life. She was only a girl and exhausted from her journey, but she would do as she must in order to survive.

Loss does different things to different people. Some fall apart. Some, like the Finder, rebuild. I have done both. I have crawled under my table and refused to come out. I have covered myself with thorns and tattoos. I have planted a garden, reached out to my neighbors, begun to write down my story.

Pain was something to get used to, to inure yourself against. I would rather hurt myself than be hurt by someone else, and so I took up this practice with a sense of purpose and without remorse.

Some people grow weak when they are victimized, others grow stronger, and still others combine those two attributes to become dangerous, even if the person in question is a girl who has recently turned twelve.

My heart hurt so much I can't believe it. How can it keep beating, feeling like this?

This is the true wine of astonishment: We are not over when we think we are.

RESISTANCE IS THE SECRET OF JOY! it says in huge block letters.

But she keep on. You got to fight. You got to fight. But I don't know how to fight. All I know how to do is stay alive.

What I love best bout her is what she been through, I say. When you look in her eyes you know she been where she been, seen what she seen, did what she did. And now she know.

My dad always said, 'Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.'

Certainly, none of us enjoy going through struggles, but you have to understand that your struggle may be an opportunity for advancement and promotion. The very thing you are fighting against so tenaciously may be the springboard that catapults you to a new level of excellence. Your challenges may become your greatest assets.

God never promised that we wouldn't have challenges. In fact, He said just the opposite. His word says, 'Be truly glad!...these trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure…' so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of His return.