I lay back on the bed staring at the sunlight shining through tiny holes in the tin roof. I could hear the raindrops pounding against the tin. We had been sitting in her room talking for nearly an hour, talking about her family, life, and the things that the Lord has been speaking to each of us. I whispered,"You inspire me to be braver, to not let fear hold my heart back. Do you know that?"

    My sweet friend was abandoned by her mom as a baby. She longs for, but has never known, the love of her mother. She lives with family whom she loves desperately, but who do not love her well in return. The wounds of

her heart run deep. She struggles with abandonment and rejection. She often feels unworthy and unloved.

   And yet there is a courage that lives beyond the hurt. There is a love planted deep in her heart that gives her the courage to keep stepping out in faith. She is a young woman who believes in the power of love to restore and reconcile.

    Despite all the rejection that she has felt from her mom, she decided to risk her heart a couple of months ago to go and offer forgiveness to her estranged mother (read the story in Whit's blog: The Girl Who Walks Whole).

    After this day of forgiveness, she still continued to experience rejection. Her mom promised to come for her birthday and never arrived. She waited for a mom who once again let her down. Her heart again felt the stabbing pain of abandonment. At this point, most people would give

up. They would let go of the hope for their mom to come through for them. But not my sweet friend. She continues to risk additional wounding as she reaches out in love. She returns  to her mom's home trying once again to reconcile their relationship. This hurting heart has an immeasurable capacity to love.

    I'm not that brave. I find within myself a tendency to become self-protective. When facing inevitable hurt, my heart automatically withdraws and begins to protect itself. 

   She inspires me to love more unconditionally while trusting the Lord to protect my heart. She is a girl who loves without reserve. She continues to love when others cannot or don't know how to love her in return. Her heart is brave. She embodies the heart of her Father. She lives forth the verses in Ephesians 5:1-2: "Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."