Somebody starts to say something important and loses their nerve. One of them sees the other laughing with somebody else and suddenly becomes much more interested in whatever is sitting in front of them. None of those moments declares love, but together they create a feeling the reader can recognize before the characters are ready to name it.

Familiarity has a way of making extraordinary things look ordinary. And if we are not careful, yesterday’s answered prayer can become today’s complaint. That is why gratitude requires remembrance.

Sometimes the issue is not that God has refused to deliver us. Sometimes the issue is that we want deliverance without separation. We want freedom without boundaries. We want healing without honesty. We want God to break chains while we keep polishing the key that unlocks them again.