“One dies if necessary, one breaks rather than bending. But I bend, because I continue to love myself.”

“We bend. I bend to sweep crumbs and I bend to wipe vomit and I bend to pick up little ones and wipe away tears... And at the end of these days I bend next to the bed and I ask only that I could bend more, bend lower. Because I serve a Savior who came to be a servant. He lived bent low. And bent down here is where I see His face. He lived, only to die. Could I? Die to self and just break open for love. This Savior, His one purpose to spend Himself on behalf of messy us. Will I spend myself on behalf of those in front of me? And people say, “Don’t you get tired?” and yes, I do. But I’m face to face with Jesus in the dirt, and the more I bend the harder and better and fuller this life gets. And sure, we are tired, but oh we are happy. Because bent down low is where we find fullness of Joy.”

“It is funnier to bend things than to break them.”

“Bending beats breaking.”

“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

“Reeds are strong, you know, Ulean whispered to me. They bend during storms, rather than break. I blinked. Yes, but reeds won’t hold up a house. They make a good raft, so don’t write them off so fast.”