The body grows slowly and steadily but the soul grows by leaps and bounds.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, best known for the 1908 children’s classic “Anne of Green Gables,” penned several books about the redheaded Anne Shirley and her family. This quote comes from the eighth installment in the series, 1921’s “Rilla of Ingleside,”which details the coming-of-age of Anne’s youngest daughter, the teenaged Rilla Blythe. The night before her beloved brother Walter leaves for World War I, a sleepless Rilla is overcome by the depth of her emotions. In that moment, Montgomery describes Rilla’s soul as becoming “the soul of a woman in its capacity for suffering, for strength, for endurance.” Montgomery’s eloquent words remind us that regardless of age, we can experience profound emotional and spiritual transformation when confronted with life’s challenges.