Tears

"I pray you'll weep - and feel free to express both tears of anguish and tears of joy". Emotions. They are, at times, hard to decipher even for we 'distinguished adults'! I cry...a lot, always have. The hardest part is I almost always cry during worship Sunday mornings. Now this would be fine if I was surrounded by the same congregation every Sunday. Cradled in the embrace and friendly smiles that I see from afar as I observe these wonderful church families. But as many of you know, we travel all across our beautiful country. We have been to countless sermons and worship hours in many places I may never step foot into again. And I stand there with my hands turned to Jesus clutching tissues and tears streaming down by face. My boys see this and ask in the truck after service, "Why mamma, why do you cry every time you sing?"
Tears of joy, I say. I welcome the tears, (well not always, I used to get mad my mascara was messed up. I got waterproof mascara). Tears are a rush of feelings, feeling moved means feeling life! If I can't show emotion, if my husband doesn't show emotion, how will our boys ever be able to handle the rush of emotions that will be thrown at them?
When my boys are embarrassed that they cry, we read John 11:35 "Jesus wept". It's okay to cry, tears of anguish and tears of joy!
Do you find tears, yours or others, an uncomfortable situation to be in? Take a moment today to talk with your family about how tears are not a sign of weakness and how we can be unafraid to show the world that our love and emotions come from the inside out.