God was in the business of bringing blessings out of unexpected circumstances, but Lucy didn't want this twist to her life. … but didn't God ask the seemingly impossible at times?

Look at the view from here. If we were down on the shore, we wouldn't be able to see how the two boats maneuver to avoid each other. We can see the lighthouse and the Dungeness Spit. From up here, we can see lots of things we couldn't if we were in the middle of the waves." She got where he was going. "Now that it's all over, we can see how God took care of us through this.

The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Disappointment leads to clarity, which leads to conviction and true originality.

The man of wisdom is never in two minds about right and wrong; the man of benevolence never worries about the future; the man of courage is never afraid.

This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.

Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.

Do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.

It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability, that counts.

There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.

Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. "Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?" I sniffed a few times, considering this. "Why, just before we get on the train." "Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-just in time.

Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.