An Excerpt from I Cry In Corners
THE INTRODUCTION
How to deal with crying in corners
Navigating emotions is hard; navigating emotions without Jesus feels impossible.
I Cry in Corners started as a joke on Instagram. Someone asked me how I dealt with my emotions, and I replied, “That’s easy; I cry in corners.” They laughed, and I did not. Jesus cried in corners, and it was how I was actually working out my feelings.
That Instagram story spurred an idea to start a podcast about how to navigate being emotional in an emotional world inspired by the ways and truth of Jesus. So I jumped into the podcast world, all while keeping my day jobs of pastoring, writing, and creative directing. It’s been a journey for sure, but it’s been a journey that has taught me that emotions are a gift from God, and they are meant to be understood and stewarded well.
Sadly, I’ve acquired this revelation over years of navigating my emotions in unhealthy ways. For most of my life, I’ve been told that my emotions and my passions were too much, whether I was being ejected from a basketball game as a teenager or trying to speak up in a meeting about something I disagreed with. I’ve been told that my emotions were borderline offensive and that I needed to temper them if I ever wanted to be successful, if I ever wanted God to use my life.
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Download the full excerpt below –
It's easy to get lost in all the feels.
Our emotions drive so much of what we do, say, and think, even if we don’t realize it. Our response to our feelings—denying they exist, letting them lead our actions unchecked, distracting ourselves to avoid feeling them—can greatly impact our lives and those around us. Emotions are essential for everyday life, but how we navigate them in the storms of life will make or break us.
In each chapter, Chari gives readers both practical and spiritual wisdom to help them respond to emotions like Jesus did. How do we steward our emotions when those closest people fail us? We turn around and wash the feet of the ones we love. How do we face temptation? We refuse to get hangry, resist the devil, and remember that our value lies not in what we have but how we love. How do we steward our emotions with maturity when the hurt we’ve suffered comes from those who claim to know and love Jesus? We do what Jesus did: choose our words wisely, keep our eyes on the joy set before us, and, if necessary, flip over some tables. Our feelings are a gift from God, and through the life and struggles of Jesus, we find a blueprint for honoring your feelings without getting lost in them.
Written with a wry, straight-talking, irreverent but always faithful tone, Chari effortlessly weaves together stories of the New Testament with her own insightful, humorous, and refreshingly candid anecdotes. The resulting book is an affirmation of feeling all the feels while encouraging readers to use their emotions as a catalyst for deep spiritual growth.
