Finding Hope (in Heartbreak)

Over the past few months, I’ve been rudely slapped in the face by reality.

It was in Romania that I for the first time saw child abuse and neglect firsthand, and felt absolutely helpless when I tried to stop it. In India I fell in love with my boys at the orphanage, only to have to leave them, knowing all too well that there is no one staying there to care for them and love them as I had. As I left, all I could think of was the overwhelming need for our boys to have families of their own who will love and care for them. There is such a great need, and yet I am only one person. My heart is torn…how can I meet these people and see these needs, only to walk out of their lives a mere month later?

Now we’re on our way to Thailand to work in the red light district with SHE ministries…and Romania and India have only been the start. I have no idea how my heart will handle the heartbreak that the months ahead will hold, but I came on the race to see what life is really like for other people. 

I refuse to live with my eyes closed to the pain and hurt and suffering around me, just because it will shield my heart from pain. 

To love means to hurt for those you love, and Jesus’ heart broke too, so my prayer is that he will teach my heart how to break like his. That I will learn to be his hands and feet, and how to show his love to those in need. 

Jesus, teach me how to let my heart break, but use me, use my broken heart, for something. Teach me how to have your hope even in the darkest of places. Teach me how to share your hope with others.