When God Breaks Your Heart

Many of you know our struggles with Levi running away. At ten, he has gotten so much better! But in his younger years, any chance he had to get as far away as possible would be taken.

When we first moved to Boston we lived in a house with a decent backyard. We hoped to utilize it in the warmer months for the kids. There was plenty of room to run around, have fun, and play games. The issue was that Levi was a runner, and the yard was not enclosed on one side. If he was outside, you could not just watch him like every other kid. You had to have eyes on him at all times, and it was even better if you were always within arms reach. And I don't mean eyes on him almost all the time. If you took your eyes off him for literally 20 seconds, he was gone. Usain Bolt was the second fastest human on earth at that time; second only to Levi.

We had to keep Levi safe and create some comfort for us, but also allow him to have a little restrained freedom. I had the idea to build a small fence to enclose one side of our yard. The problem was that I'm no carpenter. But I knew we had to erect this fence. So, I called some friends and over the course of a couple of days they built us the heaviest-duty fence in the neighborhood. But we had to test it. We let Levi play outside, and sure enough, within seconds he ran into this heavy-duty fence and gate. He did not give it a second look. He scaled it and was over. The fence was useless. The guys went back out and spent another day Levi-proofing it by removing all footholds and places to climb. Eventually, more than a fence, we had a fortress. It worked! Levi had a place to stay safe and play.

Allie and I saw an issue that needed to be solved and so we went about building what needed to be built. Have you ever seen a gap that needed to be filled? A need that had to be met? A mountain that must be conquered? Have you ever had an issue that was so heavy on your heart that you couldn't sleep? Nehemiah did.

Nehemiah learned that God's city lay in ruin, and he had to do something about it. But he was not in the right situation, he did not have the proper skills to rebuild a city, and he lived a thousand miles away. This was only something God was going to be able to accomplish.

Worship with us tomorrow as we journey through Nehemiah and see how we can take great steps of faith to build great things for the Lord through God's power.