Smooth seas don't produce skillful sailors.

No terrain is too bleak, no distance too far that it will stop God from rescuing His own.

Faith don't come in a bushel basket, Missy. It come one step at a time. Decide to trust Him for one little thing today, and before you know it, you find out He's so trustworthy you be putting your whole life in His hands.

Bitterness is like a weed. Remember how hard it always was to pull out thistles once they root? Remember how deep those roots grow, and how if you just snapped off the end of it, the plant would grow right back? You have to dig down deep inside. Let God search your heart. Let Him show you what's there and help you root out all that bitterness. Then you can pray for forgiveness.

Our trials are supposed to turn us toward God, but we whine and complain and wish someone would turn down the fire so we could have our old life back the way it was.

[God] wants us to work with Him, honey. Not for Him.

Joy explodes throughout the book of Psalms like fireworks, and is the most potent anti-missile defense system there is.