Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Gift of Tears

Her face resembled the 'wound up tight' picture that I drew for Father Charlie last week. I noticed a warm and cozy Tigger blanket with her luggage when she arrived for registration. The kind I like to curl up in. So before opening prayers Thursday night I sat beside her. I recognized the tightness in her face, the look that said she didn't know what was coming down the pike for the weekend and how the uncertainty of that unnerved her. We talked of her blanket, her husband that had given it to her, the girls who waited for her return home. As we talked I got the faint whiff of alcohol on her breath.

And as the weekend unfolded so did she. It was beautiful and heart wrenching too. Tears were under the surface so much of my weekend. The pain in women's hearts touching the pain in my own. To see transformation happen is a gift. To see this woman break down in uncontrollable tears showed me her courage. So many times in the weekend I wanted to put my own head on the table and sob. The tears a mix of the pain I felt radiating from those around me and my own.

In the quietness of my heart I prayed for this woman all weekend. Thank you for your prayers for me during this time. With a few time outs for much needed sleep I made it through. My own heart touched with reminders of His grace every time I turned around. I got a card from a complete stranger on the weekend....it spoke of things only God knew.

"His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

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