Just Cry!

As I look back at my blog posts about my caregiving days when my husband was still living, I find I hardly ever sat down and had a good cry. Since my husband, Wayne’s death I have cried a lot. I often experienced some very deep and negative emotions during my caregiving days especially as my husband’s disease progressed. I very seldom cried, however. As I look back on my blog posts during my caregiving days, I can find really only one time when I journaled about crying.

I think as a caregiver I thought I had to be strong all the time, and so I didn’t want to let go of my emotions and cry. I think many caregivers feel the same way, as I did. Seldom crying and letting those emotions come out of me was probably not the best idea, however. Crying occasionally is a good release for one’s emotions. It tends to cleanse the soul so to speak.

It is also good to cry out to God. We need to be honest with God about our every emotion even the negative ones. God knows our feelings anyway without us telling Him. Many of the Psalms in the Old Testament are Psalms of lament and crying out to God. In fact there are more Psalms of lament than Psalms of praise. As long as we are turning to God and drawing closer to God and not turning away from God in bitterness, it is good to cry out to God.

Dear Christian Caregiver, just let the emotions come. If you do not want to cry in front of your loved one who is ill, find a quiet and private place to do so. Also come to God in prayer, and cry out to Him. Cry if you feel the need. Just cry!