Have you ever prayed this prayer? I gotta tell ya. If you pray the prayer of, ""Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours," out of a genuine concern for humanity and desire to help change the world for the better... you better get ready!!
Kind of like the Led Zeppelin song "Whole Lotta Love" -- God will start showing you that there's actually NOT a "whole lotta love" going on in this world right now.
I want to start off by encouraging you to watch this live performance of Johnny Cash "Man in Black":
"I wear the black for the poor and beaten down. Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town". - Johnny Cash
I love this song for so many reasons. First of all, it's because he actually CARES about the HEARTBREAK that he sees in the world. You can hear it in his voice. You can see it in his eyes. HE CARES.
Towards the end, he points out that we need to "make a move to make a few things right".
I don't know about you, but I'm ready to MAKE A MOVE.
Listen, THIS is the kind of world we're living in: I went to Starbucks yesterday and as the barista handed me my coffee- all I asked her was, "How are you doing today?"
She literally almost teared up and said: "WOW, No one has ever asked me that before. You are so sweet, thank you for your kindness!"
Okay, WHAT!?
SOMEONE. ANYONE. Please tell me WHY/HOW people forgot how to be HUMAN!? How to CONNECT with each other in REAL LIFE?! Why is the barista who interacts with countless people everyday almost tearing up when I simply ask her, "How are you doing today?"
So, yeah. I would suggest that we START THERE. At the level of:
Basic. Human. Kindness.
And while we're at it, let's start loving ourselves a little bit more also, kay? Don't forget, when we have a FIRM FOUNDATION (rooted in the love of Christ), then we will be GOOD TO GO to help others. If you need some Self-Love reminders, head over to the "Love" page. Always remember, once you really start BELIEVING in yourself, then nothing can stop you.
Then, once we've got the whole basic human KINDNESS thing somewhat down, then we can take it to the next level of reaching out to the broken-hearted people of the world. The "least of these". Or whomever God is calling you to help.
And yes, I know that there are a lot of people that need help in this world. And we may not be able to help them all. But can you help just ONE person today? It reminds me of the "Starfish" story. I could never tell it as good as this guy- (what a heart of gold this guy has!)- so head over to this link on Reclaim13's website (anti- Human Trafficking organization) and play the DRF Plumbling - “The Starfish Story” video.
(PS- there are many amazing Anti-Trafficking organizations out there in the MUCH NEEDED fight against human trafficking. If you are able to help this cause, PLEASE DO).
Today, I want to inspire you to try making a difference in just ONE person's life each day.
Pray this prayer with me: "Lord, please help me start to SEE the people that need to be SEEN the most."
I know this post is getting long, but let me just tell ya about Steven real quick (PS- If you ever read this, bro, you gotta tell me how to spell your name correctly. Is it Steven or Stephen?) Anyways, today I was getting my coffee (YES, again - please don't judge. I have 2 small children, work full-time, and somehow do THIS in my "free time"...)
Today, I SAW Steven. There I was. Getting my espresso fix. And there he was. Standing on the corner, holding a sign in his ONE good arm (he's an amputee). I saw him.
So, I prayed. Just asked God to SHOW me what to do. The main thing that I ended up doing was stopping to acknowledge him.
Let him know, "Hey, I see you."
Let him know that I care.
Asked him his name, told him I'd be praying for him.
And what an awesome guy Steven is!!! (PS- I hope you're out there reading this someday, bro).
This really touched my heart today and I started looking up different perspectives on how to help people that are experiencing homelessness.
PLEASE, watch this presentation by Ed Kirwan on "The Simple Way Everyone Can Help the Homeless":
And also, just one more website to check out which I also came across and found helpful:
^^ (Also what an awesome foundation and story)
But alright, alright, alright. I hope this post inspires someone to start getting your heart broken about some of the stuff that's going on in this world...
And in the meantime, I'll try to "carry off a little darkness on my back" <3
"Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything's okay
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
'Til things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black"
- Johnny Cash
And for now, at least I know I'm also trying to teach my 4-year-old about the importance of KINDNESS, as well. We just read this AMAZING children's book at bedtime tonight about planting seeds of kindness:
Oh, and I started telling him about Johnny Cash, too.... :-)
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