As a child, I remember by grandmother telling me that it was ok to cry. Peering up into her kind and loving eyes with tear-stained cheeks, she told me that much like God uses a warm gentle rain to grow a beautiful flower, He can use the tears we shed to heal our heart and help it grow even bigger and stronger than it was before. As a child I didn’t know why, but it made feel better and brought me comfort.
As an adult, although I now know that literal heart size growth is not what she meant, my life journey has taught me that her words were true and that we really can experience heart growth through our tears. In my case, I was made by God to be emotionally sensitive and am known by those close to me to shed tears of joy, happiness or pain and sadness as the situation dictates. No matter how tough you are, I’ve seen and learned that sometimes life can squeeze the tears out of any us. The good news is that in the process of going through things that hurt, our capacity for empathy is made greater by the heartache we’ve experienced… and sometimes that includes a good cry.