God has always made the most sense to me through people, His image bearers. I crave dignity and healing and purpose and freedom for me and mine, you and yours, them and theirs.
“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
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“The snow is only meant, created, commanded to fall. The rain is only meant, created, commanded to pour down. You were only meant, created, commanded to be who you are, weird and wonderful, imperfect and messy and lovely. What”
― Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
― Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
“Philip got out of God's way. He remembered that what makes the gospel offensive isn't who it keeps out, but who it lets in. Nothing could prevent the eunuch from being baptized, for the mountains of obstruction had been plowed down, the rocky hills had been made smooth, and God had cleared a path. There was holy water everywhere.”
― Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
― Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
“Part of the magic of the lake is that it isn’t home – it’s away, and away allows us to see the rhythms and dimensions of our lives more clearly. So it doesn’t necessarily work for us to live here at the lake, but I do want the way of living that I’ve tasted here to inform and ground how I live everywhere, all year long. The lake gives me something to aspire to – a reminder, a rhythm, a pattern. Simple, connected to God and His world and people, uncomplicated by lots of stuff.”
― Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
― Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
“But I took a deep breath, and she sat there listening to me across my dirty coffee table, and we talked about community and family and authenticity. It’s easy to talk about it, and really, really hard sometimes to practice it. This is why the door stays closed for so many of us, literally and figuratively. One friend promises she’ll start having people over when they finally have money to remodel. Another says she’d be too nervous that people wouldn’t eat the food she made, so she never makes the invitation. But it isn’t about perfection, and it isn’t about performance. You’ll miss the richest moments in life—the sacred moments when we feel God’s grace and presence through the actual faces and hands of the people we love—if you’re too scared or too ashamed to open the door. I know it’s scary, but throw open the door anyway, even though someone might see you in your terribly ugly half-zip.”
― Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes
― Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes
Nicole’s 2025 Year in Books
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