oh how He loves you and me!

Tonight was "back to school" night, where the parents meet the teachers and can get a better feel for what a normal day entails. So, I got to stay at the house with the kids, running races on the skateboard and video-taping the winners doing a victory dance. An evening full of fun, I couldn't help but spend time thinking about how proud of the kids I really am. They are better every day...kind of like my whole life.

Cecil awoke this evening after being asleep for only one hour, and as I went to comfort him, he was waiting for me with his arms wide open. At the risk of sounding hyper-spiritual, I couldn't help but draw parallels. Life imposes upon us a moment of reckoning where we suddenly break in the midst of our surroundings, no matter how grand they may be. We are automatically acutely aware of our need for Him, and stand with arms wide open, lifted high above the bars of our cell block, awaiting His arrival. When He comes, we sigh with relief, but still stand overwhelmed, tears rushing down our cheeks. Just as I cradled Cecil, He cradles us and whispers softly to us, knowing that we can't yet hear Him speaking because we are too consumed by the fear erupting from our souls. He rocks us, He sways to the silence of the night, slowly adjusting us in His arms until we are most comfortable. As we latch onto Him, we begin to move as He moves, to settle our lashing hands, to quiet our raging cries, to hear Him softly singing. The voice bids us come near, and, as Cecil did tonight, we reach for His face, wanting only to touch it and know that it is real. We never realize how He did it, how He knows better than we do, how He draws us near to Him, but we know that we are free from loneliness, free from fear. And, no matter how hard we try to escape, to move, to leave, he sustains a perfect grip on our soul that holds us firmly against His breast. We are safe. We are His.

I began to hum the tunes to 'Oh, How He Loves You and Me!' as I remembered how much Cecil's cries reminded me of my own. His tiny torso tucked so warmly and so tightly against mine, reaching to touch my face, reminded me of how small I stand. But, no matter how small I may be, He still hears me loud and clear. Sometimes, it is the smaller things that are the most significant.