Bittersweet Pieces

Anyone who likes to read has a favorite: a favorite book, or several books, a favorite author. There is something that sticks out about this favorite- something that draws you in, something that keeps you on the edge of your seat, something that has you holding your breath as you wait for what words are next, something that connects with you in a deep soul grabbing kind of way.

I love to read and Shauna Niequist is my absolute hands down favorite author of all time and her two books, Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet are my hands down two favorite books of all time. There is something about her writing that draws me in, keeps me on the edge of my seat, keeps me holding my breath not wanting to miss a word of what might be next, something that connects to the very real deep longing and yearnings of my soul. Her writing is absolutely beautiful, simplistically deep, and full of life and fresh breaths of air.

Here are a few Bittersweet pieces worth every moment of savoring, pondering, and breathing deep into the truth, joy, and heartache of your life. ENJOY...(buy the book!)

“Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth, and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, and earthy.”

“When life is sweet, say thank-you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank-you and grow.”

“It’s not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What’s hard, is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.”

“Grace isn’t about netting out on the right side of things.

“Life hands us opportunities at every turn to get over ourselves, to get outside ourselves, to wake up from our own bad dreams and realize that really lovely things are happening all the time.”

“When you stay with something instead of walking away, it builds something new inside you, something solid and weighty, something durable. But you do have to wait for it. You have to earn it the hard way.”

“I believe in mining through the darkest seasons in our lives and choosing to believe that we’ll find something important every time.”

“Prayer is at the heart of transformation.”

“When we pay attention and when we grow, we become freer, more flexible, more faithful, more able to ask for help. We become less fearful, more able, more comfortable with the idea of life as a beautiful mess.”

“When we, any of us who have been transformed by Christ, tell our own stories, we’re telling the story of who God is.”

“If you want your community to be marked by radical honesty, by risky, terrifying, ultimately redemptive truth-telling, you must start telling your truth first.”