“and all the beauty and the blasphemy. Petals, petals, scattering from the stands where only vestals were allowed to sit, having tended the flame for all of us. Here, I knew, was the empire of my soul showing on my face as I turned to you.”

“And one day I got it. I lifted my head from the child's chest I was listening to and realized, with a shock of relief: whatever is coming, comes. That's what holds it all together. We are all of us here in the mess. There's no way around it. And all that I am in the face of it is a single voice and a pair of hands...Anonymous but necessary. Vital.”

“No one knew where I was, not a soul, and while I thought this was what I wanted, I realized, in the quiet of that room, that it was the scariest thing of all”

“All the pictures that hung in my memory before I knew you have faded and given place to our radient moments together. Now I cannot live apart from you... Your words are my food, your breath is my wine. You are everything to me.”

“This could be a big mistake... but it was already happening. I was not a girl with all the information, but I knew one thing. If this was my forever, I didn't want to spend it here.”

“God of the impossible, maker of all miracles, I stand in awe of You, I'm so amazed by how You reach into my brokenness, make me beautiful again, I believe yes, I believe nothing is impossible with You.”

“I eased back on my elbows, tilting my head back to look up at the sky, which was pinkish, streaked with red. This was the time we knew best, that stretch of day going from dusk to dark. It seemed like we were always waiting for nighttime here. I could feel the trampoline easing up and down, moved by our own breathing, bringing us in small increments up and back from the sky as the colors faded, slowly, and the stars began to show themselves.”