Psalm 126

I am blessed beyond measure. There are so many joys in my life—and one of the greatest is my wonderful husband David. In so many ways, it feels as though he and I were truly made for each other. We share deeply-held views on everything—from God to politics to education to parenting. I have never met (and am sure I never will meet) another person who seems to be my match in every way.

I can’t imagine my life without David.

Yet, when I reflect on my life’s journey and how it led me straight to him, I couldn’t help but think of today’s blog title: God turns tears into joy. That’s what the psalmist wrote: “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” (vs 5-6)

But it’s one thing to say those words and quite another thing to experience them. So I thought I would share just a bit of my personal story with you today. Without belaboring the point too much, let me just say I had an academically rough childhood. After about nine weeks in first grade, I was advanced into second grade. I was pulled out of my group of friends and thrust into a new group where, of course, I was automatically seen as “the nerd.”

It didn’t help that, even then, I was usually so quick with my schoolwork that I spent a good deal of time doing “special projects” assigned by my teachers. I may have been doing a lot of work—but all it looked like to the other kids was that I got to do “special” things (like go to the library) when nobody else did. “Nerd” became “nerdy teacher’s pet.”

And it also didn’t help that my older brother was in this grade. I can see now how that must have been a total invasion of his space. Let’s just say that I wasn’t “feeling the love” (although I found out later that, behind my back, he was fiercely protective of me and ready to punch anyone who so much as looked at me cross-eyed). Added to all of this, I was an awkward late-bloomer at just about everything else. (And I still am!)

Needless to say, I spent the better part of my pre-college education feeling like a total outcast. Perhaps, in light of major things like child hunger and world peace, the loneliness I felt during those years wasn’t that big of a deal. Of course, it seemed like a big deal at the time! But what child doesn’t feel lonely and left out from time to time?

Once I got to college, the world opened up and things were much better. Still, those early years continued to haunt me. It took me a while to see that God had turned those deeply-hurt parts of me into something beautiful.

The year I graduated from college, I was offered the opportunity to move to England for a two-year broadcasting internship. Not only was it perfect timing because I was graduating, but it was also perfect timing because I couldn’t find another job! And believe me, I looked hard! I didn’t want to go to England, but every other door slammed right in my face until—with time running out—the only remaining door was the one that went to England.

So I went to England for two years. And that’s where I met the one God made for me.

It wasn’t until we were planning our wedding a couple of years later that I reflected on how I came to be in England at just the right time and in just the right place to meet my wonderful husband. Because I skipped that grade in school so many years before, I was graduating from college the year that a two-year internship was available… instead of graduating a year later, when it wasn’t.

Talk about turning tears into joy! If that’s what it took to get me to England at the right time, I don’t begrudge one lonely moment. In fact, I’d go back and live all those days over again, having seen just a glimpse of how God weaves all the sorrows of our life into a tapestry of utter joy.

I know this is a very small example of what the psalmist was talking about. There are deeper and more sustained sorrows in this life than feeling like a fish out of water, but if God is so faithful in the small things, how much more will He be faithful in the big things! No matter how many tears you have cried, God can and will turn every single one of them into joy!