marriage will happen when it happens." "I wish I'd had all the opportunities you have. — Lisa Anderson

But something bigger was going on. It's something that marks my generation - generation X - and now the generation behind me - generation Y, the millennials. — Lisa Anderson

Want to love singles in your church? Invite us to the grown-up table. Give us the breakable glasses, not plastic, and let us join in the adult conversation. You may actually learn something from us. And we will be more than willing to jump in and contribute. Pastors and church leaders, ferret out your single adults and get to know us. Invite us into the life and leadership of the church. Put us on committees. Challenge us to give financially. Ask us to lead a project. Don't let us occupy the sidelines. Make us assimilate. — Lisa Anderson

Finally, we need the church to help move single adults toward marriage and family. In other words, we need you to get into the business of godly matchmaking. The church has really dropped the ball on this one. But it's not entirely its fault. Singles and the church at large are in a catch-22 here. On one hand, the church doesn't talk to singles much about marriage. In an effort not to make us feel bad (a good thing), the church has chosen to remain silent with singles on relationships and marriage (not a good thing). The problem is, most singles want to be married. But the other problem is, we're embarrassed to admit it. Why? Because when we do, we get shamed and preached at. You can see why this all gets crazy. — Lisa Anderson

What I've learned only recently is that all of this opportunity came at a tremendous cost. You see, Xers and millennials are the product of the largest divorce generation in history (yeah, I'm talking about you, Boomers). It's obvious how clueless I was even with my stable background, and here my peers were growing up in broken homes. Many of them grew up without dads. — Lisa Anderson

When it comes to cross-generational relationships within the church, I often remind both singles and marrieds that marriage begins with two single people. Hey, we're important! And whether singles eventually move toward marriage or stay single for life, we're still family. What's more, we need families. If we don't have our own, we may need to adopt yours. Will you let us? — Lisa Anderson

Don't diss being a wife and mother in favor of chasing after something that seems sexy and significant. Be open to what God has for you, and let him add the excitement. — Lisa Anderson

That's what we called him. Our prince. And we were princesses. God's princesses. His daughters, who deserved nothing less than God's best. And while we were determining God's best, the message was clear: don't settle for anything less. Ladies, we've gone nuts. Of course God wants us to marry a great guy. Of course he wants us to find someone who loves us, treats us right, and maybe even makes our heart beat a little faster. He certainly wants someone whose calling we can join, a man with whom we can serve God with effectiveness and joy. But while I'm all for understanding our worth in God's eyes, remember that we're not perfect prima donnas who deserve the best and nothing less. On the contrary, we're sinners who will someday marry other sinners. God has a plan for our future marriages, and it's not to fulfill all our dreams or give us a storybook ending. His goal is to work out his purposes and glorify himself. — Lisa Anderson

That image of the common drunk is a myth. There is a thing called a maintenance drinker which may very well be a mother of four, a welder or a distinguished business person. These people build up a tolerance and manage to still maintain their daily lifestyles while constantly struggling with this disease, because it is a recognized disease by the American Medical Association. — Lisa Anderson

When God made the first man, Adam, it wasn't long before he said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him" (Gen. 2:18). Notice he didn't say, "I'm gonna wait around and see how Adam does on his own. I'll let him get some experience under his belt first, then see if it's a good idea to throw a woman into the mix. — Lisa Anderson

Growing healthy relationships is learning how to communicate, how to do conflict well, how to apologize and forgive, and how to own up to your mistakes. It's establishing healthy boundaries and knowing when to say no. — Lisa Anderson

But here's the problem: fewer and fewer folks are willing to do this. I'm constantly railing on my Boundless audience to go out and get a mentor. I think I've finally driven it far enough into their skulls. The problem is, they're coming back to me, saying, "Lisa, we're trying, but no one's willing to take us on." Seriously? Empty nesters, where are you? Retirees, surely you have some time. — Lisa Anderson

If we ignore international institutions, it will lead only to lawlessness and anarchy. — Lisa Anderson

Yeah, I'm going to get married someday, but after I've lived a little, had some fun, and generally gotten my life together." What they're saying is that they're waiting to marry until they grow up. The problem is, they are grown, but they seem to be the only ones who don't know it. — Lisa Anderson

The problem with waiting to get your life in order before considering marriage is that you really have no idea when your life will be in order, if ever. — Lisa Anderson

For the most part, the church doesn't know what to do with singles, largely because the visible majority of church members have moved beyond singleness and lost touch with the needs, attitudes, and aspirations of single adults. — Lisa Anderson

Don't let what you never experienced taint your understanding of what could be. — Lisa Anderson

The purpose of dating is to find a suitable marriage partner. Period. — Lisa Anderson