Broken hearts - Jesus Army Life

Broken hearts - I don't think I'm just talking about the love broken variety, though I guess they are the more popularly known type. Can hearts get broken over a long period of time,with small repeated breaks until they are entirely bent out of shape? Or is it just a sudden experience? Hope and joy and everything you built your life on suddenly being snatched away? I don't know, but I'm realising that it can be a significant and devastating part of the human experience.

How do you help someone rebuild their life when they can't find the juice to start again? I know people who have obviously been broken in their lives because something has happened to them through no fault of their own. They pick up their life and rebuild it, they keep a positive outlook, but you can see that something is missing, or at least you can once you've known the experience yourself.

So how do you fix a broken heart?

Open heart surgery?
Hope on a drip feed?
Life transplant?
Faith transfusion?
Joy cream for the itchy bits?
Love pills? (prescription only of course)
Or Amnesia anaesthetic? (which can strangely be bought over the counter)

photo bt Sister72 of flickr.com

Jesus Army Life - 'Go to bed for Jesus'

There's a lot to be said for a good night's sleep, especially if it is followed by an early morning walk. It's a wonderful thing to go out praying into the dark and see the light break through into a tender dawn as you do so.

I would prefer to be part of the bustling life that happens in every Jesus Army community house on a Thursday night - it's friendship evening so a big meal is cooked and lots of friends come round. However, I find that I'm pretty worn out at the moment, so I opted for an early night. And I feel grateful for it. Rather than snatching a few minutes of prayer I was able to stroll round the park and sort out some thoughts and questions with my heavenly Father.

By all accounts it was a fun evening though, with new friends (someone I met a year ago) and some joyful camaraderie. A chance to relax in the middle of a busy week.

photo by aphasiafilms of flickr.com

Jesus Army Life - Just need to talk

When you go through hard times, as I have recently, the most important thing you need to do is talk.

It's an interesting word talk - because it doesn't mean give someone a brief 5-point outline of your problem; it doesn't mean attempting to win an Oscar for looking miserable until a friend asks you what's wrong; it doesn't really mean dramatically entering a room and demanding that your friend stop everything to give you the next 30 minutes of their time (though if nothing else is working it's better to try this than nothing at all).

Among friends talking means conversation, obviously. It's about a sharing of emotions, ideas and opnions. It's about mutual affirmation and encouragement and, if necessary, a bit of a reality check.

So when did you last talk?

I have many friends, for which I'm very glad. I'm due to go for a walk with one at lunchtime, and I hope to catch another before dinner tonight. Friends make you a priority - which is important because when we're living in a fast paced life it's easy to forget important things. And when you're feeling negative, no matter how many friends you have, it's too easy to feel forgotten.

But the reality is we really can go through several days without 'talking'. Last night I had an hour's conversation with a friend just because they needed to share something that was on their mind. The chat did me a lot of good too and despite going to bed late I slept better than I have for a long while. I know I need more conversations like that.

I think I need to create a new standard message for texts on my phone: "Need to talk to you about some of the stuff I've been going through. Do you think you might have time later?" I'm going to do it now - it just might revolutionise my life.

photo by steveharris of flickr.com

Jesus Army Life - Old friends

I bumped into an old friend last night. He came along to the Jesus Centre and it was good to see him catching up with lots of people who have time for him - we had only been talking about him a few days before.

One of the things I've realised about life is that when you go out of your way to love people they seldom forget. People can come into your life and then leave you perhaps travelling across to the other side of the world, they may even slam the door as they go, but they never forget you. Sooner or later you will hear from them in one way or another and you realise they still think about you.

And that is one of the most wonderful blesssings I know.

photo by Joshua Rappeneker of flickr.com