No shortage of water bottles in heaven

Don't think there are water bottles in heaven? Read this:

"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Psalm 56:8 (New Living Translation Bible)
I've got gallons of tears stored there. Perhaps you do too.

In Victoria last week, I was reminiscing while watching my brother get remarried. There is quite an age span between the two of us, so I don't remember him as a boy...just as a teenager. He was miserable and never spoke to any family members unless he had to. I wanted to crack his mean exterior shell, but he was untouchable. One day, when I was still a preteen, he left our family on bad terms and we did not hear from him for an entire year. I was heart broken. I inherited his bedroom and cried an ocean of tears over that year, kneeling at my bedroom window, staring into the sky over the park across the street. I prayed for my brother, wherever he was....that God would watch over him and that one day my brother would know God's love for himself and get past the hurt that was inside him.
He surprised us all by showing up on Christmas Day with gifts for all....acting as though there had never been a rift. It was a joyful moment for us all to see him. Pain and heartache would soon follow him however. He married a girl who began almost immediately to abuse him and it was soon evident to him that she suffered with a mental illness. We siblings knew nothing of this until 12 years later when he was able to confide the horrors he and his children had been living with as they tried in vain to stabilize her.
I filled many more bottles in heaven for him over the next several years, as he lost money, friends, and jobs. Somehow, he managed to get by under the debt load. Peace came finally when the abuser walked out of the picture.
And now that is, for the most part, behind him. This past weekend I watched him marry a wonderful woman who is so suited to him, and he to her, that it is amazing. She has lived through a similar ordeal, so they have each found someone who truly understands. They have both secured employment doing what they love. My brother's friends at the wedding told me that he is a godly man, gentle, kind, and full of wisdom and integrity. My brother? That belligerent teenager? Where did all that come from? (Pain is never wasted!) The latter part of my brother's life is now, like Job, far more blessed than the beginning!
Don't ever believe that your tears are unseen or don't matter. At whatever age you shed them, they are seen by God and they matter to Him. You may not think He is answering your heart cry, but rest assured He is....in His own time....in His own way.

"Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you. If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath. " Psalm 34:17-18 (The Message Bible)