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Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Adeline isn’t the past. She was the start. There’s a difference.”
“The mistakes I’ve made stretch two thousand miles into a past I can’t take back.”
“The past I can’t forget, you don’t remember. All you ask is that I surrender. Hands up, weapons down, I let you in and breathe again. You make me better than the man I’ve been. I meant to be more than what I am, but what I am, I surrender.”
“Harper’s in his blind spot, not his bed.”
“We’ve sinned, yes, but I believe in the God of David and Bathsheba, the God who forgives and uses us anyway. In Christ, we’re not defined by our sin. We’re defined by grace, and we can’t waste years on regret or in fear of what people might
“Sin is ugly, Adeline, but the truth coming out is not the worst thing that could happen to me. The truth is that God is better than all our sin. Even if it doesn’t make us look good, owning up to our mistakes showcases how great the grace of God is. We can’t be afraid of facing that, and honestly, owning up to the past is a big part of the reason I’m in Lakeshore.”
“Maybe the reason you’re so afraid of people finding out about our past is because if they knew, they might ask the same questions about you that they ask about me. You’re afraid of the scandal, afraid grace won’t catch your free fall. You’d rather make redemption about works and how people perceive you because you have some control there, but whatever scaffolding you’re rigging to get yourself to God won’t reach. Only the cross of Jesus will do that.”
“God’s grace is better than we can comprehend, and He is in the business of redeeming and bringing good from even the worst situations.” “But even once we’ve repented, there are consequences.” “Sure. Forgiveness doesn’t cancel consequences, but the opposite is also true. Consequences don’t mean we’re not forgiven. When we’re covered in grace, we don’t have to walk around in shame anymore.”
The right heart tends to lead toward the right works.”
“I don’t think our hearts can be right on their own, but we can follow David’s example and ask God to create clean hearts in us. He can do for us what we can’t do for ourselves.”
Gannon really thought God would hold her each night as she fell asleep? And that God would always greet her with a smile? That He’d sing for her, and He’d protect her heart? That He would love her like no one else ever could?
More importantly, was he wrong about God, or had she shut out the greatest lover she could’ve had?
Lord, bring the truth to light and show me what to do with it.
He’d tried to take on the role of hero to earn his redemption instead of accepting it as a gift.
“In that song, you sang about God loving me and looking out for me, and I think I need to learn to rely on Him before exploring other relationships. Being grounded in God first is the only way I’ll make a good life partner for anyone.
“Tell me now you just want to be friends, and I’ll believe you.”
