It had been a very long day. My brother, who lived alone in California, had been found in a diabetic coma several weeks before. My parents had flown to California, not knowing whether they would find him alive or dead. By the grace of God, he survived, but he faced many months of recovery. I remember coming home after a 12-hour workday and a visit to my husband, who was in the hospital, and calling my brother. We talked for the first time since he had come out of the coma. When I got off the phone, I cried.The water works have stayed open pretty much since then. Soon after, my husband passed away, and in the months that followed I have released many a tear of sadness. Sometimes, the tears come for no apparent reason. Tears are the natural cleansing of the soul. If I keep those tears bottled up inside, I feel so much pressure and stress. I need to release those tears. Besides, God takes care of those tears and bottles them up for us.In Psalm 56: 3-4, it reads: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I will praise his word. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” In Verse 8 it reads, “You number my wanderings; You put my tears into your bottle.” God actually cares about our tears. He feels our pain and takes all of our tears and contains them. God takes that pain away from us, so we don’t have to keep it bottled up inside ourselves.But there have also been many times in life when the water works of happiness have opened up — like the time about a year ago when I was able to witness my fifth grandchild being born. I remember the joy bursting out of my thankful and happy heart. There is nothing like that feeling of happiness! I have cried tears of relief, when I did not know how I was going to pay a bill and then I was asked to work extra days or a check came in that I had forgotten about. I am very thankful that God has supplied us this way of expressing our joys and sorrows. I am so thankful that we have a God who cares so much for us that he notices and collects our tears. We are such a precious and priceless creation that he is willing to take care of us when the hard times come and lifts us up when the happy times come, and he gives us a way of release through tears.

Posted on Fri, May. 14, 2010 10:15 PM

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I remember coming home after a 12-hour workday and a visit to my husband, who was in the hospital, and calling my brother. We talked for the first time since he had come out of the coma. When I got off the phone, I cried.

The water works have stayed open pretty much since then. Soon after, my husband passed away, and in the months that followed I have released many a tear of sadness. Sometimes, the tears come for no apparent reason. Tears are the natural cleansing of the soul. If I keep those tears bottled up inside, I feel so much pressure and stress. I need to release those tears. Besides, God takes care of those tears and bottles them up for us.

In Psalm 56: 3-4, it reads: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I will praise his word. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” In Verse 8 it reads, “You number my wanderings; You put my tears into your bottle.” God actually cares about our tears. He feels our pain and takes all of our tears and contains them. God takes that pain away from us, so we don’t have to keep it bottled up inside ourselves.

But there have also been many times in life when the water works of happiness have opened up — like the time about a year ago when I was able to witness my fifth grandchild being born. I remember the joy bursting out of my thankful and happy heart. There is nothing like that feeling of happiness! I have cried tears of relief, when I did not know how I was going to pay a bill and then I was asked to work extra days or a check came in that I had forgotten about.

I am very thankful that God has supplied us this way of expressing our joys and sorrows. I am so thankful that we have a God who cares so much for us that he notices and collects our tears. We are such a precious and priceless creation that he is willing to take care of us when the hard times come and lifts us up when the happy times come, and he gives us a way of release through tears.

Keela Vaughn is one of 13 contributors writing the Faith Walk column. Reach her at faith@kcstar. com.

Posted on Fri, May. 14, 2010 10:15 PM

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