Tears in a Bottle
Guest post by Laura Carnes
Psalm 56:8 – Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
When I was in college, my roommates and I use to joke that if God put all our tears in a bottle He would have to a have a mighty big closet to keep them all in. Tears in a bottle could have been the title to our college memoirs. Women have a reputation for crying a lot. Not sure that is really accurate, but in my case, it definitely seems as if I cry more and more each year.
I have been reflecting over this past year and looking forward to 2014. I think that this time of year is pretty good for that. Most people prefer to look back at the happy memories of the past, as do I. I love to think back at all the wonderful memories of 2013, but the Lord keeps bringing me back to this verse. I have thought to myself this question: If God were to label my bottles of tears for this past year, for what would my tears be shed? One’s character is very clearly seen by what brings them to tears.
This year I have shed many happy tears- tears of joy!! I have shed tears as I watched my son follow the Lord in baptism, wept as I watched teens follow the Lord in their choices, cried as I saw my kids playing and just realized God’s goodness and mercy upon my family. I guess I have dried my eyes just a few more times than I can remember at the sheer joy of knowing that I have a God who loves me and cares about every part of me.
Unfortunately, I admit that I also have cried about selfish, petty, prideful things. You know, when things did not go my way, or just being so consumed with my own problems or disappointments that I could not see my blessings. Tears would flow, but that again is usually what happens when you follow your own way. After all, it is a biblical principle. Prov. 16:25 – There is a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death. I cannot really expect to do my own thing apart from God and it turn out to my better. Oh, that I would have the mind of Christ and realize even in everyday things that God works all things for my good.
There have been tears of sadness as well. Tears when I moved away from friends and family, tears when my friends are terminally ill and going through so much miles away. There have been tears over the hardness of hearts against the loving leading of Christ. Tears at the realization of my own inadequacies. Even more, I have cried at the conviction of the Holy Spirit over sin in my life. Thankfully, those always lead me to tears of joy at the Lord’s forgiveness. Proverbs 28:13 he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. God is so good to us. I believe we learn the most about ourselves through our hard times. Times of a broken heart lead us to the one and only Healer of hearts. Though I have to say, though there were sad tears, there were surely more tears of joy than of sorrow.
If God were to take inventory of my tears, there is one type in which I would be lacking I know. Those tears that I truly hope I cry more of in 2014… tears for lost souls. I have struggled too much with not having a tender heart toward those around me, so caught up with my own little world that I fail to see God’s world full of lost souls bound for hell. Psalm 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Tears can be good if they are shed for the right reasons. They can truly be a tool to demonstrate our love and appreciation to God and others for the blessings in our lives. My goal this year is to cry more- cry more for what matters. More tears of love and joy, but also for souls. When you cry for godly reasons it ultimately brings smiles. My daughter informed me that she likes my face better smiling…and with makeup on it. Guess I need to work on smiling more…and wearing make-up more often, not just on Sundays.
My friend, what tears did you shed this year? Were they pleasing to God or just a reflection of self? God says in His Word that in heaven “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes..” Until then, I will keep racking up an inventory in God’s bottle of tears. I pray that they will be tears of growth, my gain, and God’s glory.
What made you cry today?
Project Simplify: Turning Goals into Reality
If you have not already printed these free goal-setting printables, you can do that now and work on determining the goals that you would like to reach this year.
Since the theme this year is “Project Simplify”, I thought it would be pretty silly to make some kind of complicated worksheet to help me determine how to reach my goals.
Instead, I am using a simple calendar.
If you care to use my simple method, read on and I'll explain how to make your goals become reality.
- Re-read your list of goals and determine how they can broken up into actionable items. For example, if you wrote that you want to memorize more scripture, you should decide which specific verses you want to memorize and by what date you want to have them memorized. Add that to your calendar. I want to memorize Colossians chapter 3, and I am planning to memorize one verse each week. So I have added “Colossians 3:1” to the first week of the calendar, “Colossians 3:2” to the second week, and so on.
- If you have long-term goals, break them down into steps and determine a deadline for each step. Add each step to your calendar. For example, let's say you want to re-decorate your bedroom. Give yourself a couple weeks to decide on the colors you want. Mark that deadline on your calendar and focus the next couple weeks on browsing Pinterest and magazines until you're sure you know what you want. The next deadline could be when you want to have it painted by. Then when you want to have the new curtains made (or bought). And so on.
- Make sure your goals are reasonable. I know many people suggest to aim high, but I'm going to suggest the opposite. You can always add more if you easily reach one goal. My tendency in years past has been to be all starry-eyed about the things I'm going to accomplish. Then when it's too much to keep up with I end up getting discouraged and scrapping everything. I'd rather choose a couple simple things and do a good job keeping up with them than to end up aiming too high and ending up accomplishing nothing.
See how simple this is? I bet I could sum up this whole post in one sentence. Let me try:
After assuring that your goals are reasonable, turn them into specific actions and add them to your calendar in the appropriate places.
In a few days I'll be sharing my daily planner (if you can even call it that -it's so easy!) and how I translate what's on my calendar into daily actions. But for now, go ahead and print your 12 calendar pages and work on translating your goals into specific actions you can put onto the calendar.
(And go ahead and add birthdays and other yearly events now too. )
Download here
For those of you who indicated on Facebook that you really could use some help in the organizational department, you will not want to miss the post where I share my daily planner! I'm calling it “The Planner for the ADD Personality”, or “A Simple Planning System for People who Hate to Plan” or something like that. It's working for me, and I've been pretty much hopeless until now.
Be sure you're subscribed to email updates so you won't miss it when it's posted!
Pretty Winter Vase
I just recently found out about the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club through a friend’s blog. She had done the cutest craft that she found on there.
After my Christmas decorations came down, I knew I wanted to make something to make my house look pretty for the rest of the winter. The Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club was the perfect place to look! The free club has new ideas every month that you can print and take with you to the Dollar Tree as a shopping list. They had some great ideas for January, so I was really excited to have the opportunity to create one of their projects as part of a sponsored campaign.
I decided to make a pretty winter vase. I figured it wouldn’t be too hard, and I knew I could find some fillers for it out of my backyard. I headed to Dollar Tree and found this vase that was a nice shape, brought it home, and got to work using the instructions on the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club website. 
I was so excited that this project went so quickly and easily – I am the queen of finding ways to mess things up and make them take forever! And all I needed was my vase, white paint, white glue, and Epsom salts. I painted the vase white,
let it dry (sort of – I’m a little impatient), then coated it with glue
and applied the Epsom salts. So easy, but pretty! The only thing I did differently from the instructions on the website was instead of rolling the vase in the Epsom salt, I ended up sprinkling it on after I applied the glue. I found that rolling the vase in the salt was scratching the paint off of it. That may have been because I was too impatient to let it dry well enough. But sprinkling it on went very fast, and I had complete control over getting it exactly where I wanted it, so I was fine with doing it that way.
I am so happy with how this project turned out, and I’m enjoying having my house a little less dreary for the rest of the winter.
Be sure to sign up for the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club for access to the instructions for this project and lots more like it! I already bought the supplies for another easy decoration that I plan to make for my bedroom.
What project do you think you would like to try first?
Giveaway Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the prizes from the book launch of Farewell, Fatigue! If you are on this list, you should have already received an email from me:
Grand prize giveaway – Andrea H.
Kerrygold Prize Package – Renee W.
Kind Bars variety pack – Rachel A. L.
Non-toxic Living eBooks – Karen G. D.
Real Food eBooks – Eileen H.
Boiron homeopathic sleep aid – Tyra N Blake W.
Propur Sport Filtration Bottle – Nikki S.
You’re Invited!
You are all invited to a Facebook party on Tuesday evening from 8 – 10 pm.
We will be discussing various aspects about my new ebook Farewell, Fatigue. There will be a lot of great information there for everyone, regardless of your current health.
And of course there will be door prizes and party favors!
RSVP here so you can get a little reminder before the party starts!
And, would you do me a little favor and invite your friends too?
Looking forward to chatting with you there!
Does Caffeine Make You Tired?
There are many things that can contribute to fatigue in your body. One of the most surprising things that may be adding to your fatigue is the very thing you are using to stay energized – – caffeine.
