MY HUSBAND'S TEARS



I grew up in a town in Texas where I heard many times that "real men don't cry." Many fathers went out of their way to try to make their sons tough, and some even ridiculed and punished their sons for crying. But it was okay for women to cry, and since I have always been very tender-hearted, there
were many things that brought tears to my eyes.

When my husband and I were married, over fifty seven years ago, there were usually just two songs sung at weddings - "Because" and "I Love You Truly." But I wanted different songs at our wedding, and after we were pronounced
husband and wife, our pastor prayed a prayer for us, and my favorite soloist sang "Have Thy Way." The words were:

Jesus, see us at Thy feet,
Resting in Thy presence sweet.
Lord, our love was born of Thee,
Thine, alone, we'll be.

Have Thy way, Lord, have Thy way,
This with all our hearts we pray.
We'll obey Thee, come what may,
Dear Lord, have Thy way.

Lord, we give to Thee our all,
Let Thy Spirit on us fall,
Bless our love, and seal us now,
As we take our vow.

Have Thy way, Lord, have Thy way,
This with all our hearts we pray.
We'll obey Thee, come what may,
Dear Lord, have Thy way.

I was extremely touched by the song, but I will never forget looking 
over at my dear husband's face and seeing tears in his eyes.

I read in the Bible that God saves all our tears, and I know that whether we shed tears of sorrow and hurt, tears of compassion, tears of empathy, or tears of joy, those tears are precious to the Lord.

Many times through our married life I have seen my husband's beautiful eyes fill with tears. Sometimes they are just happy tears, sometimes they are very sad tears, but the tears that touch my heart the most are the tears that come when he talks about the Lord - His sacrifice, the blood He shed, and the anguish He went through to pay the penalty for our sins, and make a way for us to go to Heaven. I will always thank and praise the Lord for giving me a tenderly loving and caring husband who shows his manhood by the tears he is not afraid to shed.

(c) Betty Jo Mings