Quotes from Elizabeth Musser

Seeking to be free of something and freed to something.

It's a dangerous thing to want everyone's approval, Gabriella. You must be willing to stand firm and take the risk of being misunderstood. We must find our approval at the feet of our Master.

Aching for one thing and enjoying something else aren't mutually exclusive.

Pain and blessings, deep wounds and healed scars, and, thank heaven, a God who could make sense of it all.

Thinking too much just brings it back to me, me, me—but thanking takes my eyes off myself and my mistakes and puts them on others, on things bigger than myself. I can't stand here very long without being humbled at how small I am and amazed at how big and beautiful our world is.

No wound. No scar? Yet as the Master shall the servant be, And pierced are the feet that follow Me, But thine are whole, Can he have followed far who has no wound, No scar?

Always a choice, even in not choosing.

The absolute gut-level truth was that he had no desire for God to interrupt him in this way.

Life takes many twists and turns. It bruises and burns and rips apart. But it also loves and heals and forgives.

Some people ask me what it's like to be forgiven, to feel grace. It's like walking on a long stretch of beach with nothing in sight but sky and waves and sand. With the sun piercing its brightness, the water tickling my toes, the roaring of the sea singing omniscience and power and yet, a deep peace, the waters changing from sandy brown to light green to a heavy blue, the waves cresting with the white peaks and then rushing to find my toes.

When you love, it will hurt. You have to choose to forgive, again and again. But it's worth it. That's the crux of human relationships, Dobbs. The sweetest thing. Loving deeply. And forgiving.

It's okay to ask questions, sweetheart. You're going through some rough waters. God is bigger than your questions. Don't you worry about that.