Why Am I Crying? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley
On Saturday, I attended our annual church Christmas musical with friends. It was a beautiful story about a young college girl trying to discover her truth in life so she could put it into words for a class assignment. At one point in the play, members of the cast sang a medley of show tunes and famous movie theme songs. Two of those were “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music and “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. When I heard both of these beautifully presented songs, the tears began to flow. I asked myself, Why am I crying? I had heard these classics countless times before.
I realized I was weeping because of the combination of the show theme and my history with both of these songs. The two songs had great significance in my life as I was that young girl trying to find my truth. Growing up fatherless with only dreams to sustain me, it required hard work and mountain climbing to attend college without any money. It would be an upward battle to make something out of my life after living in years of dysfunction.
I also realized that those songs were two of the most significant pieces in my life. I have the sheet music for both, and still get emotional at times when I play Climb Every Mountain on the piano. The Wizard of Oz was one of my all-time favorite movies (I can mimic most of the characters) because I related to Dorothy who embarked on a great adventure, full of twists and turns down the winding yellow brick road. She also had to overcome evil attacks along the way, but persevered to find the answer to her dreams. That is indicative of all of our life journeys.
But why was I crying so many years later?
As I looked back in that moment, a flood of grateful tears overcame me because of the realization that after a rough start I discovered my truth and God did restore my life. I made it through college, a Master’s degree, and I am now getting close to completing a doctoral degree. He provided me with my own family, a successful career for many years, and most importantly, he showed me the way, the truth and the life through belief in Jesus Christ. That led to a call to ministry in the final third of my life—resulting in fulfillment of His ultimate plan for my life.
How have you seen God’s hand in your life over the year? There is no better Christmas gift than His restoration. Today I want to simply thank my heavenly Father for the dreams he gives us and acknowledge that it is through His mercy and grace that dreams really do come true.