Crying Without Reservation

First, I'm proud to say that today my husband and I are celebrating our 5-year anniversary. On the 8th of this month we'll have been together 10 years! Unbelievable. In many ways my life isn't out of the ordinary. We live in the suburbs, have a baby, go to church. If someone had told me this would be my life at this age, I would have laughed. I didn't know what was in store for me but surely not marriage at such a young age (22) and a baby not very long after (27). Needless to say I'm very happy. God knows what He's doing. I'm excited to see what else He has planned for us. Happy anniversary, hubby!

                                                                              
Ever since I gave birth, I cry over just about anything. And not even about sad things or bad things but about joyful things too. I watch A Baby Story and without fail, when the baby is safely delivered and squawks for the first time, I cry! There's also a Pampers commercial I love.

                                                                                                                                
It makes me cry EVERY TIME.

But I cried a lot before my baby, too. When I was a kid, my mom just had to look at me and I would start crying. I remember in kindergarten my teacher asked me why I colored so fast and didn't take my time. I cried. In high school I was taken down to the principal's office for skipping school. I cried. When I said my wedding vows. I almost cried. When my daughter was baptized. I struggled to keep it together.

Some people think that crying is a sign of weakness. Women should never cry at the workplace because then they're over emotional and can't really deal with what's going on. And no one will forget that you cried. Some people think crying is a form of blackmail. That crying gets you what you want. Some people think that crying isn't being rational. That you're responding irrationally to the situation at hand. I used to believe these people. Until I was reading my bible one day and came across the story of Jesus and Lazarus. Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters, sent for Jesus when Lazarus was dying. He came a few days too late when Lazarus was already dead. And you know what Jesus did? He wept. The Son of God, second person in the Trinity, the God-man, the Word made flesh, God, cried. He mourned the loss of his good friend. Maybe he didn't know he had it in his power to raise him from the dead at that point. Regardless, he obviously loved Lazarus and felt his absence deeply.

                                                                                       

So I figure if the only perfect person to ever grace this earth saw fit to cry and cry without embarrassment or hesitation, why shouldn't the rest of us?