Conniption – Cathy Joy Hill

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1 NIV

It was the summer of 1985, and I had moved to France to finish my degree.

I was excited and homesick. I remember that first letter from my dad. A dialogue on the weather and his latest home repair. Fortunately for both of us, this was 1985, the season his beloved Chicago Bears would go to the Super Bowl. His letters became a record of that season, play by play, player by player, and my love of the game was born.

Some twenty-five years later, my son had started to play high school ball and my daddy and I were thrilled. It was game day.

Typically, my daughter played with her new football friends, but today was not typical. She started to fuss, a lot. We headed for a hotdog. I bribed her with cotton candy. Lily was having none of it. Somewhere in the heavens, Lily’s grandmother, my mother, smiled. At five years old, Lily was having a conniption, but I was an NFL pro at these. Absolutely nothing she did worked.

Desperate, I looked down the field for a place Lily might want to go. I spotted it, the port-a-potty. Lily loves those, and indeed, although still wailing, she agreed she had to potty. In private, I reminded Lily her behavior was unacceptable. It was football after all. She did not care. I was helpless.

Then it happened. A woman saw us as we left the port-a-potty, and, sounding exactly like Mary Poppins, said “So you don’t like football?” I looked at the woman in disbelief and then looked at Lily. She was shaking her head, no. It occurred to me that Lily had not yet been to college, nor had I written her letters about the Chicago Bears. How could she like football? Lily went on to tell Mary Poppins about ballet and school. My sweet little girl was back.

Over and over in the Word, God calls us His children. He gently reminds us we are held, and at our worst, He still loves and holds us. It is okay to be honest . . . to have a conniption now and then, He can absolutely handle and heal our hurting hearts.

How has God comforted you during your conniptions?

Tweetable: Are you having conniptions? 

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce. You can learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

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Tears Tell the Tale - Martin Wiles

Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. Luke 7:38 NLT

When the tears trickled from his blue eyes, we all knew.

Although my grandfather attended the little white Methodist church every time the doors were open, Dad, Mom, and I wondered about his relationship with Christ. Other parts of his lifestyle seemed to say he didn’t have one. So when the strokes started coming—and it didn’t seem he would recuperate—Mom decided to do something about it.

Pappy was a relatively young man when the first stroke hit. I’m sure the years of heavy drinking and smoking had taken their toll. The stroke brought a little paralysis on one side. Then several more followed. By the time it was all over, his entire right side was immobile, and he could not speak. My grandmother had to help him walk. He could mumble words but none we could understand.

When it appeared his end neared, Mom decided to ask him about his relationship with Christ. Tears puddled in his eyes and then streaked down the side of his face. He couldn’t tell us he had asked Jesus to forgive his sins and be his Savior, but the tears evidenced he had.

Luke records an instance of another person whose tears also told a tale. Jesus enjoyed a meal at the home of one of the religious leaders. As they reclined at the table and enjoyed the meal and fellowship, a prostitute ambled in, walked over to Jesus, let her tears fall onto His feet, and wiped them off with her hair as she adorned His feet with perfume.

Simon, the religious leader who had invited Jesus, objected to this “sinner” touching Jesus. Jesus lovingly rebuked the Pharisee for not washing His feet and then told him that the woman’s tears told a tale—one of repentance, confession, and forgiveness.

Some of us cry outwardly and some inwardly. Some don’t mind when others see our tears while others think it “unmanly” or “unwomanly” to let others see us cry. Whether we show them or not, tears are one way we show gratitude for what God has done for us through His Son on Calvary’s cross. Tears also reflect our sorrow over sin or other unwise decisions or actions we’ve taken. Cross words. Unjustified anger. Unforgiveness. Selfish acts.

Cleansing comes when we confess our sins to Christ, and there is nothing wrong with letting our inward cleansing show with outward tears. They reveal the state of our hearts.

Don’t be afraid to let tears show the state of your heart.

Prayer: Father, may our tears show us and others the true state of our heart.

Tell us about your favorite family tale. 

Tweetable: What do your tears tell? 

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Bottled-up Tears - Martin Wiles

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8 NLT

With a 6 ¼-ounce glass Coke bottle, he defrosted freezers.

With few exceptions, such as at grocery stores, my grandfather knew nothing about putting ice cream in freezers that didn’t need defrosting. The ice cream freezers his company donated to customers—or the ones the customers themselves owned—were not frost-free. Over time, chunks of ice accumulated on the sides, making it difficult to stock the boxes of ice cream in them neatly.

When the ice reached a certain level, my grandfather would look for an empty Coke crate in the store. These were the days when a person could return empty bottles for a small deposit of money. Store owners kept the empty crates after they put the bottles in the distributing machines.

My grandfather walked to the crate, picked up a small Coke bottle, and went to work, using the bottom of the bottle to knock the ice loose from the sides of the freezer. Within five minutes, he had defrosted the freezer and tossed the ice outside in the hot sun to melt.

Nothing like a good bottle. I remember when companies first put their soda products in aluminum cans. I hated it. It changed the entire taste of the product. Then came plastic bottles. This improved the taste a little, but nothing tastes like a soda—or any other drinkable liquid product—packaged in a bottle. The product also stays colder. Give me a bottle any day.

The psalmist enjoyed bottles too. Not for drinking, but because God bottled his tears in them. He had many sorrows during his lifetime—as most of us do. But God took note of them and bottled them up.

God does the same for anyone. He loves us with unconditional love and notices our life’s sorrows. Some tears He sends to mature us or to stretch our faith, but many come because we live in a sin-infested world where things break down and go awry.

But God does more than notice our sorrows. He bottles them, giving us the strength to endure each one, no matter how intense they are. By depending on the guidance of His Spirit, we discover the strength to put one foot in front of the other when we don’t think we can. We grieve, but we keep moving until things change—or until we accept our new norm.

Coke bottles eventually increased in size, and God’s bottle is large enough to handle all your tears. Put them in His bottle.

Prayer: Father, thank You for bottling our tears so we can move on with life.

Tweetable: Are your tears bottled up? 

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Joy from Tears - Martin Wiles

When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. Psalm 84:6 NLT

The tears flowed only inward—if then.

I grew up in a home where tears rarely appeared. I never remember my father crying—not even when he performed his grandmother, mother, and father’s funerals. Nor when some church members he pastored treated him in unkind ways. Perhaps he did when he had his quiet moments with God, but never in front of me.

Nor did I ever witness my mother cry. Not when she lost her father and mother. Or when one of us three boys would do something stupid that got us in trouble. Or when one of our marriages fell apart. No tears of sadness. No tears of joy.

I suppose my parents got this honestly because I never saw their parents cry either—and I spent enough time with both sets of grandparents to notice.

So, I followed suit. No tears. Not outwardly at least. But I was a crier. Inwardly. When I watched a sad movie. When a pet died. I’d secretly wipe the tears, hoping no one noticed them streaming down my face.

The change came when Dad died. As the music played at his funeral, I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. They flooded from my eyes. Loud wails pushed from my throat. I’d never experienced this type of grief before.

According to the psalmist, those on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem would find joy even as they passed through the Valley of Weeping.

God has a way of bringing joy from tears—tears we shouldn’t hold back in times of sorrow and in times of joy. Society once taught boys not to cry. Doing so wasn’t manly. Perhaps my grandparents taught my dad that. But tears bring a cleansing to our souls, especially in times of sorrow. Our pent-up emotions are released. Stress is released. Tears help joy return.

Tears demonstrate empathy when we shed them for others. They also demonstrate our trust that God controls the situation bringing the tears. We trust His judgment … and timing.

Tears don’t mean we’re happy about what we’re crying about. Happiness and joy differ. Happiness depends on the circumstances. We can experience joy regardless of the circumstances by remembering God is in control.

Go ahead. Shed those tears. God will gently dap them away and give you a new perspective.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the tears that cleanse our souls.

Tweetable: Have you discovered joy from tears? 

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Just Trust - Martin Wiles

Series: The Things We Say

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT

Just trust God, and everything will work out for the good.

The Porters were college friends we had a common bond with: we were both from South Carolina. They also had two children who were close in age to our two. One of which was our daughter’s “boyfriend.” 

As so often happens, we lost track of them after graduation. Several years later, I received devastating news: their daughter had been killed. She was riding a bicycle—which was a little too large for her, rolled into the path of an oncoming truck, was struck, and died from the impact. 

Our family was stunned…and heartbroken. When I called to express my sympathies, the mom—with a broken voice, said, “We’re just trusting God to get us through this.” 

I’ve heard enough religious platitudes in my lifetime to fill a small book. Some of them biblical, some of them not. Some well-timed, some ill-timed. Telling someone to trust God and everything will work out for the good happens to be true. How, when, and where I say it should be carefully considered. 

Everything that comes into my life won’t be good. 

I’ve also experienced enough regretful things to fill a book. Actually, they have. Several, in fact. Having good things happen continuously wouldn’t necessarily cause me to trust God more. When things go well all the time, I have a tendency to trust myself instead of God. Bad things turn my focus on Him. Some turn a bitter focus, but others—myself included, turn a longing focus. A longing to know why and a longing to know how I should respond. 

As I look back on the unfortunate things I’ve experienced, I also see how God brought good from them. The lessons I learned when I responded correctly are innumerable. My trust level in God rose as did my degree of faith. Since the consequences of bad events tend to hang around—sometimes for years, I’ve been able to continually see God bringing good things from bad circumstances. 

God is a good God who wants His children to experience good things—even if they have to come through unpleasant circumstances.

Trust God to manufacture good out of the bad times in your life. 

Prayer: Father, we have faith that You will turn the bad in our life into good that will spur us on to spiritual growth and bring glory to Your name. 

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