Embrace

Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.  ~Jacques Prévert

There is something utterly magical about a hug.

Really, the above statement reads so trite to me compared to the depth of emotion that is packed into those words...

...it almost seems a shame to even write those words. 

I feel as though I am doing every hug in the world a mighty disservice. 

There is something remarkable that happens when one person puts their arms around another. 

It is inexplicable...

...and it's one of my favorite things in the world. 

Whether it's a loving touch from your mother after you've had one of the worst days of your life, and all you want is comfort...

... a soft caress from someone you deeply care about, and who you know cares about you more than anything else, and can feel when your heart is about to shatter into a million pieces...

...an affection-laden bear hug from a guy who's been as close as a brother since high school...

...or a still-awaited embrace from your sister who's only been in Germany for a month and still has another 2 months to go before she comes back home. 

Every last one of these touches has power in them.

The power to comfort.

To reassure.

To demonstrate the utmost of tender love and affection...

...sometimes more than words can say. 

If you're angry at a loved one, hug that person.  And mean it.  You may not want to hug - which is all the more reason to do so.  It's hard to stay angry when someone shows they love you, and that's precisely what happens when we hug each other.  ~Walter Anderson

Yearner

Yearn–verb (used without object)

1.to have an earnest or strong desire; longing

2.to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted

I rarely follow Facebook status trends. 

I'm one of those people who posts Owl City song lyrics, random thoughts that interest me, my blog posts... miscellaneous things of that nature.

I don't generally follow the stream of "re-postings."

But today, I saw a fill-this-in status that I just couldn't resist passing along to my friends. It was something along the lines of picking one word that best described me using the third letter of your first name.

Cheesy? Cliche? 


Yes, perhaps...


...but it was worth it, for reasons you will soon understand. 

Friends posted words such as "blogger" and "elegant"...even some complimentary words that I would blush to post in my own praise. 

But the answer I got from my mother, Joyce, inspired me more than anything. 

The word she chose for me was "yearner." 

They say that your mother knows you better than any other person in the world. 

In this case, I would have to agree with whomever "they" are...which I do have yet to figure out.

My mother knows that, ever since I was a little girl, I have been a yearner...

...filled with passion for everything I undertake, hitting everything head-on and never letting go until I see my dreams through...

...a heart flooded with love and tenderness for others, one that breaks when people hurt or when I am the cause of their pain...unwilling to let go until their tears dry and their hearts begin to mend, regardless of the detriment to myself. 

 

This can be to my benefit...but it can also result in my own heartache. 

It's part of who I am, really. 

I hold on tightly, and I never let go. 

I love as hard as I can, and I refuse to let anyone suffer alone. 

Yes, my mama does know me best...

...because I am indeed a yearner.  

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:3-6

Separate

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

There are so many things about life that confuse me.

The cruelty of separation is one of them.

It's a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around. Why is it that those people who mean the most to us are generally so very far away?

I am surrounded by friends who are involved in long-distance relationships, or are simply kept from seeing the one they love for one reason or another. Having dealt first-hand with the struggles of being in a relationship with someone living in another state, I know exactly the ache that creeps in from time to time.

It's not even those with whom we share a romantic connection that feel so very far away at times. I live with my husband and see him on a fairly regular basis; however, the rest of the people I care about are spread far and wide. Some are much closer to me geographically -- as close as a ten to fifty minute drive -- while others live in different states or even in other countries. Some are even as far away as Heaven.

So why do we do it? Why do we endure the separation from those people that mean the most to us, and still fight it out, even in the most complicated and crucial of moments?

Because it's worth it.

We do have the blessings of modern technology through cell phones, email, and social networks to keep us connected to those we care about. But even those things fail us sometimes...

...how many nights do we go to bed with a heart twinging with the familiar ache of distance?

...the wish that we would hear the lilt of that familiar voice or catch a whisper of a too-long silent laugh?

Separation is hard. The fingers of loneliness and the chill of missing are very real.

...but then, does that not make the reunions all the more sweet?

"All days are nights to see till I see thee,

And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me."

~William Shakespeare, "Sonnet XLIII"