What to do with Your One Broken Heart

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For several years now, I have been lost. Left with the pieces of a broken heart, I have fumbled through life as I try to heal. There are days I feel whole and there are the other days...the ones in which I grieve for what was once my life. So when I heard about Ann Voskamp's new book, I knew I had to read it. A book on brokenness? Yes. Exactly what I need.

I don't know how to proceed. You see, my brokenness with a family member and with a church I spent about two decades with has changed me. I am not who I was. I used to be the one eager to make connections with others. I used to want to serve. I used to want to have "community" around me. These days I am content to be on my own. I have struggled with what to do with those feelings. I simply don't know. I am more cautious in relationships. I want fewer connections. I am more focused on my family instead of the outside world. I am more dependent on a God that won't turn His back on me, manipulate me, or condemn me. Are these things wrong? Not necessarily. However, I have felt  I am living life small, in a closed circle. Letting others in is hard these days, because all I want to do is avoid the agonizing pain all over again. That's why reading Ann's new book, The Broken Way, has been good for me. Ann's one goal is to ask the question, "How do you live with your one broken heart?" It's the question I have been asking myself for three years now...

Can I tell you? Do I dare be honest? I didn't like Ann's answer. "You live with your one broken heart by giving it away." Precisely what I have not wanted to do. I have wanted to close in on myself. Stay safe in my own little world. Frankly, people are scary, and because of my life story, I find Christian women to be incredibly frightening. I don't mean to offend if you fall into that category (The irony isn't lost on me...I am a Christian woman...yep, I am scary, too.). It has just been my experience. So when Ann suggested that in order to live with your brokenness you must allow God to use it by giving yourself away I freaked out. Yet, I know she is exactly right. "Giving away the heart- heals the heart", she writes. It is exactly what I need to do no matter the fear that rises in me.

If you are living with brokenness...oh, how my heart aches for you. I understand the depth of the pain. Some days it can be insurmountable. Healing takes time, effort, and a willingness to face the events that broken your heart. It isn't easy. May I humbly suggest Ann's book? It comes out October 25th. (See TheBrokenWay.com for more details.) It is such a good read for anyone who is struggling. While you wait for the book to come out, check out Ann's post with a calendar on how to be the GIFT and give your heart away. In it, she gives you a daily challenge you can do to bless someone else in your life, because the only way to live with your one broken heart is to give it away.

Also, if you have been doing Think On These Things (my monthly Scripture writing challenge) with me this year, follow along in November as our theme will be "Mended". We will explore verses about brokenness and becoming whole. The downloadable file will be available October 24.

I wrote pages and pages of quotes from the book down in my faith journal so that I can go back to them later; however, I will leave you with a few of them now...

Let's rise to the challenge...because in giving our hearts away we may not only heal our brokenness, but also the heart of another...

I received an advanced copy of the book as I am a part of Ann's launch team for The Broken Way. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.