when bad things happen to good people.

While I was on the retreat, one of the books that I read was When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner. 

To me, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is simply saying that God cannot control what happens to us, but if we let Him, He can control how we deal with it.  Everything doesn't happen or a reason, but we can find meaning personally in everything so we can create opportunites to grow through it. By giving suffering meaning and reason, we are able to serve God and teach others to be better people. 

- entry from my journal




Impactful quotes from the book:

Ask yourself "if this happened to me, what do I do now, and who is there to help me do it?"

We pray to you, O God, for strength, determination, and willpower, to do instead of just to pray, to become instead of merely to wish.

God does not send us the problem; He gives us the strength to cope with it.

Love is not the admiration of perfection, but the acceptance of an imperfect person with all his imperfections, because loving and accepting makes us better and stronger.