Couldn't stop the tears

Sometimes the bad news just piles up.

Sometimes you feel like you have been sucker punched and the wind is sufficiently knocked out of you.

This life offers endless opportunities for joy and pain...sweet moments and suffering.

I have had my fair share of both.
Surely you have too.

Being a believer in Jesus gives us the ultimate Comforter and Friend but still the moments come. He promises in His Word to never leave us, but we are not immune from feeling the fullness of pain.

Right now I am shouldering some pretty intense pain along with others I love and hold dear.

**There is a marriage in my extended family that is all but falling apart. There are children who are hurt and confused...people betrayed and scarred. Lives are forever changed...


**There is a friend who is watching and waiting as her little girl battles through surgical procedures that are life-threatening...


**There is another friend who went in for that ultrasound visit...only to find there was no heartbeat.

Yesterday....the tears just started and I seriously could not stop them. I cried and cried and cried some more.

I am praying, begging, interceding, asking, waiting, expecting, and hoping in my God to do some amazing things in each of these stories.

These are all just lives in process~ lives of people I love~ the outcomes have yet to be written but the time passing now seems to drag for us all.

I am so thankful for the honor to pray for these people. Their burdens somehow offer me a respite from my own....from always thinking about me and my problems.

Maybe that is a glimpse of God's goodness during all of this. To truly bear another's burdens so they don't have to for a while.

Anyway, I am just blogging about this because I needed to. I needed to put some words to all that I am feeling.

The tears were a good thing. I wasn't really expecting to react in that way but I think God knew I needed to release it.
The tears keep us real.
The tears keep us sane.
The tears keep us looking for better days ahead.

Father God...several people I know and love are hurting so bad right now. Many of them wonder where You are during all of this. They (we) are disappointed. Pain is abundant and peace seems distant. God help me carry their burdens to You and trust You to handle the details. I entrust each one of these separate situations into Your all-knowing hands. Speak loudly to their hearts, let them sense You in a real and tangible way. They feel alone, let down, and they are tired of fighting their battles. Give them courage and strength to face whatever comes their way. Keep me praying as I hold to Your promises and wait expectantly for You to come through. I love you Lord.

Continue to strengthen my own faith as it wavers regarding Caroline's healing. I know what You have said and I stand on Your promise. You know it is hard. Thank you for walking each step with me. Amen.