Heather Holleman > Quotes

“I had always wanted a God who guards my life and every external thing that concerns me. We all do. But I paused and reflected on the psalmists who wrote in the midst of danger and loss. I paused as I considered Paul writing from a Roman prison. I paused when I remembered Corrie ten Boom and Horatio Spafford. I paused, thinking of Jesus who could say, “Not as I will, but as you will” when faced with unimaginable, incomprehensible, agonizing execution on a cross (Matthew 26:39). It wasn’t always well with their lives, but it was always well with their souls. Knowing God guards our soul—and doesn’t necessarily promise physical well-being—provides a powerful opportunity: the opportunity to live not in bitterness, anger, cynicism, and disillusionment—but to live in the righteousness, hope, peace, power, and selflessness of the gospel.”
― Heather Holleman, Guarded by Christ: Knowing the God Who Rescues and Keeps Us

“imagine what it feels like to enter into a conversation with someone who you feel judges you, who criticizes you, and who is looking for ways to put you down, improve you, or change you.”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“best way to help people is to first accept them just as they are without trying to change them, judge them, or shame them.”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“Be curious Believe the best Express concern Share your life”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“You can’t hate someone whose story you know.” —Margaret Wheatley, EdD, author and community building expert”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“we might think more carefully about how we connect with others in loving, not divisive, ways. To put it simply, if we really care about changing people’s minds, we have a much greater chance of engaging them if we stop mocking them.”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“Is knowing Jesus more pleasurable, more exciting, more satisfying, more meaningful, more purposeful, and more full than anything I have or hope to possess?”
― Heather Holleman, Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison

“The accumulation of wealth is a false self or what I learned later is a 'false resting place' that breeds a soul-corroding idolatry.”
― Heather Holleman, Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison

“When I’m having trouble choosing to believe the best about someone because of their actions or attitudes that I may find morally reprehensible, I try to think of what this person was like as a child. I remember to discover the story behind why this person feels or acts as they do. Then I find myself overcome with compassion rather than condemnation.”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“I was not living as one who had a seat at the table. I lived as one fighting for a seat at the table.”
― Heather Holleman, Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison

“Knowing God guards our soul—and doesn’t necessarily promise physical well-being—provides a powerful opportunity: the opportunity to live not in bitterness, anger, cynicism, and disillusionment—but to live in the righteousness, hope, peace, power, and selflessness of the gospel”
― Heather Holleman, Guarded by Christ: Knowing the God Who Rescues and Keeps Us

“I consulted a trauma expert who travels to communities devastated by natural disasters. When she meets with suffering people, she often asks this question, “Where are you feeling the pain in your body?” She wants to know if they want to talk about their emotions or if they need to talk about what’s happening physically to them. I used this advice when I recently met with a grieving friend. I wasn’t sure what to ask her, so I sat with her, cried, and then asked, “How are you feeling the grieving in your body?” She loved the question. Nobody had ever asked her this, and she wanted to talk about all the trembling and nausea she was feeling.”
― Heather Holleman, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting Again in an Age of Isolation and Incivility

“It wasn’t always well with their lives, but it was always well with their souls. Knowing God guards our soul—and doesn’t necessarily promise physical well-being—provides a powerful opportunity: the opportunity to live not in bitterness, anger, cynicism, and disillusionment—but to live in the righteousness, hope, peace, power, and selflessness of the gospel.”
― Heather Holleman, Guarded by Christ: Knowing the God Who Rescues and Keeps Us