What's keeping my heart alive?

In the midst of learning to love others, I get such a glimpse of the strength of God's love for all of us that it puts me to shame.

Who am I to be angry at being misjudged or mistreated when God deliberately went through misjudgement and mistreatment so that He could prove His love to me? Who am I to be angry or disappointed at others when God never tells me, "You failed to measure up. I give up on you"? Who am I to be frustrated at the process of growth when I myself am taking so long to grow?

Everyday I learn to love someone else, I see how much love it took from other people to get me to where I am today. How much patience others have lavished on me without once lashing out at me. And how much more love and grace I need to be poured out upon me daily, to fight the wars around me.

What's keeping me alive?

The knowledge that somehow, even in spite of all my crap and all the stuff that's been going on, God still wants me alive when I can't find any reason to keep myself alive.

Surprisingly, the people who are keeping my heart alive are the very ones who crush it the most. They are the ones who help me see the life struggling to push past death. They keep me so close to the heart of God that I can now see that the cry of God's heart for them is equally as strong as the cry of His heart for me. Right now, always.

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What's keeping me alive?

Dumpling feasts
Laughter
Unlikely friendships