Dee Brestin > Quotes

“The face of God shining upon you is like the warmth of the sun on a beautiful day at the beach. One accustomed to that warmth is much more careful not to let the cloud of sin block his face.”
― Dee Brestin, Falling In Love With Jesus Abandoning Yourself To The Greatest Romance Of Your Life

“.... romance is so much bigger than just a love story. Romance has to do with making things lovely because of love. Romance means absorbing the beauty of life, conversation, atmosphere, places, and surroundings. It means increasing our awareness of the fragrance of pine trees, freshly ground coffee, and sheets drying on the line; hearing the music of waves, children's laughter, and he rain drumming on the roof: seeing the signature of God on His creation. It means drinking the gift of life to the dregs. All to be enjoyed, all to be taken in." p. 17”
― Dee Brestin, Falling In Love With Jesus Abandoning Yourself To The Greatest Romance Of Your Life

“It’s important to love our friends, to cherish them, and to be committed to them. Girls and women are good at that—and it’s a beautiful side to our friendships. But we need to learn to be dependent, leaning on God, because He’s the only One who will never betray us or die or move away.”
― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us

“We need to be reminded that our value as human beings is something bestowed on us by God regardless of our marital status.”
― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us

“High-tide grief calls for empathy, not solutions.”
― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us

“When we turn to sin, whatever it is—lying, gossiping, sexual immorality—we are doing it because we are trying to solve a problem.”
― Dee Brestin, Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires

“When a friend lets us down, we show that our theology is off base when we’re overcome with shock. The Bible teaches that we’re all going to let each other down. Even the most beautiful rose has thorns.”
― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us

“How did we come to think that if we just did things “right” we would have a model family? Perhaps this illusion has come, in part, because we have heard erroneous teaching on the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs, like every book in the biblical canon, is divinely inspired, but we must understand its genre. A proverb is a maxim that we should follow because it leads us in the wisest path. But it is a probability, not a promise. For example, we are told:   A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4) This is a maxim, which means it is generally true that the lazy person will be poor and the diligent person will have plenty. But a lazy person can win the lottery and a diligent person can have a tornado destroy his crops. That does not disprove the proverb, because a proverb is simply a probability. As we looked at before when we considered God's use of metaphor, when we do not interpret Scripture according to its genre, we misinterpret Scripture. Yet many teachers quote proverbs as if they are in the genre of promises, and so we are disappointed in God when we experience an exception to what our Christian community may have promoted as a “promise.” One of the most misunderstood verses in our Christian communities is Proverbs 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. This is generally true, but it is not a promise. In other words, a child who departs from the truth may still have been trained in the way he should go. Likewise, it is possible that if you are an excellent wife, your children and husband will rise up and call you blessed (Proverbs 31:28). But they might not. It's not up to us to decide what happens; it's up to us to be faithful.”
― Dee Brestin, Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires

“Marriage is a wonderful gift, but it can't be the best of the best. That honor belongs only to Christ.”
― Dee Brestin, Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires

“Let our life stories become tragic art.”
― Dee Brestin, The Friendships of Women: The Beauty and Power of God's Plan for Us