Life in Words

I like puzzles. Mostly because they are good for my brain. They can become so frustrating as I try to make all the pieces work together. Some puzzles would be impossible to put together if I did not have the finished, big picture to refer to. Then there are those puzzles that are never complete because a piece or pieces were missing. When pieces are missing, I don't see the full picture. As a mother, I have learned many things that I would never understand had I never become a mother. As a woman, I understand/empathize with womanly issues more than any man ever could. As a sister, I truly value the relationship that can only exist between/among siblings. As a wife, I have gained intimate knowledge of just how difficult it can be to unite two people together completely. As a former student, I remember the agony of unending hours of homework and the unfairness of a major exam right after a break. Then as a teacher, I valued the time my teachers poured into me and my classmate...

John 11: 32-33&35 "Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. Jesus wept." As I was reading through this chapter and familiar story, I was suddenly struck with the depth of this particular part of the story. Jesus, being God, knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Not only that, but a few verses earlier, He even told His disciples what He was about to do. The death of Lazarus was not news to Jesus--nor, in my mind, do I imagine a very troubling thought to Him since He knew what was about to happen. So then, why did He weep? Why was He greatly troubled? Because He saw the deep pain of His friends. His empathy was SO great that even knowing what was about to happen He still wept with His friends. "Fo...