Well… this week has been incredibly full.. full of really great things and some hard things. Two of our really good friends and teammate, Cate and her husband Brandon moved this week and that added to the fullness, not just schedule fullness but emotional fullness. Kevin said it best the other day “After losing Sophie any kind of loss just feels more tender right now.” Our hearts are so excited for our friends new journey, but saddened to miss walking to their place to borrow some butter, spontaneous dinner dates and just hanging out with them. Yet even in the midst of heightened emotions there have been some sweet rays of sun this week…
1. Saying Goodbye Well: Do you ever avoid saying goodbye? Or avoid saying the things you really want someone to know because you fear your emotions will get the best of you? I used to be that person, because I hated goodbyes and all the emotions it stirred in me. But, I began to realize through wise counsel that saying goodbye well is not only important for you but communicates love and value to the person leaving in ways that will leave an impact. So much of this week was spent trusting the Lord to say goodbye well to our good friends Cate and Brandon. I’ve known Cate my entire time in Orlando… with her and another friend, Jonathan predicting together when it would be that Kevin and I would get together. They called it way before Kevin and I ever even started dating. Cate did cartwheels in the halls of our work headquarters the day I told her Kevin had asked me out, has worked with us the last 4 years (we see each other virtually every day), was part of our engagement day, helped coordinate the day of our wedding, was the one jumping up with joy when we told our team I was pregnant, cried with us as we told of Sophie’s condition and was there to meet Sophie when she was born. Needless to say, saying goodbye to a friend who has been a part of such significant moments in my life was hard. Even though we’ll still be friends we know it will look different with them living so far away. So, I let the tears flow this week unashamedly as I had opportunities to share with Cate what she’s meant to me because I knew that choosing to not share because of my own desire to keep it together, was purely selfish. I wanted to bless her no matter what it cost me and I think that’s often what saying goodbye well to those you care about means. You bless others no matter what emotions that you wish would stay at the bottom get stirred to the top and you let them see it. And that is where the sweet rays of sun appear… as you experience those sweet and tender moments with a friend. I’m so thankful for the sweet times we had with Cate and Brandon this week, from the lighter moments to the deeper ones… we weren’t afraid to step into either!
2. The Art of Marriage: Kevin and I went through this short marriage conference a few months after we were married and it was instrumental in giving us tools to walk through some areas of our marriage we were stuck in. We loved it so much we wanted to give couples at our church an opportunity to experience it. It’s a well done and simple, yet powerful video series that we simply guided our group of 9 couples through (you could do it too!) And it was so powerful, for us and I know for each of the couples attending. Kevin and I had sweet conversations and were challenged to step into greater depth in our marriage. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the weekend:
“The ultimate purpose of marriage is to reflect and tell the trust about the God we serve and who’s image we bear.”
“from a kid’s perspective: Arnold, age six: ‘I want to get married, but not right away yet because I can’t cross the street by myself yet.”
Bobby, age nine: “First she has to like pizza, then she has to like cheesecake, after that she has to like fudge candy, then I know our marriage will last forever.'”
“God will not protect us from what He will perfect us through”
“Differences are God’s way of sanding off our rough edges.” – Bryan Carter
“If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s good will.” -Benjamin Franklin
“The ultimate purpose of sex is a celebration of our oneness in the sight of God.”
“I’m convinced that for most couples, you fix sexual dysfunction outside of the marriage bed.” – Paul Tripp
(Don’t those last 2 quotes make you curious what they talk about??)
“Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God’s holy institution through which God wishes to preserve humanity until the end of time. In your love you see only each other in the world; in marriage you are a link in the chain of generations that God for the sake of (his) glory, allows to rise and fade away, and calls into (his) kingdom.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Letters and Papers from Prison
“Every couple has to make a choice to ‘put a stake in the ground’ and start a new legacy with their family. One of the greatest gifts you can give to the next generation is faithfulness and fidelity in marriage.”
“Your marriage is a picture of the gospel to a watching world.”
I could go on, but there’s a taste of what great and funny content this conference gives! check it out here: The Art of Marriage Conference
3. Airboat rides: Yes, I went on my first airboat ride on Friday with our team and it was an epic experience. My friend and co-worker Adrienne summed it up well while we were on the boat, gazing at some wildlife after our driver had just done a donut… “It’s so refreshing, yet terrifying”. I was praying we’d see at least one alligator and well, we had to stop counting after 30 we saw so many!! I was giddy like a little kid as we sped through the waters (who knew airboat rides were so exhilarating?) and saw countless, large alligators. My favorite moment however, was as our driver was speeding around and took a turn to find ourselves headed straight into a 7 foot alligator, who in his fright took off straight towards where we were turning to try to get away from him. Pretty sure he made it under the water by the time we quickly turned, but it was certainly an exhilarating experience! If you ever have a chance to do one… I would highly recommend it! I can’t believe it’s taken us just 5 years to go on one here in Florida!
The airboat
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- A Taste of Hope Fulfilled – Briella Dawn’s Birth Story - August 3, 2018
