I believe that we have free will. I believe we get the chance to make choices in our lives. Not everything is set in stone from the moment we're born. We choose our destiny, our ultimate fate. But I also think that we don't realize the choices we've made until after we make them. We're racing down a freeway, only to realize we've missed all the exits, and the only direction we can go is dead ahead.

The scariest thing of all is never knowing what you're suddenly going to believe.

Adulthood can do the most horrific things to the best of people.

Lord, if what I'm doing is wrong, then by all means strike me down. Otherwise set me free.

He's become like that briefcase in the ground-full of gems yet void of light, so nothing sparkles, nothing shines.

All this time, Lev ever realized what he needed. He did not need to be adored or pitied. He needed to be forgiven. Not by God, who is all forgiving. Not by people like Marcus and Pastor Dan, who would always stand by his side. He needed to be forgiven by an unforgiving world.

He also keeps his silence when Bible passages become shredded to justify unwinding, and kids start to see the face of God in the fragments.