The Gift of Tears

Last night was Bible study night. It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to get together and we were very glad that we took it last night. We were reading in Luke 4, where the Saviour got up and read from Isaiah, saying that He was sent to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and so on..

It got us to talking and I mentioned a friend of mine who had recently been having a hard time and had phoned me in tears. Tears so bad they were taking her breath away. You know the sort - the whole-body sob that takes over and you can't control it. I said to my friend at the Bible study that the passage about healing the brokenhearted made me think of her and that she was having such a hard time and had forgotten that God loves her because she feels unworthy of that love.

My Bible study friend immediately picked up a booklet she had been given by another friend and read a page entitled 'Pray for the gift of tears'. I've been thinking about this, and while none of us likes to be sore of heart or grief-stricken the alternative is much, much worse. Imagine being so hard of heart that nothing touches you? Imagine not being able to cry tears of joy? Even tears of sadness can keep us from being hard. If we didn't have the gift of tears I think the world would be a very very ugly place, filled with hard, angry, cynical people.

I, for one, am glad that I cry at the drop of a hat! No longer will I be embarrassed!

Back to life

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

...Back to reality. I've enjoyed the last month or so, with not having a hectic schedule. Back to the real world now, though. The new semester starts this week, so my week looks like this:
Monday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, College from 5.30-8.30pm
Tuesday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, Bible study from 7.30 - 9ish
Wednesday: Work from 9am to 10pm (film night for the tenants - Elvis this week!)
Thursday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, College from 5.30-8.30pm
Friday: Work from 9am to 3.45pm, Ice hockey from 7pm
Saturday: Shopping to replace the broken microwave, putting up shelves and fixing the tv wiring and then Ice hockey
Sunday: Church from 10-1, parents for dinner and finally a bit of rest!

So, it's Monday and already I'm looking forward to Sunday evening for a bit of relaxation!!!

Smugness!

Image by brooklyn via Flickr

I rarely have any occasion to be smug, so when one arises I embrace it warmly! The latest is that I had my college assignments finished before the Christmas break! They add up to approx 6000 words, broken down into 10 weekly assignments and a case study. I was so chuffed with myself that I could relax and enjoy the Christmas holiday, concentrating on doing nothing, wrapping a few presents and just spending time with my family. It was lovely and very, very needed! I did nothing over Christmas. I slept late, ate a fair bit and lazed about.
New Year's Eve was spent with my parents playing board games and some games on their wii. We had a great laugh and at midnight went outside to hear the ship's horns blast the New Year in. We finally made it to bed around 2.30am. It. Was. Nice.

Then, on Sunday, I thought I'd take a look at my college work and get it organised and printed ready to be handed in on Thursday. See? Smugness!

Imagine my horror when the computer won't turn on! I imagined myself having to write all 6000 words again. Finally, the computer DID switch on and I was able to get the stuff printed, but not before all traces of smugness were wiped forever off my face!