The Kiss

Relaxing in bed on a Sunday afternoon, half way between sleep and alertness... Too comfortable to even  open my eyes though I heard him come in and lie down beside me. His spontaneous kiss came as a surprise. Cool lips that met mine in a unexpected moment of affection. He promptly rolled over and went into his own slumber, the hours of his work week and the emptying of self this morning at the worship service finally catching up and culminating in the glorious Sunday afternoon nap.

I lay there awhile reflecting on that kiss. And the thought came:
    God likes it when we love Him like that.

Those unplanned moments of sheer affection.

Sure, He appreciates the methodical, daily devotions (I think, maybe not as much as we think He does?)
And the planned times of prayer.
But oh, how sweet are the times when out of a heart simply filled with love and joy, we attempt in our feeble human ways to show Him how much He means to us.

Sometimes I try too hard. Forgetting I was His Beloved long before I even knew His name, much less how to praise it's glory.
And He loves me still. As much as ever.
                       A love that runs like a powerful locomotive, a crazy furious storm over me.
                                    Again and again.

It's okay to enjoy this a bit. To take this truth in and hold it and be with it awhile and let it fill me.
To feel the joy of His love for me.
     It's like water to all the thirsty places inside me, longing to be filled again.
I find the most life-giving revelations I get are not the new ones,  it's the old ones that I've somehow managed to forget.

I'll never grow so old

That I won't need Your touch

I'll never be so strong

That it would ever be enough

I'll never be so sure

Or wise in my own eyes

That I won't humbly come and say,

"I will always need You here with me,

Every new day, each breath I breath.

There is never going to be

Anyone else for me.

Show me how to rest within Your arms

A peaceful place within the storm.

For every moment that I am with You

Feels like coming Home."

Beloved:  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine. Song of Songs 1:2

I'm linking up today with...

To Be Kind

The words were on the tip of my tongue. My mouth actually open, when I heard a whisper,


                        "Be Kind."

My world at home is filled with the noise of four children and a husband that works from home, too. Noise,  I am used to. So much so that I've gotten pretty good at tuning it out to focus on whatever task is at hand.

     But a whisper... A whisper catches my attention.

My mouth snapped shut, swallowing my words hard. (They did not go down without a fight, but they went down.) Swimming up from memory came the fruit of His Spirit,
    
                                                       KINDNESS
                            PATIENCE
                JOY
LOVE        
       
I did a quick spiritual health check-up and realized it's an attribute that has been missing in me of late.
Kindness doesn't ramshod over others to express itself. Like patience and gentleness, it's one of the quiet graces, the kind not celebrated too often in the world we are sojourning through. And yet, it is a huge part of who God is.

What does kindness look like?

Today, for me,  kindness meant holding back words that were better left unsaid. I'm hoping that as I lean in to hear that whisper again this week, I can be teachable. Learning from the God of kindness, what it means to be kind.

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,   he saved us..." Titus 3:4

I'd love to hear what some of you have learned from God about kindness. Perhaps we can learn together.