Child, there are things in this world that will break your heart. Things that will be so painfully difficult to understand. Things like babies who are abandoned at birth, which can shatter a heart into a thousand pieces, and haunt your memories as you try to reconcile them with your own circumstances and story of love, hope and safety.

Today, this is what shattered my heart. This soul-deep ache is unmistakable. http://vimeo.com/41412962

There are so many things I want you to know about this, dear girl. But what I want you to know most, is that there are certain things that are inseparable from the very heart of God and they should be part of ours as well. These things, they are people: the widow, the orphan, the poor. My Sweet Girl, when your heart is broken by the things that break the heart of God, you are heading in the right direction. When you choose to do something about the pain? You are the living, breathing, active hands and feet of Jesus.

We comfort others with the comfort we’ve received, Sweet One. Please, own your story. Seek healing for the things that have left your heart scratched and worn. The things that are unjust. Allow your heart to ache for those who suffer. Love them. Offer hope to those who live without what we have so generously received.

It will be hard, and it would be so much easier to live shallow and avoid these difficult things, but Child – when we are broken as bread, this offering to be given to others, the reward is a heart increasingly made whole. Don’t simply be the change you want to see in the world, but be an agent of hope and love, my Sweet Girl.