"Sometimes in our sowing and reaping and sifting, it may seem that God says 'no' or 'not now' or 'I don’t think so' when what we want for him to say—what we wish our tapestry to receive—is an affirmative 'yes' or 'certainly, right now' or 'of course it can be yours.' I want you to know that in my life when I have had disappointments and delays, I have lived to see that if I continue to knock with unshakable faith and persist in my patience—waiting upon the Lord and his calendar—I have discovered that the Lord’s 'no’s' are merely preludes to an even greater 'yes.' I have learned in the twenty-five years since I was your age that the very delays and denials we worry about most, the very differences from each other that trouble our self-esteem, are the differences and delays that are the very best for our happiness and fulfillment."
-Patricia Holland
