Still quoting...

this time from "Blue Heart Blessed" by Susan Meissner -

"When we are hurt, it's instinct to cover the wound and hold back anyone from brushing up against it. And I don't need to tell you wounds don't heal if they never see light, if they're never exposed to fresh air. If you want your wound to heal, and it sounds to me like you do, you need to stand up straight, pull your arms away, and let the light and breath of God work its cure on you."

"He surely wants to spend his life with someone who finds him irresistible."

"[Love] is keeping the one I care for from harm, looking to this beloved's wounds, toppling evil in its tracks, bending down in trust."

And quoting from "Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey through Tattoos, Tofu, and Pronouns" by Nancy Ortberg -

"God lives in the struggle. It is there we find Him."

"God is just as present in the days that all run together, days when nothing really stands out, as He is in the extraordinary days."

And random quotes -

"When people cease to be surrounded by beauty, they cease to hope."
N. T. Wright

"to love another person is to see the face of God" from the musical "Les Miserables"

Reading N. T. Wright....

"When the church is seen to move straight from worship of the God we see in Jesus to making a difference and effecting much-needed change in the real world; when it becomes clear that the people who feast at Jesus's table are the ones in the forefront of the work to eliminate hunger and famine; when people realize that those who pray for the Spirit to work in and through them are the people who seem to have extra resources of love and patience in caring for those whose lives are damaged, bruised, and shamed, then it is not only natural to speak of Jesus himself and to encourage others to worship him for themselves and find out what belonging to his family is all about but it is also natural for people, however irreligious they may think of themselves as being, to recognize that something is going on that they want to be part of. In terms that the author of Acts might have used, when the church is living out the kingdom of God, the word of God will spread powerfully and do its own work."
From "Surprised by Hope" by N. T. Wright