“A flash of something—hope, excitement, disbelief— flickered over the boy’s face, shattering the remaining pieces of her heart. She’d known it would be a hard journey, and staring at Riley’s cast and bruises, she struggled to hold a smile on her face. Being a mother, especially a foster mother, took strength and courage, a backbone of steel and a loving heart.All the qualities her mother had lacked—and all the things Carly was slowly learning she possessed.”

“Cindy moved her arm as she spoke so her mother would not stare at the bruise.”

“All of her aunts said that Bridget looked exactly like her mother as a teenager. Staring at her, Bridget realised she had no memories of her mother being thin.”

“...with every step I thought of my mother's courage as she faced her judges. With every step I thought of her cleaving to the truth even as she fell the short distance of the rope. With every step I thought of her pride, her strength, her love. And with every step I thought, I am my mother's daughter, I am my mother's daughter...”

“A mother's heart is a vast and glorious thing. My mother's heart was expansive, having been enlarged by suffering and years of clinging to Jesus while being misunderstood, dismissed, and judged by those she loved most. Me included. It had cost her to love, had cost her much to mother. It always does. But she would tell you that it's worth it, that there is no other way.”

“I took a step. And then another. And so it went as we followed Father, who had come to take us forever away from Salem. And with every step I thought of my mother's courage as she faced her judges. With every step I thought of her cleaving to the truth even as she fell the short distance of the rope. With every step I thought of her pride, her strength, her love.And with every step I thought, I am my mother's daughter, I am my mother's daughter...”