Tender Hearts and Tender Mercies

I feel like this is a recurring theme in my blog, and it's sort of weird to me when these kinds of posts are juxtaposed against ones like the previous post. But we all have our ups and downs, so we're just going to roll with it.

When I was in first grade, my teacher had a bulletin board she titled "All About Me," and each kid took a turn being spotlighted. I was first, like always, so at the very beginning of the year, my mom filled out the little information sheet for me to take to class. On the part where she was just supposed to write something interesting about me, she wrote, "[Miss Berrie] has a very tender heart." As a first grader, this was mortifying to me, but now I look back and am quite touched. Thanks, Mom! The downside to having a tender heart, though, is that it is susceptible to becoming what my mom calls "a very bruised heart." I know that because this weekend was one of those "Cry self to sleep. Wake up. Resume crying" weekends, and I am left with a very bruised heart. So you'd think I'd look back and say, "Man, that was a LOUSY weekend." But thanks to several tender mercies, it was not.

Usually I kind of like having some alone time to recharge, but on Sunday, I woke up feeling very, very lonely. I dreaded going to church, because I didn't even know whom I was going to sit with, but my darling friend Aunt Giraffe took me in, and for the rest of the day, I had company. I am never this popular, but all day long, I was not left alone for a second. I didn't even ask anyone to come over or tell anyone I needed company; they just came. It was a tender mercy indeed, for which I am very grateful.