God bless the step each foot will take.
Of each dear child a staunch soul make.
Help them to grow to do Thy will
And with Thy love my children fill.

(~Thyra Ferre Bjorn, Papa's Wife)

"Why, Pontus. It doesn't seem like work at all to me. It is such fun to watch the children growing up like little plants needing love and sunshine."

And they were growing up. The days and weeks and years seemed to float by, so filled with love and happiness that Mama couldn't believe there was another woman int he world as happy.
(~Thyra Ferre Bjorn, Papa's Wife)

A blank canvas, she kept arguing, was a treasure waiting to happen.
(~Jeannette Walls, Half-broke Horses)

"I've been praying daily to go back to the ranch, " she said, "Either God doesn't exist or He doesn't hear me."

"Of course He exists and of course He hears you," I said. "He has the right to say no, you know."
(~Jeannette Walls, Half-broke Horses, p. 223)

That bit about cleanliness being next to godliness was a lot of balderdash as far as I was concerned. In fact, I considered it downright insulting. Anyone who worked the land go dirty, and in Chicago I'd seen my share of less than godly people living in squeaky-clean mansions.
(~Jeannette Walls, Half-broke Horses, p. 143)

When you are ready to bake, prick the crust in several spot with a fork, line the pie plate or tart shell with foil or parchment paper, and fill it with rice or dried beans. Bake as directed then carefully remove the foil and the beans--the shell will have retained its form because of them. I like seeing how a substance that weighs heavily can, in the end, be lifted; I like the feel of the beans, like trouble that slips through your fingers. Most of all, I like the proof in the pastry: it is the things we have to bear that shape us. 
(~Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care, p. 123)

"You don't have to say, 'I love you' to say 'I love you'... All you have to do is say my name and I know... Can you hear it? When you love someone, you say their name different. Like it's safe inside your mouth."
(~Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care, p. 172)

Not long ago, sailors believe that the seas were precipitous, that compasses could point out spots where, beyond, there'd be dragons. I wondered about the explorers who'd sailed their ships to the end of the world. How terrified they must have been when they ricked falling over the edge; how amazed to discover instead, places they had seen only in their dreams.
(~Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care)

"This is absurd. It's just a dog."

"Just a dog? JUST? Pathos, don't listen. Pathos dreams of being a bear and you want to shatter those dreams by saying he's JUST a dog? What a horrible candle-snuffing word. That's like saying, 'He can't climb that mountain, he's just a man.' or ' That's not a diamond, it's just a rock.' Just!"

(~From the movie, Finding Neverland)

Do you know that it is in your company that I have had my finest thoughts?
(~Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog)

If the Divine Creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony.
(~Fernand Point)

He says, "You are very brave."

She lowers the bucket. "What is your name?"

He tells her. She says, "When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?"

He says, "Not in years. But today. Today maybe I did."
(~Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See, p. 469)

"Don't you ever get tired of believing, Madame? Don't you ever want proof?"

Madame Manec rests a hand on Marie-Laure's forehead. The thick hand that first reminded her of a gardener's or a geologist's. "You must never stop believing. That's the most important thing."

(~Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See)

There is pride, too... That his daughter is so curious, so resilient. There is the humility of being a father to someone so powerful, as if he were only a narrow conduit for another, greater thing. That's how it feels right now, he thinks, kneeling beside her, rinsing her hair: as though his love for his daughter will outstrip the limits of his body. The walls could fall away, even the whole city, and the brightness of that feeling would not wane.
(~Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See, p. 189)

Didn't she presume she would live with her father in Paris for the rest of her life? That she would always sit with Dr. Geffard in the afternoons? That every year on her birthday, her father would present her with another puzzle and another novel? And she would read all of Jules Verne and all of Dumas and maybe even Balzac and Proust? That her father would always hum as he fashioned little buildings in the evenings, and she would always know how many paces from the front  door to the baker (forty) and how many more to the brasserie (thirty-two), and there would always be sugar to spoon into her coffee when she woke?... Now? What would happen now?
(~Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See, p. 72)

Open your eyes...and see what you can with them before they close forever.
(~Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See, p. 48)

Years rolled on again, and Wendy had a daughter. This ought not to be written in ink but in a golden splash. 
(~J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan)

A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it.
(~J. R. R. Tolkien)

She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and, since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.
(~L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables)

"Oh, Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them," exclaimed Anne. "You mayn't get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them. Mrs. Lynde says, 'Blessed are they who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed.' But I think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed."

(~L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables)

After all, what does it matter? Why shouldn't Vivian's attic be filled with things that are meaningful to her? The stark truth is that she will die sooner than later. And then professionals will descend on the house, neatly and efficiently separating the valuable from the sentimental, lingering only over items of indeterminate origin or worth. So yes--Molly has begun to view her work at Vivian's in a different light. Maybe it doesn't matter how much gets done. Maybe the value is in the process--in touching each item, in naming and identifying, in acknowledging the significance of a cardigan, a pair of children's boots."
(Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train, P. 173)

Mrs. Scatchard knows as little as we do about whether we'll be chosen by people who will treat us with kindness. We are headed toward the unknown, and we have no choice but to sit quietly in our hard seats and let ourselves be taken there.
(~Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train, p. 45)

Recipes are just descriptions of one person's take on one moment in time. They're not rules.
(Mario Batali)

The weariest nights, the longest days, sooner or later must perforce come to an end.
(~Baroness Emmuska Orczy)

Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live.
(Gustave Flaubert)

A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.
(~Italo Calvino)

There's so much to be grateful for, words are poor things.
(~Marilynne Robinson)

I like good strong words that mean something...
(~Louis May Alcott)

Thought [Abraham Lincoln] never would travel to Europe, he went with Shakespeare's kings to merry England; he went with Lord Byron poetry to Spain and Portugal. Literature allowed him to transcend his surroundings.
(~Dors Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals)

I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen.
(~A. A. Milne)

Heroes are people who over come evil by doing good at great personal risk. Through self-sacrifice, fortitude and action, whether they succeed or fail, heroes provide a moral and ethical framework--and inspiration--for the rest of us.

Unfortunately, our modern definition of hero has been stretched to include all manner of people. The athlete who just set a new sports record isn't a hero. Nor is the "daring" movie star or event eh adventurer out to be the first solo climber to scale Mt. Everest. They may be brave--but they don't meet the definition of a hero, for whatever they achieve benefits only themselves.

Real heroes are selfless.

(~Oliver North, in the forward to Out of the Depths, by E. Harrell)

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
(~Virginia Woolf)

I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking.
(~George MacDonald)

The hardest choices in life aren't between what's right and what's wrong but between what's right and what's best.
(Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet)

"Sorry," Nick said, and he really was. He'd been terribly stupid, but he was learning he guessed. Sometimes you really did have to run away in order to fight another day.

"Useless word, sorry," Gunner added, "Ain't it, Nick?"

"It is," the boy agreed, "But still I am."

(Ted Bell, Nick of Time, p. 101)

"Look, Nicky!" Kate shouted excitedly, pointing out the open window. "Horatio's jumped all the way to the top of that tree and is having robin for breakfast!"

Nick looked out the window. There was only a big white cat among the crabapple blossoms where the fat little robin had been singing.

"Who dares, wins, Kate." Nick said.
(Ted Bell, Nick of Time, p. 81)

"Tell your  mother, Nicholas. Why you're always so afraid of being frightened? It is the most natural feeling a boy can have."

Nick cast his eyes at the rain-streaked kitchen window, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"Because I think a boy is not supposed to be afraid! The boys I read about in books are never afraid of anything! But I was afraid out there today, twice! Twice in one day!"

"You're not a boy in a book, son, you're just a normal boy... I think you're a very brave boy, Nicholas McIver," Emily said, giving him a brief peck on the top of his head, "But brave boys don't get to be brave men unless they're a bit clever, too. Be clever enough to be afraid when you need to be, won't you, Nick?"
(~Ted Bell, Nick of Time, p. 15)

A little cold spot in the pit of his stomach was growing. He hated that cold feeling. He'd not even spoken its name. But it was fear.
(~Ted Bell, Nick of Time, p. 2)

"In our world, too," Queen Lucy said, "a Stable once held something inside it that was bigger than our whole world."
(~C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)

"Don't you think it's rather nice that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing a book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right--in the way that's best for us."

"Do you really believe that mother?" Peter asked quietly.

"Yes," she said, "I do believe it--almost always--except when I am so sad that I can't believe anything. But even when I don't believe it, I know it's true..."
(~Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children)

For a long time there was only your footprints and laughter in our dreams, and even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever.
(~Brian Andreas, "Story People") ‪

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
(~J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."
(~ Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass)

...God doesn't just touch down in our lives for short periods of time and then take off when He's ready for a new adventure. He sets up camp. Puts up fences. Establishes boundary lines in pleasant places. And then He surrounds us with people who do their very best to make sure we don't wander too far from the fold. 
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 86)

Alex decided he was hungry, so I fed him and thought it would be nice for the two of us to visit for a little while. It was the first time we'd been by ourselves when he was awake, and as I sat in the squishy vinyl hospital chair and stared at what was surely the most precious face I had ever seen, I told that little man how much I loved him, how thankful I was for the privilege of being his mama. And I thought about my very favorite passage of Scripture--one I'd committed to memory when I was seventeen years old and had no idea how faithful the Lord would be through the struggles and wonders and heartaches and joys that lay ahead: "Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21).

And then I cried. Because having a child--being a family--was an "immeasurably more" moment for me. I was overcome with gratitude that God had given us the gift of this sweet baby--a gift that, for most of my life, I had no idea I wanted...

That's the thing about the "immeasurably more." God prepares you for it even when it's nowhere on your to-do list.

And now that I have the benefit of looking at my childhood through a lens with some wisdom attached, it occurs to me that during all those Sunday dinners when I was growing up, I learns something way more important than how to make a pitcher of sweet tea or where to put the salad fork or when to pick up dinner plates before Mama served dessert. I learned something more important than how to be a lady even.

I learned to listen and to laugh. I learned to forgive. I learned that some earthly love really is unconditional. I learned that God is always at work in the day to day. I learned that even when you're sad or embarrassed or just plain mad, you're always welcome at the table.

And more than anything else, I learned how to take care of people. I learned how to let them take care of me. I learned how to be a family.

I didn't have the slightest clue that anyone was teaching me, of course.

But I'm forever grateful for the lesson.
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, pp. 49, 50, 52)

...the nurse finally placed him in my arms. I was mesmerized. It had nothing to do with the fact that I had been carrying him for nine months, but it had everything to do with the realization that he was a wonder, a gift, and--as trite as it may sound--a miracle. I loved him instantly, and I was deeply, profoundly humbled by the realization that as much as I loved Alex in that moment, it was just an infinitesimal fraction of how much God loves us. It was an instantaneous, profound, life-altering shift in perspective.

That baby boy changed everything for me. And in all the best ways.
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 48)

Like Scout Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird", I saw the effortless grace and elegance of the women around me and realized that "there was some skill involved in being a girl," and I knew I didn't just want to grow up and be a woman.

I wanted to grow up and be a lady.
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 38)

Now I've never known my mama to harbor unforgiveness toward anyone, but the accidental destruction of all that gorgeous Rosenthal china was a sanctifying experience for her. Mama has always found comfort in Scripture, and I daresay that if she hadn't trusted so deeply in the book of James's admonition to "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds," those broken cups and saucers might have caused a permanent rift in her marriage, as well as a touch of the post-traumatic stress disorder.

And to be perfectly honest, I think Mama may have struggled for a day or two with the end of that verse, which assures us that our trials ultimately mold us into people who are "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Because GUESS WHAT, JAMES? SHE WAS STILL LACKING THOSE ROSENTHAL CUPS AND SAUCERS.

Clearly James wasn't privy to the details of Mama's harrowing china ordeal when he wrote his epistle.

Naturally, Mama recovered. Laughed about it, even. She contented herself with her remaining Rosenthal Hillside salad and dinner plates, and I'll have you know that she still uses them, almost fifty years later. 

The Lord always leaves a remnant, you know. I'm pretty sure James would agree.
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 21.)

Martha would tell you even now that she would have never wanted her dear friend to suffer, that it makes her smile to think of Rubena in heaven. She would tell you how grateful she is for the blessing of having a lifelong friend who, for the better part of seventy years had been a supportive, encouraging example of Christlike love.

But she would also tell you that she misses her friend every single day, that she feels lonely sometimes when she goes to the Belks and doesn't have to fun over to the dresses section to check a size for Rubena. And she would tell you that she'd give anything if they could leave the mall together and eat dinner at the Western Sizzling' one more time. 
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 17)

So for me, Mamaw's death was my first glimpse into what family looks like in the midst of sadness and grief and heartache. I couldn't have put words to it at the time, I don't think, but somehow I could sense that there was beauty in all that brokenness, that there were little patches of light that permeated the darkness. Yes, there was sorrow and pain--but there was also love and comfort and laughter and joy. There was a confidence that something bigger was at work, an assurance of "an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV).
(~Sophie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, p. 8)

They couldn't have known how deeply I was soaking in the words and the expressions and the testimonies and the laughter that surrounded me when I would perch on the edge of a breakfast room chair and listen to the grown-ups hold court. But I was taking it all in--and I've never forgotten.
(~Sopie Hudson, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, introduction)