No matter what your limitations are - health issues, financial problems, a difficult marriage or divorce, a loss of friendship, death of a dream - your life is meant to be filled to the brim with the potential of God's blessings. But in order to thrive and heal, you must accept any limitation by faith, trust in His faithfulness each step if the way, and wait for His grace so you can live a faithful story right in the place you find yourself (p. 13).

God often does not work with most qualified, but with the most available.

Quite simply, owning my own life means living up to my spiritual potential.

(p. xvii)

There is no single way to serve God, but the point is this: We each have only one life to live to tell a story about Him, about His ways, about His love. And if we are Christ followers, then God calls us to use our gifts, to exercise our faith, and to become salt and light right where we are.

(p. xxi)

When we own our lives, we choose to make love a priority in our homes, our marriages, and our parenting.

I will love you, encourage you, and help you in every way. But I cannot make you a great person.

(p. xxii)

Own your own life. Choose whom you will serve. Live into Christ's love and the power of His Spirit working through you.

(p. xxii)

Years from now, people may not remember your name, but the way you owned your life, the choices you made, the way you loved...your legacy...that is what will ripple through the generations who follow after you.

“I was a shy girl, but when I read, I was adventurous. Books made me bolder.”

Tell me, angel, what is it about that boy that makes you forget who you really are? Is it the tattoos, because you know I have those." He quickly shed his linen shirt and stood bare-chested before me, the tattoo of his mother's name on his inner arm. He turned around slowly, making sure I saw the large cross going down his spine. "Or is it those horrible glasses of his? You know, I can look like a fucking idiot if I really wanted to."
- Javier Bernal