Life sneaks up on us every once in a while and gives us something we didn’t ever know we wanted, and lights within us a love we didn’t even know existed. Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life
Everything is interim. Everything is a path or a preparation for the next thing, and we never know what the next thing is. Life is like that, of course, twisty and surprising. But life with God is like that exponentially. We can dig in, make plans, write in stone, pretend we’re not listening, but the voice of God has a way of being heard. It seeps in like smoke or vapor even when we’ve barred the door against any last-minute changes, and it moves us to different countries and different emotional territories and different ways of living. It keeps us moving and dancing and watching, and never lets us drop down into a life set on cruise control or a life ruled by remote control. Life with God is a dancing dream, full of flashes and last-minute exits and generally all the things we’ve said we’ll never do. And with the surprises comes great hope. Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life
I have also long held the belief that one’s tears are a guide, that when something makes you cry, it means something. If we pay attention to our tears, they’ll show us something about ourselves. Shauna Niequist, Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table, with Recipes
When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow. Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way
Life hands us opportunities at every turn to get over ourselves, to get outside ourselves, to wake up from our own bad dreams and realize that really lovely things are happening all the time. Shauna Niequist,Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way