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'Protect the part of you that still believes in faithfulness and your grandmother's recipes and the art of listening and the songs you still hum when you're sleepy. Become disabused of any illusions of your own perfection, it will help you deal more gently with, well, all of us.'

- Sarah Bessey, April 2024

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Pascal said, “In times of difficulty, always keep something beautiful in your heart.”

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"Let the pain be pain not in the hope that it will vanish but in the faith that it will fit in, find its place in the shape of things and be then not any less pain but true to form...Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life without obliterating (getting over) a single instant of it."

-Albert Huffsticker

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"…be grounded in the grand narrative that the core of our identity is one who is loved."⁣ Scott Erickson

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Emily, years ago you taught me how to collect my favorite quotes. I have them all in Google Keep on my phone. I couldn’t choose just one. ☺️

Be careful not to let yourself get stuck in a place where you were only meant to be passing through. - Christine Caine

There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others… certainty. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore, no need for faith." - Brother Lawrence in Conclave movie

The world of reality has its limits. The world of imagination is boundless. - Sara, "White Bird" movie

Those who appear the least lovable usually need the most love. - Philip Yancey

This is God’s universe, and He is doing things His way. You may think you have a better way, but you don’t have a universe. -J. Vernon McGee

Jiminey mother lovin toaster strudel! - Joy in the movie Inside Out 2

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Thank you for this post, it is a gift Emily. Peace to you and your family in this season!

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I love going back to look at my book quotes.

“I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages”.

Charles Spurgeon

“Happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive.”

Soul of an Octopus

“Never be ashamed of a scar. In the end, scars tell the story of our lives, everything that hurt us, and everything that healed us. “

The Little Liar

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You want it to be. You want to believe that living will not break your heart beyond repair. But if you are really honest with yourself, you are not sure you can. And often, we are terrified to be that honest. We try to just move on like everyone else seems to expect us to, but inside, the currents that guide us have changed course. The nautical map of our needs and hopes and fears no longer shows us the route home.

K. J. Ramsey

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Small beginnings with unlikely people, given lots of time and lots of faith and lots of hope and love, can change the world. - Brian McLaren

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These are all wonderful. I have quotes saved in notebooks, the original book, Evernote, Post-it notes, and Google docs! I know you talked about how you save quotes a few years ago, but have you changed your system?

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« Every human being is the image of God, while only covenant members bear God's name » Carmen Imes

« We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. »

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the

Presence of God

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“We’ve gone so far so fast and now we must wait for our souls to catch up.” -African proverb

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Thank you for adding me, Emily. Bless you and your family with love and peace.

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Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

Rainer Maria Rilke

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Merry Christmas, Emily. Thank you for this treasure of good words.

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Oh my, the quotes! Here are JUST a few that have touched me this year...

From Valarie Kaur and the Revolutionary Love Project: "What if this in NOT the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?"

And..."Revolutionary Love is the call of our times. It's to look upon the face of anyone and say: You are a part of me I do not yet know."

One more... "I can't change the whole world, but I can change the world I know, what's within 3 feet or so." Lyrics to "Three Feet or So" by Carrie Newcomer

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