It took me a couple chapters to get into this book but, once I got into it I didn't want to put it down. It isn't a fast read and you have to keep track as the story goes from present to past back and forth a lot. But I liked that the flow was a little different, it kept my attention. A woman finds herself and jail and looks back on her life to figure out how she ended up in this place. She never wanted to be like her beautiful sister and mother or join their social circles. She loved and wanted to be just like her Grandmother Bebe. Her grandmother fought for justice and had meaning to her life. Harriet wanted her life to mean something but she was afraid that she landed herself in jail for all the wrong reasons and would break her grandmothers heart for those very same reasons. "But someday when you're all grown up, God is going to give you a task to do in your own time and place. Then you'll have to put your faith in Him as you follow your conscience." We all have a task that God has given us, each different. What He has called me to isn't necessarily what He has called my children to. We must help each other realize what that task is and encourage one another in it. "When the sun comes up, we need to ask the Lord, 'What would you like me to do for you today?' That's how you'll find contentment." We find contentment in doing the work of The Lord not in our own agendas. "It's a wonderful thing to fall in love. But make sure that both you and the man you marry love the Lord even more than each other." He is what will hold you together because love ebbs and flows. "We can't expect other people to meet all of our needs, all of the time. Only Christ can do that perfectly. That's why I know that if you turn to Him, you'll find contentment." Another reason that God be the center of your marriage because we fail each other, we can't meet all of our spouses needs but God can. "When we don't get our own way, and when our life doesn't turn out the way we think it should, we face a choice. We can let bitterness grow or let the love of God grow." It is so very easy to let bitterness grow, but that only hurts ourselves in the long run. Life rarely turns out the way you thought but God can use is all. He always turns beauty from ashes, always. "Ask God to heal your broken heart. He can put the pieces back together the right way so you'll be able to love your husband the way God does-forgiving him seventy times seven and wanting only the best for him. Ask God to give you Christ's love for him, not your own imperfect love." We can only love like this with God. We can only chose to forgive and love after hurt with God. "There is no shame in changing direction. In fact, once you've see the warning signs, it's always wise to turn around." Nothing wrong in admitting you are wrong or that you took a wrong choice. If you know its the wrong path, turn and take the right one. "God loves her, even if I find it hard to. And I'm responsible before God for how I treat her." Some people are hard to love and may not be kind but we are only responsible for the way we treat them. "Love isn't always a feeling. Sometimes it's a decision." Sometimes it's a very hard decision and that is why we need God. "Harriet has to find her own happiness in life, and living to please another person is never going to accomplish that. Living to please God is what matters. Meanwhile, we have to trust that He'll arrange the events in Harriet's life in order to lead her to the purpose He has for her." When we live to please others we always fall short but when we live to please God we are always enough.
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