The Prayer Box Quotes
"The memory of them, of my grandfather’s strong hand holding mine, circled me as I stood on Iola Anne Poole’s porch."
"Instinct told me what I would find inside. You don’t forget the feeling of stepping through a door and understanding in some unexplainable way that death has walked in before you."
"The song of an ordinary life. Mine would be in these letters to you."
"The most difficult battles are not the ones fought outside the armor, but the ones within it."
"There was a boy on the front page in a photo. I knew him. He brings the groceries every week in the rusty blue truck that sounds like an ailing farm tractor coming up the drive."
"We walked in Rodanthe after assessing the house on the shore that day, Pap-pap’s hand rough-hewn against mine, his knobby driftwood fingers promising that everything broken can be fixed."
"Maybe there was a reason Brother Guilbeau hadn’t hired someone he already knew for this job. Maybe he wanted someone . . . expendable."
"I could feel blood creeping up my neck and washing into my cheeks. I forced the sausage down in one big gulp."
"I think you’ve got a natural-born fisherman there. That boy’s got a love of the water."
"I’m glad he hasn’t . . . been any trouble," I choked out.
"I thought about leaving without even buying cleaning supplies for Iola’s house. I just wanted to get out of here."
"So sad that she passed away alone like she did. She’s been a good customer a long time."
"For heaven’s sake, Bink. The woman laid there in the bed for who knows how long and passed away all alone."
"I opened my wallet and handed Bink the money for the trash bags. All I could think was, There goes a gallon of milk. Six boxes of macaroni and cheese. A jar of peanut butter . . ."
"One thing I’d learned growing up was to mind my business and let other people mind theirs."
"It’s not every day you get to be someone’s angel."
"I felt good as I started across the parking lot —like the day was worth it, beyond just putting food in our bellies and keeping a roof over our heads. Beyond just surviving."
"Hen scrat and fillies’ tails make lofty ships carry low sails."
"Maybe an angel had. I guessed I had Iola and her crazy old house to thank for that."
"We do not choose the vessel we’re given, but we choose what we pour out and what we keep inside."
"A hot, sharp lightning of panic rushed through me."
"Think, think, think. Think, Tandi. Think of something."
"The contents of three boxes lay scattered in unkempt piles on the bed."
"The tapestry wove itself, threads intertwining with impressive speed."
"Someone tall . . . a man . . . dark clothes."
"I'm gonna miss her. She was one of my favorite stops."
"I heard the cat up there and then the water running . . ."
"I felt the blue room tugging at me again."
"She was lonely. Kept my number right there on her refrigerator."
"I wanted to know her, to understand her. To solve the mystery of her."
"I was about to be the bearer of bad news."
"She never could quite grasp the fact that the phone was traveling with me in the truck."
"Her grandmother was a slave. My mind couldn't quite grasp that."
"Prayers are answered in ways we don't choose. The river of grace bubbles up in unexpected places."
"You are not a God of endless harbors. Harbors are for stagnant sails and barnacled wood, but the sea... the sea is fresh rain and cleansing breeze and sleek sails."
"The only good thing about the pounding rain was that, if the house was making any of its usual noises... I couldn’t hear them tonight."
"The trouble with drowning in the mess of your own life is that you're not in any shape to save anyone else. You can’t be a lighthouse when you’re underwater yourself."
"What God puts together, no building inspector nor nasty virus nor category 2 hurricane can tear apart."
"She made me wish that I were a better person, that I weren’t hiding so much about myself."
"The house was a prayer box in itself, the keeping place of a woman’s thoughts and dreams and secrets."
"Forgive me, Father. Forgive my weakness. Forgive my wondering."
"It’s like being married, only without the hanky-panky. Once you’re ours, you’re ours forever."
"I felt the kiss of hot tears on my skin, draining into my hair."
"Her problems inched into my mind, elbowing out Iola and her house."
"I didn’t decide to bring you along because I don’t trust you, Zoey. I just thought... it might be a nice day for you."
"Zoey, you never know what Aunt Gina means. She just... says the things she thinks people want to hear."
"Pretty neat, huh?" A sense of pride warmed me. I felt like a piece of Sandy’s Seashell Shop was mine.
"We just threw it in boxes last fall. Don’t work too much. You should be resting. But get the jewelry sorted and the kits made, okay?"
"Youth music festival starts this week," she reminded.
"It’s through the cracks, the light comes in."
"Fear builds walls instead of bridges. I want a life of bridges, not walls."
"Your blood been there all this time, and you know that be true."
"We take care of each other. There are all different kinds of sisters, Tandi. Not just the ones you’re born with."
"All of life is breaking and mending, clipping and stitching, gathering tatters and sewing seams. All of life is quilted from the scraps of what once was and is no more."
"Daughter, do not linger where you are. Take up your needle and your thread, and go see to the mending."
"Not everyone’s the same, Tandi. Not everyone is working the angles, looking for something. People can care about you just for you. Just because you’re worth caring about."
"Sisters are created not by blood but by love."
"There will always be another mystery. God is infinite."
"You are the white berry that removes the stain."
"No words can encompass the miracles of God."