Linda and her husband Dave serve with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Indonesia. Dave is the Director of Operations as well as a pilot. Dave and Linda have two boys, C.J. and Ryan, and a daughter Hannah who is in heaven. Linda enjoys sharing through writing what God has taught her, engaging in Bible studies with other women, and learning how God is working in other people’s hearts and lives. For more information on their story, visit http://www.maf.org/ringenberg.
Why Sowing in Tears? Linda and her family have walked through the heartbreak and grief of burying their first child, Hannah Joy, when she was five years old due to an inoperable brain tumor. Linda also struggled with much depression along with the grief. Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” (NIV, 1984) The Lord showed her that tears alone don’t eventually bring songs of joy, but only when we are “sowing” seeds of faith along with our tears can we expect a joyful harvest.
Favorite Scriptures and Quotes
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
“‘If something is a possession and it’s taken away, you have a right to be angry. But if something is a gift and it’s taken, you use that moment to give thanks that it was ever given at all.'”
John Claypool, Tracks of a Fellow Struggler
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Sowing in Tears 