The Little Things: Mending and Healing a Broken Heart
By KELLY PRESTON, Special to The Shopper
Voices were raised in frustration and the child stomped up the stairs. I had raised my voice for lack of obedience. The child had raised his voice in frustration that playtime was over and the bedtime routine needed to begin.
Reluctantly, the child made his way upstairs to shower. A little while later, I went up to the child’s room to talk, only to find the homemade Valentine I’d made for the child torn in two on the bedroom floor. I told the child this made me sad, and the child said he was sad, too. The child asked to be alone, with tears pooling in his eyes. I gave the child space, and I came downstairs with a broken heart.
Eventually the child came downstairs, also. With tears in his eyes, he handed me the Valentine that he’d carefully put back together with tape. The child said “I love you” and gave me a big hug. I told him that I love him, too, and that I was sorry.
I also told the child that like the repaired Valentine, God is the healer of all things broken.
A teachable moment for us both.
We all make mistakes. We all have pain.
We all have broken hearts at one time or another.
Yet in the midst of our pain and brokenness, God mends and heals.
He is the God who knows what a broken heart feels like, and He is the God who can repair all that is broken. But He often chooses to use people to help with the mending and healing.
In the words of singer/songwriter Matthew West (who did a concert a couple years ago at Unity Baptist Church in Newnan):
I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now, thought
How’d we ever get so far down, and
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, yeah, I created you”
Yes, God created us to help mend and heal the brokenhearted.
Can we fix all of the world’s problems? No. But we can make a difference, just like my son taping his Valentine back together helped mend my heart.
Speaking of HEART, here are some little things you can do to care for the brokenhearted:
Help. Provide help in practical ways like taking a meal or picking up necessary items from the store.
Encourage. Words or notes of encouragement can work wonders for a person’s heart.
Affirm. Validate the person’s feelings of anger, sadness, or despair without trying to fix the situation.
Reassure. Inform the person that he or she is not alone.
Time. Love can be spelled T-I-M-E, so spending time with a hurting person may be just what the doctor ordered.
What can YOU do to make a difference in someone’s life today?
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Kelly Preston is a nurse-turned-stay-at-home-mom to four amazing and energetic children. Though she sometimes forgets to buy toilet paper amidst their busy schedules, Kelly finds time to run RACE for the Orphans, a non-profit focused on supporting adoptive families. She loves Jesus, people, a really good book, and pondering the little things.
