On Happiness and Tears

I just woke up from a refreshing nap on our Lazy Boy sofa. During the summer, I usually sit on the left end of the sofa in the living room because the air-conditioner blows there. It is nearly 100 degrees again today. Last night, it rained hard for about 15 minutes, and then stopped. Thus, we went to the Tecumseh Rodeo as scheduled. It was warm, but a soft breeze was blowing due to rain in the distance. To the west, we watched clouds that would flash with colored lightening. It was soooo beautiful! Chinami loved the rodeo action, and often commented on the MC's Okie accent. He was hilarious! During the bucking bronco segment, he described one horse as being "as shifty as a chicken with X-Lax." We also laughed when two little boys got stuck in the soft red dirt when the children chased ribbons on the calves' tails. Their parents had to pull the kids out of the dirt and take them back to the stands. I was personally impressed by the cowboys in their 50's who were in the calf- roping. Some of those guys could still ride a horse and rope very well!

My Bible class is starting to come back after summer vacation. We had 13 this morning. The theme of the lesson was, "Long-Distance Relationships". We discussed how to show love and encourage those who live at a distance from us. All of us are challenged by that! Christians have an advantage because we know that we can go to our Heavenly Father for help.

Last week, our church prayed for a baby with failing kidneys. This week, we learned that the baby's specialist was at a loss because he couldn't find anything wrong with the child!!! Kirk wrote that there have been several miracle healings in his church as well. I have kept the newspaper article about my brother, David and I being hospitalized with polio in 1953. Many children were dying all around us, and at best living with paralysis. Many churches were praying that we would be spared if that would glorify God. Mom says that she and Dad spent much time in prayer preparing themselves for the worst.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about "tears". I will never forget a friend saying to me, "Look what you did. You made me cry." As I reached out to wipe the tears away, I remember thinking, "Tears are the language of the heart." God put a spirit inside each one of us so that we can feel deeply. Tears are an expression of happiness, sadness, pain, or just because we feel very loved. It is a terrible thing when a person cannot cry. That means all emotion and feeling is gone! It's a wonderful thing to be vulnerable and to have a "soft" heart. Love is from God and He puts feelings in us that sometimes make us cry. We really should embrace our tears because that means we know how to love!