Broken Hearted - by Jace Hassoldt
There is so much sadness and pain in the world. Many have hardened themselves to it, and look with indifferent eyes upon the outcast, content to live in their spoiled suburbia lives. At times many of us, including myself, think that we almost have to develop an indifference towards the poverty and heartache around us, after all, there is so much of it in the world, so what can we do. We go through our lives, complaining because “how dare Wal-Mart be out of such and such” or “I can’t believe every copy of that movie is rented from Blockbusters!” In essence, we are 100%, over the top, out of control, immeasurably, spoiled, self centered, and enthralled with ourselves, our life, our cars, our toys. I do not claim to be above any one else, I am just as self-focused as the majority of the people on this planet. Just the other day I found myself beyond angry, because I was stuck in traffic and going to be ten minutes late somewhere. How can I wake up in the morning, look at myself in the mirror, in my 3-bedroom apartment, walk down to my Dodge Charger sitting in the parking lot, and drive off to my full time job, and even begin to think of gripping about a single thing in my life.
We are called to be heartbroken for the things that break the Lords heart. If we can look around the world and see the pain and suffering, and still walk our daily lives untouched, then we are completely out of tune with God and with his heart. How can we see pictures of children, covered in dirt, barely wearing clothes, starving and dying, and yet we flip the TV channel, or turn the page in our magazine. We should be WEEPING at the sight of such things. We should have such an overflow of emotion that it humbles and breaks us where we stand. A child that did nothing, in no way deserved any of what life has handed him, who was born simply into a broken and shattered world. A child left on the streets, unloved, sick, hungry, abandoned, who may never even know what it is to feel the comfort of a hug. Think about it, to that child a hug would be a luxury. It would be the lone show of love and tenderness that child may ever receive.
Two years ago I traveled to Durban, South Africa, for a missions trip. While there we worked on an orphanage that was run by a pastor in the area. One day they got a call from the government saying there was a child that needed picked up. We drove into the middle of shantytown, and got to the lone building there, surrounded by barbed wire, and picked up a three year old boy that had been abandoned. As we got in the car he had the stare of a person that had seen a lifetime of pain. He wouldn’t touch you, wouldn’t smile, would laugh or play, he just sat; his only belonging the shirt, pants, and stuffed animal he had with him. Through the next week I held the boy every day at the orphanage, I played with him, walked with him, talked to him, and each day the smile on his face would grow just slightly. By the end of the trip he would not let me put him down. No matter where I went I would have to carry him with me. When it came time for us to leave I set him on the ground and tried to walk away, but he chased after me and began crying. He grabbed my leg, pulled on me, screamed, but I had no option. As I left I turned and looked back down the hill. In the middle of the yard stood this boy, he looked up at me, crying, and dropped to ground. Never in my life have I seen such heartache and sadness. That boy knew I was leaving and would never be back, and with me went the only love he had ever been shown in his life. To this day I can remember it like it was yesterday, and I can’t think about it without weeping.
I have gone on to long, and rambled I’m sure. So I will simply end with this, we should live each day broken hearted for those around us. And we should remember that even the smallest display of love could mean everything to a child
Wow! That was very moving. Beautiful Jace!
ReplyDeleteWow, beautifully written and painfully true. I pray that this stays fresh on my heart.
ReplyDeleteoh this makes me cry, so well written.
ReplyDeletebeautifully written with a sincere heart for the "least of these". my heart breaks daily for these children, and hearing the story of the 3 yr. old boy gives me some insight into what my younger (now adopted) son might have felt in his tiny heart being abandoned--lonely, scared, clinging to an anchor of love & security. Praying that more eyes are open to the poor, oppressed & abandoned of this world and that ACTION is taken to help & show God's love to them.
ReplyDeleteSweet Jace...beautifully written. So mature to reveal his heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jace, for the reminder to ask God to break our hearts with what breaks His.
Thank you for posting this. It is good to be reminded that there are others around my age that share in God's heart for the orphan.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful soul you have shared with us! :) My heart is crying with yours for this little one left behind! ....
ReplyDeleteHow precious and how totally convicting! What an awesome testimony to your parenting Shonni that your son is so senstive to God's heart!
ReplyDeleteShonni- I gave you an award on my blog. Thank you for spreading sunshine my way!
Celee
Awesome post. And so true. Any one of us could have been born in another country and be in the same position as that little boy. We are all so blessed to be born here, and we need to be thankful for that every day and use that to help those who weren't born into privilege.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jace for sharing your story- your experience in Africa- it does break my heart. You are right, we cannot be hardened in our own world. Our heart and our actions need to continue to work for the orphans. We need to be God's hands here in earth.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely amazing--soooooo true. What a moving post, my friend. Like his mom, he is a FABULOUS writer.
ReplyDeleteLove you.
Shonni You are so blessed to be able to call this amazing young man your son.
ReplyDeleteJace, I only pray that my boys grow to have a heart of compassion like yours. It's so true what you write. In this part of the world we focus on trivial things rather than the things that make God's heart ache. Just today feeling tired and finding myself moaning about vaccuming I had to stop myself and ask for God's forgiveness because I'm blessed with so much, more than I need, so many of us myself included loose sight of the big picture. Thank you for this post, I will make sure my husband and all my boys read this.
Thank you for such a tender heart. I know it pleases the Lord. If you could pass this heart around to others in your generation that would be wonderful... blessings to you...
ReplyDeleteDawn
wow.
ReplyDeletespeechless!
ReplyDeletethis is a awesome post jace! i love it when you put stuff up on mamma's blog!
ReplyDeleteKalyn
What Jace says is so true. We are so spoiled that we don't recognize it, and then we complain when life doesn't suit us perfectly, while many are suffering day after day. What are we going to do about it? I'm asking myself right now, am I doing enough?
ReplyDeleteWOW! That was amazing! I am in tears! How old is your son? So neat!
ReplyDeleteWell Shonni. What an amazing son you have. Loved it!
ReplyDeletePowerful!!! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your beautiful heart with us... Everything you said was so true, I pray that we will all take it to heart.
ReplyDeleteMany blessings...
I am so encouraged...there are not many young men with a heart so full of compassion for those around them. Jace, thank you for sharing this. God will work this compassion even more deeply into your heart, as you seek to know and love Him more. He is the Wholly Compassionate One.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sarah
I follow you, although I don't always comment. I was going back through some of your previous posts and came upon this one. I was moved to tears. Your son is a brilliant writer.
ReplyDeleteIt shows how tender hearted his mother is. Only a boy who is loved, guided in the lord, and disciplined grows up to be such an amazing man! I can see such great parenting in his words! You are one lucky mother :))
Thank you Jace for those amazing words.
I've been meaning to read this post for a while...so glad I did!!!
ReplyDeleteYour son definitely has a heart for children...
He seems wise beyond his years....
I am sure the Lord has big plans for him!!!