Melissa Baldwin

“She stopped and turned her face toward the sky. “There’s music everywhere, Mr. Baker. You just have to learn to listen for it.” He followed her gaze. Above them, trees swayed, the wind rustling through the leaves. Branches creaked. Birds called. He thought he heard the chatter of squirrels. And underneath it all, the song of the ocean, waves against the shore, the scent of salt heavy in the air.”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“OCTOBER 20 Morning In the silence of the early morning Your Spirit hovers over the brink of the day and new light pierces the darkness of the night. In the silence of the morning life begins to stir around me and I listen for the day’s first utterances. In earth, sea and sky and in the landscape of my own soul I listen for utterances of Your love, O God. I listen for utterances of Your love. Amen. —J. PHILIP NEWELL (1953”
― Jeanie Gushee, A Morning and Evening Prayerbook

“And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time.”
― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

“Mothers aren’t supposed to have yesterdays. To our children, we’re blank slates, patiently awaiting their appearance so our lives can finally begin. In their minds, we’ve kept no secrets, dreamed no dreams, committed no sins. But few of us come to motherhood unmarked by life. We’ve had pasts and passions—and yes, regrets.”
― Barbara Davis, Every Precious and Fragile Thing