I've learned that Jesus is more present in my brokenness...than when I'm whole

As a child, I often cried easily. I got homesick and on one occasion I was so overcome with missing my parents that my dad had to drive across town to bring me home from my Aunt and Uncle's when I wouldn't stop crying.  I could not handle watching black people suffer.   As a 3rd grader, I wrote a paper 'growing up black' whereby I was able to project myself in the 1st person into the story. 

  In middle school, I wrote papers where I wrote from the first person as an embedded newspaper reporter reporting the events of World War two.  I remember my 7th and 9th-grade history teacher encouraging me to continue writing in this style as it allowed the reader to connect with my writing. 

 My sensitivity may also be the result of being bullied in middle and senior high school. Seeing how the effects it had on my life, I hated seeing others being bullied. 

Even when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, it was because I was moved by the torture this man took before and after being sentenced and finally being nailed to the cross of Calgary where he was left to die.

 The bullies who did this to him did not realize that God the Father would override their punishing blows and raise him from the dead.

 I was moved the night I received Jesus as my Savior after listening to the testimonies of high school students before making the bold move to 'open the door' of my heart.  

As I learn to listen to people through the years, I would learn that a lot of other people would face the same punishing blows of bullying I took.  I've learned that Jesus is above all my problems in this life, all of my physical and emotional pain, and he alone is the healing salve my life needs.

 Each time a friend dies, I 'm reminded of the powerful effects of God's words have on my life and in the lives of others who find themselves in the throes of deep emotional wrangling. 

I'm again reminded of the impact Jesus has played in my life each time I attend Church, even when I do not 'feel' like going. 

Yes, I'm proud to be a highly sensitive person.  It has given me the ability to relate to the suffering I see around me. Our Lord loves when his people have tender hearts for it is in those hearts his words are spoken.

 It is in the tenderized hearts that God is able to speak words of encouragement to help those who suffer. Just as the Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ "– Philippians 3:7-8