Let your heart be heard- September 23rd

So I JUST posted my previous blog, but apparently I’m a verbal fire hose this morning. Last night before bed I had a song that we sang at the volleyball nights in Nairobi stuck in my head—sing along, by Christy Nockels, especially the line that summed up my heart for my kids in Kenya which asks “Great God (to) wrap your arms around the world tonight, around the world tonight, and when you hear our cries, Sing through the night, so we can join in Your song, and sing along”… This morning the lyrics were still on repeat in my head so I looked up the rest of the song.

The part that prompted this post in in the bridge and it asks God to “let your hope ring out, let your heart be heard”. This struck me in many ways.

I want Jesus’ hope to continue to ring out in Kibera—to be a tangible source of security and joy for my kids who lack security of basic needs. I want them to remember the stories Jennie and I were able to share from the bible and from our lives that show Jesus is the constant and is able to keep his promises. He is the only hope that lasts.

I also want Jesus’ heart to be heard—I believe that anytime we are touched by a story, moved by an example of sacrifice, love, pain, and joy—you know, the ones that go beyond “I scratch you scratch” generosity, love that had to be fought for and is sacrificial, and the pangs of empathy of hearing of loss, as well as the elation we share when someone we know has joy—it  is a tangible way for us to hear the heart of our heavenly Father. He shares his heart in the fact that we were made in his image, we love because He loved us and in our emotional heartstrings being tugged by the human experience.

The next, almost simultaneous reflection, was that I am a part of Jesus’ heart being heard. One way I can be responsible to my kids in kibera is by sharing their stories, the way their lives touched my heart, and by being the tangible example of Jesus’ heart for the orphaned, the widowed, the oppressed, the suffering, the poor, the children He calls to him. Part of my heart is still in Kenya SO I can share it with others and BE the way that God lets his heart be heard. He breaks my heart so it can be poured out as an offering, as a living sacrifice. Even this difficult time of re-entry is purposeful, it is a glimpse of the Father’s heart and love. I will never look at the passages that talk about caring for the orphaned, widowed, foreigner, and the poor with the distance that I previously did. The things I will share in coming weeks are not primarily about my experiences—they’re about proclaiming his hope and letting His heart be heard.