If he believed in her, was it time to start believing in herself? Somehow his confidence in her made her want to do more and be better. But how?

I have to stop worrying about what everyone is saying and believing. If we’re living rightly before God and pleasing Him, then that’s all that matters.

Her heart swelled with the ache of wishing for something better, for a world where no one had to be undesirable. Could she, in her small way, be a part of making that happen?

Everything about Peter Kelly was unsettling. He had a way about him of turning her carefully ordered world inside out and upside down.

Somewhere in Scripture, it says, ‘Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ I always figured if God thinks the condition of a person’s heart matters more, then I should too.

But perhaps God could use personal pain as a bridge to reach others who were suffering

Was it time to finally stop living according to the expectations of everyone else and instead find her direction from God alone?

God had indeed taken her on a voyage. Through it all, He’d done a mighty work inside her, changing her, teaching her to truly love, and making her ready for even greater things to come. She couldn’t ask for anything more.

Whatever the future brought, she was learning to trust that God was with her no matter where she was and no matter how difficult her situation.