Saturday, May 09, 2009

Cherish or Cling?

In Susan Miller's book, After the Boxes are Unpacked, she states,

"To cherish means to hold in the mind, to treasure, to hold dear, to value
highly. To cling means to clutch, to cleave, to hold on to, to grab hold of." page
21.

Isn't this a wonderful distinction? I knew right away that I would have to share the thought. If I had a verse or two it would make a great devotional, don't you think? The idea IS still a Mother's Day devotional - sort of. ::snort:: This is one of those things that is great for those who move a lot to ponder.....but also a great reminder for those who don't move a lot.

Susan goes on to encourage us to:

  • Cherish what was!
  • Cling to what is and to what never changes!
  • Cherish what you left behind!
  • Cling to what you brought with you!

Being an independent American, the idea of clinging first appears as weak to me. Honestly, I now believe it is GOOD to both cherish and cling, as long as we get "it" right.

Here are some examples given in the book, can you think of other personal examples?

Cherish:

Distant Family
Distant Friends
Past Memories
Your Heritage
The Job You Left
The House You Loved (Teklanika Drive)
Your Roots
The Place You Left

Cling to:

God
The Bible
Your Faith
Prayer
God's Promises
Your Values
Each Other

I find myself often thinking, "Is this a cherish or a cling?" ::snort::

Things I added to my cherish list: memories of pregnancies that ended prematurely, memories of earlier seasons of family life, summer memories with grams, my comfy furniture, old friends, old ministry opportunities....

Things I added to my cling list: the Word....It seems to be harder to come up with things that are o.k. to cling to....maybe becuase God is really IT.

I'm learning to cling less and cherish more in some healthy ways.

Yes, I recommend After the Boxes are Unpacked. When it was first given to me in Alaska, I thought it was hokey and dorky. Sorry, I did. That was when I'd, "moved a million times and am just fine." Since then I realized that many "other" ladies coming through the chapel were really struggling with this moving thing. They were fragile and seemed unable to attach to others.....and I remembered this book. We started a Just Moved group that was of benefit to many. It still is offered each fall. I picked up the book last week and have been ministered to in each chapter. I'm finally learning to make healthy moves; to cherish and cling....instead of denying and stuffing. ::snort:: I love to give this book to moving friends, with the caveat that I thought it was dorky the first two times I read it. ::snort::

{Hmmm....I scheduled to post this on Sunday, 10 May, but it doesn't seem to fit for Mother's Day, does it? I guess I'll post it now.}

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

love your new header!

Gilda said...

DeEtta,
I grew up military and moved many, many times. I learned how to deal with all this by picking fights. I would simply leave angry because angry was easier than hurt and longing. I carried this into my adulthood.
I did not even realize I did this until Phillip noted the pattern every time he had to leave for a trip.
Growing up I did not have God in my life and therefore nothing to put my hope into. Now I know that this is not my home and I am still a traveller waiting for my final destination. I have learned to apprecicate what I have while I have it and making eternal friendships along the way.
Of course, once I grew into this concept and started to see my earthly homes as temporary God has now settled me in the same place for the last 10 years.
I love this idea of cherish and cling. I learned to cling to God and enjoy what I had while I had it but cherish is something I am going to have to mull over.
As my oldest gets closer and closer to adulthood I have to re-investigate these ideas as my family will be changing in the next 5 years. Thanks for the thoughts. Praying for you during this difficult but exciting time.

Herd Momma said...

Great post. I see you got a collage header! Did you use Shutterfly or something else? I love it!

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Thanks, Mel and Amy. I used Shutterfly Studio - the beta software you can download for free. LOL I was hoping I could get MS photo editor to load the jpg so that I could play with it and make it more header shape.....but it won't read the file. Instead I broadened the frame and it's "ok" but I do really like the collage.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yes, Gilda. I grew up as a missionary kid....boarding school etc....and I'm familiar with the scenario. I went from picking fights, to denial and stuffing...and now I'm learning to Cherish while Clinging to God. The funny thing is that years ago - as a college student God talked to me about my family roots being in Him and not a loaction.....so it isn't new....but I think I tend to still want to cling to former seasons of life...and I need to let them slip, Cherish them and move on to this new season - with joy.

Darshia said...

Mmmm...I like this. Nice distinction and new to me...the cling part. I have the cherish part down pat.

Herd Momma said...

That is the program I use to do my collage headers. I like it. I use it to make collages, upload them to their site and then have them printed on coffee mugs!

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Hey - that's a fun idea, Amy.

Laura said...

Hmmm.... cherish or cling. I like that! I have a feeling that will stick with me. :)

Cynthia said...

Seems like it might be a good book to read even if you aren't moving...