God keeps our tears in a bottle

You keep track of all my sorrow
You have collected all my tears in your bottle
You have recorded each one in your book
               (Psalm 56: verse 8)

It has been a very busy week for me! My new Book, "Shining Star: a light in the darkness of Iran, " has just been released and I am preparing for my book signing on February 19. I have also been back and forth to the post office sending the book out to all my Muslim friends around the world. In the midst of it all, I have also been working on the outline for the new book, "Tears in a bottle: seeing through their eyes." It was then that I noticed that it was time to update my blog. But what to write on? Hmmmmm. Then it dawned on me. What not preview the upcoming book?
.The title of the book, "Tears in a bottle" is drawn from a psalm that David wrote. David poured out his heart to God in both praise and tears. So he knew what he was talking about. David teaches us that our hurts, fears, laments and tears really matter to God. He knows about them and doesn't brush them aside or forget about them. He's not too busy running the universe to take time out and recognize our hurts and pains. This little verse says so much about God. It says God keeps track of our sorrows and is intimately concerned about them. In short, God knows when we hurt and doesn't forget about our pain.

 In the upcoming book, A Shite Muslim woman named Esther uproots her family and leaves Tehran bound for New York to begin a brand new life here in America. What she experiences and see with her own eyes is the cause for many tears. It's open season on Muslims because a group wants to erect a mosque near the site of where the world trade center once stood. Esther thought she was coming to America for a new life of freedom and prosperity and instead she encounters hatred, discrimination and a lot of sorrow and tears.Thus the reason for the subtitle of the book: Seeing through their eyes. In my upcoming book, we will begin to see and experience through the eyes of Esther, what it feels like to be hated, stereotyped and discriminated against. God will collect many tears in a bottle for Esther. Enough said, You'll have to wait until November to find out more. In the meantime, think about what I've just wrote and keep in mind this. God really does care about our hurts and sorrows. He is not a distant, faraway God. He's a God of love and compassion and remembrance.