I love holding hands…intertwining your fingers with another holds such sweetness. There’s innocence in holding hands laced with intimacy for the person your with. Depending on whose hand your holding there is either romance and heart flutterings or friendship which bonds people together. There is a sense of safety and knowledge that you are cared for and desired.
Thankfully for me someone wants to hold my hand everyday in the Philippines. Every single day I hold a hand, even multiple times a day, and multiple hands per my hand. The minute I step out of the door to our house someone wants to hold my hand. Those little someones are the precious kids that live in the community. Our team is staying a couple of doors down from the church we are working at and oftentimes I will have a child escort me from the house to the church and leave me with a smile and a wave.
These children have truly made this month worth all of the homesickness, exhaustion, and the emotional pain of the poverty around us. As the children call out “Auntie Jenni” and run up to hold my hand, my heart melts and the joy of the Father overflows from me. Even when I’m overwhelmed by 5 kids and several of them trying to climb me like a tree/jungle gym, which I’m not built to be, I love it. They run up and grab me around my hips and look up at me with glowing eyes and huge smiles, I love it.
The beautiful aspect of holding these children’s hand, I’m able to show them they are wanted, desired, and loved. As I hold little girls hands it’s fun to twirl them as they giggle. Wanting to show them more love, I started to kiss the hands I hold, disregarding the thoughts of their dirty hands. I give rapid fire kisses to each hand I’m holding and the kids laugh. One of the sweetest memories was after I started doing it for a while one of the beautiful little girls began to do it back to me, and now she will give me hand kisses before I do.
In my “tranquil time” with the Lord, I read Psalm 34:2, “My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.” My study bible led me to a note about this verse and I realized it exemplified how I feel right now about my Jesus.
As many kids think…I think MY daddy can do anything better than any one else’s daddy. I think the world of my daddy and that knowledge has increased as I’ve matured. As I’ve matured I’ve realized the intelligence, the servant heart, the manliness, the gentleness, and the love of my daddy.
My relationship with my heavenly Father has been similar. When I was younger I said my daddy was the greatest without always appreciating him and realizing the depth of the love He had for me and without fully knowing Him. Yet as I’ve grown in the awareness of His greatness, both in His love for me and His power toward me which made me more dependent on Him for His direction and strength. That "maturity" came from walking in the Spirit which opened this chasm in my heart and is being filled with glowing praise for my heavenly daddy.
As I've walked in the Spirit I feel giddy when I talk about my relationship with my daddy God and as I worship Him my heart flutters with kisses from Him.
I feel like I've been running up to my Father, wrapping my arms around His waist, grabbing His arms, holding on tight to His hands, looking up at Him with a huge and adoring smile…as He twirls me around, kisses my hands, and tells me He adores and loves me.
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Oh LORD,
magnify yourself within me, and let me exalt your name to ALL people. I sought you, and you heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. I looked to you, my God, and am now RADIANT, and my face is not ashamed. Thank you my LORD, my God
Amen
(Psalm 34:3-5 adapted into a prayer of thanksgiving)
Cheers to dirty hands, Steve, my heavenly daddy, hand kisses, and RADIANCE,
Jen
