Top Five Things That Broke My Heart In 2012...

Top Five Things That Broke My Heart In 2012..

And How to Prevent Them in 2013

5.  People are not what they seem.

I think we all have images in our minds of how we see people, who we think they are and it hurts when you realize some are just not what you perceived. It burst your little bubble, it is like finding out there is no Santa Clause or Easter Bunny and you just want to know why anyone would lie to you about what is real and what is not! The fact is most of us are not as we appear. I have met people I thought were total buttholes because they acted closed off and aloof and downright unfriendly, but when I took time to get to know them…really know them….I found  out something awful had just happened in their lives. That is why they were acting weird--they didn’t want to meet another person they might love and then have to lose. Then and I have come to know others who I believed in completely and they turned out to be completely whacko. So we have to accept people where they are at the time and not make any pre-conceived opinions or hold on to first impressions. That will save us a heart break or two next year.

4. Religion is not what it seems.

I have decided I am not religious anymore…I don’t think I was ever really religious, I think I have been “Christian” for most of my life because there is nothing any cooler or beyond WOW than Jesus Christ…you just can’t beat His teachings-- so I am happy to say I am no longer religious but a stronger believer in Christ…so that is not what broke my heart. What broke my heart were all the people masquerading as “Christians’ who would kick Christ right out of their own church. Jesus loved everyone. He loved the sinner, the leper, the thief on the cross. He judged no one and just loved them all regardless of their sins. Some Christians had rather go have a Chick-fil-A sandwich in honor of someone who hates homosexuals than give a meal to a child…I guess because it makes them feel superior and separates them from those ‘bad people’. It broke my heart to hear people say or sing in one breath how great the grace and mercy of a loving God is and in the next talk about how He would also send people to a burning hell forever and ever and ever for loving the wrong person or committing a different sin from their sins. My heart broke to not see love come from those that say they love God…but I will continue to love God. Next year I hope I learn to love Him more and serve Him better.

3. NEVER talk about religion and politics.

Sure we have heard that all our lives but because I was raised in the backwoods…I didn’t know any better. Maybe because my parents never agreed on anything political and I learned more listening to them ‘debate’ than any school or college could teach me. I just assumed that everyone was like my family. That you could state your opinion about anything, disagree and then laugh and have a really good home cooked meal later. But that is just not true anymore. People identify themselves by their religious and political beliefs and if you disagree with either,  they feel you are attacking them personally. So my heart did not break because someone did not agree with me…let’s face it..I am pretty used to that….my heart was broken because they thought maybe I liked them less as a person because I did not agree with them. And the bible says if your right hand offends you…cut it off. I don’t think that meant literally take a sword and chop off your hand…I think it means nothing should be more important than letting people know that you love them. 

Certainly not your opinion about anything--even if you feel like it is important-- people will not really listen to you if they don’t think you love them first. My heart is broken by my own mistakes. Now that I realize that--I will be slower to speak and quicker to listen next year.

2. We Have Become a Christian Nation of Fear

Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Christian Fear.  It does not compute. There is a wildfire spreading across the United States of fear. Be afraid of the government, be afraid of your neighbor, afraid of anyone who looks different, acts different, worships different, if they even seem the least bit different. I worship a God who says, “Fear not”, so it all confuses me and I am sure it confuses those who do not know or believe in God. What are we so afraid of? We are ready to put armed guards around our schools, we think more guns will cut down on deaths by guns. We are buying up more and more ammunition getting ready for some sort of show down with somebody and we are teaching our children that the entire world is not a safe place to live. I don’t think the world has ever been a safe place to live. We are enraged at the deaths of 20 innocent babies and we should be but where is the outrage over thousands of deaths of innocent children we killed in wars we should have never been fighting? Do we just demand safety for those children who live within our borders, if and only IF they have a legal right to be here? Jesus came to save the WORLD—not just the USA. That breaks my heart and I am not sure what we can do about that next year. Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

1.      And the NUMBER ONE thing that broke my heart this year is….

I did not spend enough time doing all the things I should have to make things better. I spent more time on “me” than I did on the mission to help others. I thought I had it all right and that all I had to do was make people think like I thought and things would be better. So my heart deserves to be broken into a million little pieces and I need to pick them up and start over. I need to look at the ‘man in the mirror’ or "Ninja Squirrel Queen in the mirror"( hehe)  and start with me.  “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”…that needs to be my motto. I need to stop worrying about what other people are doing or not doing and sweep around my own back porch as Mama Bess would say.

Thank you all for listening to my ranting and raving and craziness this year. I can’t promise I will not continue BUT I can promise I will put forth more effort in the coming year. I will stop…I will pause..I will take a couple of deep breaths, count to 100,000… (maybe) and try to be a bit more understanding and less critical. Ya’ll better PRAY FOR ME…haha

May you all have the bestest New Year EVER!!!

~Squirrely Girl