Get the Heart Started

Happy Thursday!

This past week has been quite the ride with my Dad's hospitalization over the weekend, trying to get the Haiti health kits put together and shipped, and all of the other ministry expectations that come along. In it all, I have been humbly reminded of our humanness, our sameness, and what brings us together. I have been reminded of the importance of our relationships.

Sounds kind of funny, huh? That I needed to be reminded of the importance of being in relationship? It's not that I had forgotten, it is just that it had been glazed over in the hustle and bustle of daily living. The depth of our relationships to one another and to Christ is life-sustaining in the difficult times.

When I got the news about my dad late last week, my job was to keep all of the family informed. A big task when I was the only one in Colorado at the time and we have a big family! When word got out to my church family, the love, care and support was overwhelming. When word got out to my larger church family (the Conference), I felt the depth of our connection again. While nobody could do anything to "help", per se, it was the feeling of not being alone and experiencing the strength of the prayers that made it more bearable. It brought hope and peace.

When I think about our sisters and brothers in Haiti and seeing the response around the world, my prayer is that it will create a deep connection with the plight of the Haitians and that our connection with them as God's created people will help us realize that we are all in this life together. Maybe our "help" (offering humanitarian aid, prayers, health kits, money and other resources) will be used to create bridges of understanding and bridges that build relationships, not just buildings and infrastructures. It is those relationships and those connections to something deeper than ourselves that will bring hope and peace back to that land and even back to our own.

It all starts with the heart and our willingness to live from the center of our hearts as we walk hand-in-hand with each other.

In what ways is God reminding you that your heart needs to be started again? Is there a relationship that needs tending? A relationship that needs to begin? Is there a deeper connection that needs to happen with God? Has your heart stopped? If so, allow God to help it get started again.

Loving Lord, You are the heartbeat of our world and I want you to be the heartbeat of my life. Start my heart again that, through it, I may love more abundantly, connect more deeply, serve more passionately, and live more freely! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.