What If It's Wonderful? Quotes

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. Henri J.M. Nouwen”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“I know exactly one thing about the year ahead, and this one’s for both of us: God is who He says He is and He will do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. The great exchange He made on the cross—our sin for His righteousness—is proof He already has.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“We know that God can. We believe that He will. And even if He doesn’t, we still trust His goodness.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“I once heard an idol described as anything in which the outcome has the power to change our view of Christ.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“Sometimes the miracle is movement we absolutely cannot see from where we sit in the middle place. Often, the answer to a prayer looks like an answer we didn’t know to pray for. But every moment—especially on the Tuesdays—offers an opportunity to celebrate that God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do, even before the story is finished. Celebrating the end is our hope and joy for the middle.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“We are privy to several conversations between God and Job. Job is honest about his disappointment and despair surrounding his circumstances. He speaks frankly about his feelings toward God and the people in his life. And God speaks directly in return. The thread throughout their dialogue is God reminding Job of who He is and who Job is in relation to God. Job’s pain persisted and he sat in his pit of suffering and sorrow, holding more questions than answers. But remembering who God was and who He was in Job’s middle place helped him remain confident of the hopeful end when he claimed, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25 ESV). In Job’s confusion and devastation, he stands upon the secure truth that Christ will stand upon the earth, defeating darkness. In the middle of his suffering with no solution, Job celebrates his Savior. Authentic celebration is possible not when we fully comprehend our circumstances but when we rightly know God and recognize His authority.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“Pessimism is a means of control as we attempt to take the element of surprise out of our grief. But anticipation does not guard against grief. When we protect ourselves from disappointment, we will also protect ourselves from being delighted.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“Disappointment and heartache were the only places I expected to meet God.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“the truest story I could tell myself, if I had the courage to tell it, was that God loves me where I am and is for my good, now and in the future, that He is with me and empowers me to do hard things.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. C. S. Lewis”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“had become highly suspicious of joy, afraid to hold God’s good gifts for fear that they would be snatched away.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“Love where you are and grow from there.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“I have also learned that love, not shame, is the best agent of growth.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

“I knew no other story. Maybe that was the problem. My vision was limited to my own story. While pessimism is one of my trusted protectors, it is not trustworthy—for any of us. Pessimism is a means of control as we attempt to take the element of surprise out of our grief. But anticipation does not guard against grief. When we protect ourselves from disappointment, we will also protect ourselves from being delighted.”
― Nicole Zasowski, What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate