Letting Go.

-
A few weeks ago, my four year old wanted to send some balloons up to my brother in heaven for his birthday. She tried to convince my mom to buy enough balloons so she could go up and see him like in the movie Up. We just bought a few and let them go. It is very freeing to let things go. Once you release a balloon, the wind sweeps it up. There is no snatching it back into your hands. It's quite a visual piece of poetry. We can try to grasp at and control many things, but the release in inevitable.

As I was thinking about the process of letting go of my brother, I started thinking about the encouragement challenge I have been doing for my husband. I have had to let go of a lot of things in marriage. Mostly, as a woman we must release control. It is hard. Society teaches us to succeed and run our house like a machine. Real life is messy. When he fails, you fail. I don't like to fail. God has taught me a lot about myself in that. God is gracious to me and tenderly leads me to the beautiful place of humility. 

I realized a great thing in the last few days. As I have been writing notes of encouragement and searching out scripture to edify, I have been changing. When I refuse to engage the critical thoughts that the enemy plants in my head, I think on what is pure and lovely. I think on that which edifies. I would tell you that I have one of the best marriages I know of. My husband and I are really considerate and tender toward each other. I have already noticed a difference in him though. He laughs more. He pursues more creative ventures. He is living more wildly in the Spirit. Perhaps, this was all a lesson for me to learn. To criticize, even mildly, is to play the devil's advocate. To encourage rends your heart and makes YOU more like Christ. Gratitude is a discipline we must practice. Release control. Let go of who you want your man to be and love him how you promised you always would. 
Happy birthday to Laomai Petra Cherry.

Comments

Tammy said…
I love this Stephanie. Donato & I love balloons too for some of those same reasons....and we love the movie UP. In fact, I told him that I'd much rather have balloons instead of flowers for any occasion! :o)
9:27 AM
Steph Cherry said…
I love it. I can see you and Donato taking off to South America!
2:18 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

David Crowder's House Restoration

-
Image
A recent edition of Waco Today featured David Crowder's six year renovation project(we had to go check it out). I said a quiet prayer that God would let our house be completed before six years was up for us and then I dove in to the details. David and his wife bought the home of the man who invented Dr. Pepper. It is encouraging to see something that took so much effort and energy come to completion. May we soon see the same thing. You can read the story of the Crowder renovation here .
Read more

A Writer's Callous

-
Image
Alright, baby photo below. Quit emailing me! ;-) I remember having a writer's callous when I was five years old. In my adolescence I hated it. Now, I find it fascinating. Almost as long as I have been alive I have borne a mark that declares I am passionate about something in such a way that it bores into my skin. I have been blessed with wonderful Apple products to use and I still prefer writing things out. I heard Michelle Pfeiffer say David Kelley writes out all of his award winning shows on yellow legal pad. I like that. I prefer a journal and a real wood pencil (the kind that are stained, not the yellow ones.) There's something romantic about it to me. Writing is a choice medium in my relationship with God . I love to prayer journal. I pour out thanks for every minute that I get to spend doing it. In last weeks post I told you that God broke my Mac so I would spend some time alone with Him (then I can have it back in January). Shortly thereafter the enemy came in tel
Read more

Miscarriage | Infertility | Hope

-
Image
I encountered Jesus as a young child in a church pew in the balcony of an old country church. Through a lifetime of trial, I knew he was there. I did not always know or understand what he wanted of me, but I knew I was wanted. We could go through all of the pain and abuse of my life and unpack each tiny detail, but that is not what this is really about. I love what Frederick Buechner said, “Pain is not the biggest thing that has ever happened to you.” That is true. I have beheld far greater glory. As I clung to his word through all of this, I knew he was there.   My story about trying begins long before I began trying to have children. I tell you this because almost half of the population has been abused in some way. The attack on my uterus began when I was four-years-old. I spent most of my life believing that I was broken and I was crippled by shame. I carried that shame into every relationship I had. As I encountered people in the church, I never felt safe enough to ask for prayer o
Read more