Moving Toward The Light After A Breakup

About four years ago, my sister went through a really difficult breakup. Having had a multitude of struggles in my life, and seeing how she always seemed to know exactly how to be there for me, I knew that this breakup was my opportunity to pay her back in a way.

I did all the usual things.

I tried talking with her, praying with her, inviting her to visit me at college and taking her out for dinners and nights with friends. Were these things helpful? Probably. But to be honest, I had no idea what I was supposed to do or say, or how to act like during that time. No matter how desperately I wanted to, I didn’t know how to make my sister feel better.

It is the natural human instinct to want to care for a loved one when they experience pain. When a child falls off her bike, we want to bandage that wound immediately, give her a Popsicle and make it all better. But what happens when a physical bandage cannot bind a broken heart, and all a Popsicle does is remind her of their first date? How can we best care for the ones we love in the midst of relational heartbreak? After four years of walking through healing with my sister, I’m still not sure I can answer the question. So I thought it would be better if I let her answer it.

The follow is a clip from a segment called “My Story,” which was originally produced by The Anima Series. “My Story” is a series of testimonial videos where individuals share differing life experiences and testify to how God helped to bring them through. In this clip, Kayla Jorgenson talks about heartbreak, pain, darkness and the inevitable approach of the coming dawn. Her words speak a valuable lesson to any of us who are trying to walk through a difficult season with someone we love.

“We’re heavy in our pain, and it’s hard to get up and to push. But I’m the one who has to decide that I’m going to move toward the light.”