Unexpected Tears

Today I saw some unexpected tears. I picked up my seven year old granddaughter from school. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen crocodile tears on a frowned face as she headed off to school. So you would expect today to have lots of smiles ... she doesn't have to go back for an entire summer. To her the summer will span out weeks and weeks ... seemingly sooo long until the Fall semester brings her to the second grade. To me the summer will be a blink. I'm afraid it's halfway over now and I don't even know it! Those unexpected tears were not shed for math or science or even recess. One reason for the tears was that she would probably not see most of her classmates until that loooooong summer was over with. And another was that her teacher was retiring and would not be at the school next year. I find it easier to cry than I used to. Maybe I'm getting sentimental in my old age (is that like some kind of cliche or what?). A dear older sister apologized to me the other day for being so teary on Mother's Day. I told her that I think tears are a gift from God ... a sign of a tender childlike heart. One of our elders seldom prays without his voice cracking ... and occasionally weeping. I would not change him for anything. A song. A thought. A compassionate feeling. A sense of loneliness. An awareness of Abba who is so near. A place. A smell. A memory. A story. A grave marker. A friend. All are sources of unexpected tears. Let them fall. Don't wipe them away. Feel them course down your cheek and drip onto your shirt. Close your eyes and let the tears build. Why do you think God gave you this unrespected ability? The heart is so important to Him that he gave us this powerful form of expression. Do not be afraid of unexpected tears. Go ahead and cry (for a season ... don't get carried away and just cry all the time! God gave us laughter as well!). And when you cry, do not think that God hasn't noticed. He's so captive to your broken heart that he promised that in the new heavens and new earth he would wipe those tears from your face himself. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there." [Genesis 21:17-18]