God Grants The Desires of Our Heart

Funny the lessons we learn from children's books. One of my favorites is "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney. Perhaps it is because I spent so much of my life just wanting to be loved and wondering if anyone could really ever love 'me'.

In April of 2013 my eyes were opened through a simple gesture. A Hug.

~~"I love you as high as I can reach," said Big Nutbrown Hare (as he reached to the sky with his strong arms while standing on his tippy-toes)

“That is quite high”, thought little Nutbrown hare. "I wish I had arms like that."~~ [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

With a Spring’s chill filling the evening air and the sun lazily hiding below the tree line, the business of the day began to subside leaving my thoughts a bit more settled. Sitting in my usual place on the sofa, I was swinging a toy slowly back and forth for our kitten, ‘Buttons’, to practice her pouncing for the day. Little by little I had wandered to the opposite end of the sofa next to my husband without much thought for the man who I know loves me dearly. Instead, I suppose and I really don't quite know or remember, my thoughts had become caught up in the never-never land beneath consciousness where the dreams of my heart’s desires dwell. Truth being told, our week had been filled with the ups-and-downs and loopdy-loops that circle our spirits at times. Maybe these somewhat crazy moments that create the haze we sometimes operate in had come about for such a time as this. A time when my heart abandoned the cares of the world and sat silently longing, just as Little Nutbrown Hare, to 'have arms like that'.

While Buttons pounced and I sat dreaming, my husband was quietly watching. It wasn’t the clumsy practice of a kitten that moved him though. Perhaps it was his knowledge of the trials I would soon face and the strength he knew I needed to portray to all those around me. Maybe, despite appearances, he knew that no matter how strong I thought I needed to be, I really needed the strength of ‘arms like that’. I like to believe something bigger than both of us moved him because, unaware of time, distance or just how present he had been, I found my heart in the warm embrace of the strongest arms I know. As my husbands arms held me close and the evening chill vanished I realized just how divine these little moments are.

Simple yet profound … a whisper in time, God’s own desire softly met the aspirations of my own heart.

Excerpt taken from:

1. Sam McBratney, Guess How Much I love you (Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2008).