Pain dutifully reminds me that the world is terribly imperfect, but it faithfully helps me appreciate the world on those days when it’s a little closer to being perfect.

No, I don’t want to live a fairy-tale life fashioned of pixie-dust and enchanted forests. I would much rather forge a life out of the dust and grime of this soiled existence, for to fashion a life out of materials such as these is truly magic.

Pain believes itself to be the force that pushes everyone away. But God says that pain is the invitation that He could never throw away.

It has nothing to do with what the mountain in front of us is. Rather, it has everything to do with what God is going to do to it.

While the wise person does not invite hardship, the first thing that they see when it shows up is opportunity.

When I’m at the bottom looking up, the main question may not be ‘how do I get out of this hole?’ In reality, the main question might be ‘how do I get rid of the shovel that I used to dig it?

The most sacred invitation that a person can extend to us is to invite us into their pain. But that means that we have to choose to knock on a door that we often prefer to pretend is not there.

Tragedy cleans the windows of the soul by washing away the bias of our lives in the detergent of pain.

Consequences need not be the obstacles that I dread, but the direction that I need.