I surrendered unto Him all there was of me; everything! Then for the first time I realized what it meant to have real power.

I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.

The word grace emphasizes at one and the same time the helpless poverty of man and the limitless kindness of God.

I know I'm far from being what I should; will I ever be?

I know I have my faults and shortcomings, but the blow them all out of proportion!

Sometimes I believe that God wants to try me, both now and later on; I must become good through my own efforts, without examples and without good advice. Then later on I shall be all the stronger. Who besides me will ever read these letters? From whom but myself shall I get comfort? As I need comforting often, I frequently feel weak and dissatisfied with myself; my shortcomings are too great. I know this, and every day I try to improve myself, again and again.

Sometimes I think God is trying to test me, both now and in the future. I'll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it'll make me stronger in the end.

The weak shall fall and the strong shall survive and not be defeated.

Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue

It is unearned love--the love that goes before, that greets us on the way. It's the help you receive when you have no bright ideas left, when you are empty and desperate and have discovered that your best thinking and most charming charm have failed you. Grace is the light or electricity or juice or breeze that takes you from that isolated place and puts you with others who are as startled and embarrassed and eventually grateful as you are to be there.

Sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking.

If I were going to begin practicing the presence of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we are so ruined, and so loved, and in charge of so little.