To become more like Jesus we must understand that the only growth we can be in charge of is our own.

We cannot let the haters of this world define us. Or frighten us into no longer being ourselves.

Worry is a weighty monster with poisoned tentacles. It clutches at us, grabs at our minds, steals our breath, our will. It lurks. It pounces. It colors how we perceive the world.

When the world careens out of control, we can rest in the fact that God spun this world with a simple word. Matter from emptiness. Beauty from void. Community from chaos.

God's heart…is not that we escape our lot, but that we learn to thrive in the midst of it.

Dare to be brave today, and trust that when you extend your wings, you will fly.

Because the culture we breathe and work in rushes against rest. It equates our worth with production and wealth and fame. The more we work toward those goals, the more society assigns us worth.

Growth comes from God, to those with surrendered, yielded hearts.

We may not understand the pathways God lays out before us. We may not even like walking the journey. But even in failure, we can trust that He’ll do more than we expect.

Jesus often calls us to risk. He asks us to be vulnerable, to be authentic, so others can see Him in and through us.

As I look back over my mountains of growth and compare them to the molehills where I stagnated, community often made the difference.

Make everything an adventure. Otherwise, it will suck.

What is thine is mine and all mine is thine.

I learned ... that one can never go back, that one should not ever try to go back - that the essence of life is going forward. Life is really a one way street, isn't it?

I come from a dancing background, and I know it's stereotypical, but I would dance because I wasn't comfortable speaking to people.

You don't carry in your countenance a letter of recommendation.

True statement: Live it, love it, leave the wold better off than when you got here.

You know, dulceata, there are times when I truly believe you are the most frightening person I know. Thank you?

I always did hate for anyone to know what my plans or hopes or prospects were—for, if I kept people in ignorance in these matters, no one could be disappointed but myself, if they were not realized.

Intimacy is extremely important to me and I want it to be extremely important to the readers.

Delay in justice is injustice.