“I also came to understand that our authenticity (or lack thereof) is made evident by the fruit that our life is bearing.”

“God is able to take the mess of our past and turn it into a message. He takes the trials and tests and turns them into a testimony.”

“The long series of disappointments you accumulate in a lifetime can stop you from moving forward into all the goodness God has planned for you – and that means they’ll be stopping not only you, but also all those God has destined you to reach along your life journey.”

“Why didn't you come sooner?I offered them no excuses that day, but I did know that there were reasons. Reasons that, when we hear God's call, when we feel that gentle (or not so gentle) urging of God's Spirit for us to make a bold step, take a risk, serve others, save a life, commit - we so often hold back.It's because we don't feel empowered.We don't feel qualified.We think we lack the courage, the strength, the wisdom, the money, the experience, the education, the organization, the backing.We feel like Moses...Not me, God. I'm afraid. Weak. Poor. Stupid.Unqualified.Daunted....It has never been my desire to be daunted, to be afraid, to be unable to respond to God's call.”

“I lifted my Bible in one hand and with my other scooped up all the papers on my adoption. Both hands held paper that contained words printed in black and white ink. Both contained facts. Yet only one held the truth. I had to choose which of these documents I would entrust with my life.”

“It was my moment of wondering what, in my life, had been my golden pin like Schindler's, the thing so precious to me that it never occurred to me to use it to ransom the life of someone else.”

“The truth you store up in silence comes back to you in the storm, and it lifts you away as on a life raft from the fears and disappointments that would otherwise pull you under. When you abide in his word, he abides in you.”