Do Things that Make Your Heart Ache
Do things that make your heart ache
Give life everything you have
And then some.
Love people vulnerably
Heart wide open
Hands serving
Arms hugging
Energy giving
Ears listening.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Until you feel like you’ve been wrung out
Like a wet rag
Until you’ve cried tears
from deep places
Until you’ve loved in ways
you didn’t know possible.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Let your heart be brush burned
By beautiful people
By heart-wrenching stories
By children’s smiles
By words of truth
By late night belly laughter.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Imprint your heart
With deep conversations
With hugs from strangers
With watercolor painting with kids
With practicing new languages
With silent tears streaming down.
Do things that make your heart ache.
And in not being afraid of heart ache
Your life will be full
Of a million memories
Of extraordinary places traveled
Of songs sung
Of poems written
Of laughter
Of weeping
Of stories listened to
Of stories told
Of knowledge gained
Of countless lives touched
Of people, precious people.
Do things that make your heart ache.
---------------------------------------
I cried so many tears throughout this trip to Colombia, and I’m usually not a crier. Even before I left for my trip, I cried when praying over the trip because my heart was so full of love for the Colombian people. Yet, I still had a choice to make. Do I shut down the deep emotions and stuff them inside of me or do I embrace them and become even more excited for the journey?
I recently read this quote for the first time and it stuck with me and burrowed into my heart, especially on the trip:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Hours, before we left Colombia to come back to the states, silent tears started streaming down my face. I couldn’t pinpoint a reason why. I just felt my soul welling up with tears and emotions. So, I let myself cry. Off and on for 3 hours, I cried. It was so good. It was like all the cracks and hardness in my heart was filled with healing tear water and making the soil of my heart more tillable and workable for God.
Proverbs 22:26 says, “The righteous gives and does not hold back.”
This applies to our love and kindness towards people. We have to love vulnerably, genuinely, and generously. Don’t be afraid of heart ache – you can survive it and thrive in it! Boldly go out and do things that make your heart ache.
Do things that make your heart ache
Give life everything you have
And then some.
Love people vulnerably
Heart wide open
Hands serving
Arms hugging
Energy giving
Ears listening.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Until you feel like you’ve been wrung out
Like a wet rag
Until you’ve cried tears
from deep places
Until you’ve loved in ways
you didn’t know possible.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Let your heart be brush burned
By beautiful people
By heart-wrenching stories
By children’s smiles
By words of truth
By late night belly laughter.
Do things that make your heart ache.
Imprint your heart
With deep conversations
With hugs from strangers
With watercolor painting with kids
With practicing new languages
With silent tears streaming down.
Do things that make your heart ache.
And in not being afraid of heart ache
Your life will be full
Of a million memories
Of extraordinary places traveled
Of songs sung
Of poems written
Of laughter
Of weeping
Of stories listened to
Of stories told
Of knowledge gained
Of countless lives touched
Of people, precious people.
Do things that make your heart ache.
---------------------------------------
I cried so many tears throughout this trip to Colombia, and I’m usually not a crier. Even before I left for my trip, I cried when praying over the trip because my heart was so full of love for the Colombian people. Yet, I still had a choice to make. Do I shut down the deep emotions and stuff them inside of me or do I embrace them and become even more excited for the journey?
I recently read this quote for the first time and it stuck with me and burrowed into my heart, especially on the trip:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Hours, before we left Colombia to come back to the states, silent tears started streaming down my face. I couldn’t pinpoint a reason why. I just felt my soul welling up with tears and emotions. So, I let myself cry. Off and on for 3 hours, I cried. It was so good. It was like all the cracks and hardness in my heart was filled with healing tear water and making the soil of my heart more tillable and workable for God.
Proverbs 22:26 says, “The righteous gives and does not hold back.”
This applies to our love and kindness towards people. We have to love vulnerably, genuinely, and generously. Don’t be afraid of heart ache – you can survive it and thrive in it! Boldly go out and do things that make your heart ache.
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