Hannah Sorenson’s Reviews > The Hard Good: Showing Up for God to Work in You When You Want to Shut Down > Status Update

^the invaluable lesson of cheering for someone who gets what you want shapes your character in ways always winning never can.^

^Your defeating what ifs will turn into joy over what is as you release expectations of controlling something uncontrollable.^

^Accepting the parts [of your life] you don’t love will help shape you into a person who no longer needs everything to be perfect.^

^I knew fifty-two years of marriage was bonding for my parents, but until I saw my mother whisper and weep over my father’s body with him already gone, I never really knew. That day I saw till death do us part—a love far deeper than it is on a wedding day.^

^All pain’s a prelude: to symphony, to sweetness.
“The pearl began as a pain in the
oyster’s stomach.”
—Eugene H. Peterson^

cont’d

This means that there will be missteps, disappointments, losses, and things that fall through along the way. Not everything in this world will work out for us. But the hard things will work together for good for those who love God and desire to be usable for His kingdom.^

In the intro…
^And what may be the most important thing to note from that quotable in Romans 8: “All things work together for good” (v. 28 KJV): the most missed word in the verse is together, and it’s the most important. It does not say that all things work out. It says all things work together.

In the intro…
^- God is good. Therefore, hard things that lead you to God will be good for you.
- Growth is good. That means you can’t be good without process and progress.
- A good life = a life of kingdom usability. Not fame, fortune, or ease.^