Linda R. Graf

“The sheep learn to know the shepherd’s voice in the ordinary days of life so that in a time of crisis it can be immediately recognized.”
― M. Esther Lovejoy, The Sweet Side of Suffering

“missed that point for a long time. I had spent so much of my life concentrating on the “fruit” of my own personal holiness, that I missed out on the connection, the sweet intimacy of being attached to the Vine. And as a result, what I tried to do was as ludicrous as an apple tree branch trying to produce apples by its own effort. “Be good, be good. Do good, do good,” the broken branch chants as it lies on the orchard grass. “That apple should be popping out anytime,” says the helpless, lifeless stick.”
― Joanna Weaver, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life