Sometimes the Lord answered prayers at an alarming rate.

Then he touched his lips to to hers. Just a touch. But it lit a spark. Then a fire, a sweeping, a diving. She clung to his shoulders and parted her lips and was lost. Utterly, beautifully lost.

They wouldn't, if they realized that socialist freedom involved killing anyone who held a different view. That was no freedom. That was the worst form of tyranny -- the kind that lied about what it was.

She had a feeling he was like a matryoshka doll too -- a placid exterior that hid layers of secrets and mysteries. And she couldn't help but wonder what lay beneath this carefully crafted shell.

How fortunate, then, that we serve a God who quickens the dead. Who breathes life into the lifeless. Do you not think that a God who formed man out of dust can form a new creation in you?

Brook trailed a gloved hand along the door, cast one glance over her shoulder, and let herself in. She couldn't stop the grin as she gripped the wheel of the Rolls-Royce. And why should she? Only a fool would leave such a car running right outside her door and not except her to do something about it.

That familiar whisper hovered over his spirit, the same impression pounding, pulsing. Pay attention. Pay attention.

He nearly groaned. He had trouble enough at his doorstep right now, given the diamonds even now being set In gold and the ruthless women out to claim them. The last thing he needed was the distraction of a needy young lady....and a generation old feud coming to call.

I don't know why. Life is far more entertaining with a few deviations from the set course.

It's the people who make a place, Lina. And the people here -- they understand pain and loss. Which makes them appreciate joy all the more.

Wondering is an entirely different pastime for you, I think. You can turn it into something more than worry.

We must be still -- not our hands and feet, but our minds. And know that He is God. That He has not changed. That the same Lord who loved us when all is well loves us still when all is lost. His promises are as true today as they were yesterday. He has been enough to see people through the worst since the dawn of time. We must trust that His love is enough to see us through now.

This war was destroying her entire generation. Those it hadn't wiped out entirely it was trying to take apart piece by piece. And what could she do? Try to stitch the physical gashes back together, but that was only a stopgap.

And the best sort of villain is smart and subtle and so very tricky that you don't even know he's the villain, because he thinks himself the hero in his own story.

The horse was as black as midnight and as skittish as a phantom.

Our sisters are going to give me an apoplexy if they don't cease drawing the attention of every male guest in a five Mile radius.

Evil men flourish. The righteous suffer. The Lord never promises we won't--only that He'll sustain us when the tribulation comes.

Our faith is the rock we stand on, Willa -- but we don't demand anyone else stand here with us. Though if ever you wanted to, there is plenty of room.

Though mankind did have a remarkable ability to be blind to what they didn't want to see.
Luther Bromley.

That God had shown her, these last few months, that He could be trusted. Not just with her well-being, but with her dreams. She could trust that He had given her this love for Drake for His own purpose, but that it didn't negate the other gifts He'd breathed into her. Loving him didn't mean losing herself.

He does not ask everyone to give all they have. But if He does, are we willing? Truly willing? ... Whatever He asks of us, whether it be a fortune or a pittance or our time or our devotion, we can be sure it will be painful. Cutting out what stands between us and God always is. But we can also trust that in the giving, we'll gain something far more precious.