Tears

If you read Heaven's New Arrival, you know that a friend very near and dear to my heart passed away on Tuesday. I cried most of the day.

Today, I took my middle daughter to get braces and a butterfly (a crazy-looking contraption in the roof of her mouth). I had no idea what to expect because I've never had braces. She was a little nervous, but did fairly well throughout the process. And it helped that she loves her orthodontist (shout out to Dr. Boggan!). We were almost ready to go, and were told that the butterfly had to be turned. We didn't really have a clue what that meant.

As soon as the key went into the butterfly and started turning it, she started crying. I was little comfort to her. I couldn't tell her how long the pain would last. I really didn't know how bad the pain was. I just knew my baby was hurting, and I wanted to cry with her. It was breaking my heart to watch her cry and know there was nothing I could do for her. (We certainly weren't stopping the process at that point!) I calmed her as best I could, and walked away. I think if I had stayed by her, I'd have done more harm than good. I let the skilled technicians (I assume that's what they're called????) take care of her. When they finished, we were on our merry way. Well, maybe not so merry since she was still crying, but on our way, nonetheless.

I thought about how I had cried all day on Tuesday. My husband tried to comfort me as best he could. But he was really no help. My Mom offered kind and gentle words, as well as friends. But, really, only God is the "skilled technician" in my case. He's the expert in life and death. He knows the sadness I experience in the loss of a friend. He knows why my heart is breaking. He knows how to comfort me. He knows how to make it all better. And my tears are so precious to Him that He keeps them in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). That alone is comfort to me.