Cry Babies Gotta' Cry

Yesterday, I heard a man telling about how easy it is for him to cry these days -- over the birth of a baby, the great love he has for his wife, a touching movie, and the love He has for God and His tender mercies. He said he could cry at the "drop of a hat". He called himself "emotionally incontinent"! LOL!

I felt pretty strong that I could hold it together at my grandson's wedding a couple of weeks ago, UNTIL, I saw his lips quivering in efforts to hold back his tears when he saw his beautiful bride coming down the aisle. I cried when I witnessed the deep passion and love he has for her. I'll admit it, I love it when I see a strong, manly guy, have such tender emotions that he is unafraid to shed some tears.

The Gospel writers didn't feel that tears were a threat to either the manhood or Godhood of Christ when they recorded that “Jesus wept.”

It seems the longer I live, the easier it is for me to tear up -- not to mention weddings, birthday parties, my grandkids accomplishments, my godson's hugs and kisses, viral videos about children and animals being rescued, or the baby announcement to the soon-to-be grandparents. Of late, those tears have a lot to do with my soon-to-say "good-bye" to friends and family as I make my move to Texas.

But, what makes me tear up and be "emotionally incontinent" the most, is when I watch someone who has had a miserable life of mental and physical abuse and their existence was hell-on-earth OR someone who WAS the abuser, the thief, the alcoholic, the liar, the cheat, the selfish -- but then GRACE encountered them face-to-face in the Person of Jesus Christ. Their OLD became NEW, their messes became their message, their heartbreaks became their story, their tests became their testimony, their sadness was turned to gladness and their mourning became joy. I'll take those tears and I'll be emotionally incontinent anyday because there are just some tears that can't help but flow in gratitude to our God of mercy and grace!

And if tears are great for the soul -- here's some bonus benefits for the body:
~ Crying Relieves Stress
~ Crying Lowers Blood Pressure
~ Tears Remove Toxins
~ Tears Reduces Manganese

So, the next time we feel those tears welling up, let's just go ahead and be "emotionally incontinent" and let the tears flow!!!

Turn "Thrown Under the Bus" to "Driving the Bus"

We’ve all heard the saying “I felt like I was thrown under the bus!” And, in fact – we didn’t just hear someone else say it…..we said it ourselves. You know….when a co-worker disparaged us so they could get the promotion instead of us; or someone took the credit for something we worked hard and long for; or someone blamed us for something we didn’t do; or the person who makes an excuse for everything – it’s never their fault for a situation. Or, quite frankly, the enemy of our soul has continued to “throw us under the bus” by causing fear, anger, accusations, worry, disappointment and discomfort in our lives.

Well, it’s time to put a stop to being thrown under the bus and time to START DRIVING THE BUS. We can put a halt to the victim mentality, and those tests and messes can become our testimony and message when we get behind the wheel of the bus. And when we’re driving, we can steer that bus all around and pick up other people who feel like they’ve been thrown under the bus and help them bounce back to being in charge, too.

Bottom line…..it’s time we refuse to give up and begin to overcome the antics of the enemy. Through those times we can get better instead of being bitter. Romans 8:28 “All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” That GOOD…is when we start driving the bus, where we are not only blessed, but those around us….are blessed because we are the BEST drivers that are helping to impact their lives for GOOD, too!