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One More Hug and Kiss

School has started back and so has the flurry of activities.  Long, lazy summer days are gone and the race has begun!  Packing lunches, laying out clothes, doing homework, soccer practice, ballet…  I could go on and on.  It’s exciting and exhausting all at once.  I love new beginnings.  A fresh start.  A chance to be more organized than last year.  More intentional.  More loving.  

I think there is something in us that longs for new beginnings and fresh starts on the inside, too.  My mind can get caught in the blizzard of the to do list, but then I stop and remember there is a place of fresh starts available every morning.  The bible says His mercies are new every morning.  He is waiting.  Calling for us to carve out a little time.  Not out of duty but so we can bring the empty coffee cups of our lives and he can fill us up with a morning brew of His love.  And energy.  And focus.   There is no way we can love all these people around us in our busyness if our cups are empty.

Every night when I tuck my girls in bed, we read stories, say prayers, and do hugs and kisses.  My little Alena ALWAYS says “one more kiss and love, Mom!” Then she says it again.  And again. And again.  And again… Well you get the idea.  And she says it desperately and fervently as if I have never given her a hug and kiss.  By this time of day I am spent and I hate to admit that the constant begging to keep me from finishing bed time usually makes me grumpy.  I just can’t hug and kiss her enough to fill up that place in her that needs love.  

Really, she is a picture of all of us.  There is no person or activity that can fill up that place in us that is longing for love and affirmation.  When we keep trying to stuff hearts with anything other than the Authentic, we come up empty and craving more.  Take a minute to do a heart check.  Can you dig down below the frenzy of activities to find that place of hunger?  Only Jesus satisfies.  

Not just as a religious figure or an idea.  But in reality the presence of the Holy Spirit longs to fill you up with His love.  In the deep empty places.  Heart satisfying.  Peace.  Take some sips today.  Close your eyes.  Block out the distractions.  And let Him pour in…  One more hug and kiss.  He never runs short or gets grumpy.  In fact, your asking delights His heart.





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