sometimes you just need a snuggle ...

this is the first full week of school for kindergartners where i work. they’re in a new place, with a ton of other new people - really loud people, a ton of new rules to remember, and for some of them, this is the first time away from their parents. i would be crying, too.

oh, wait. i am.

yesterday i noticed a little friend crying on the playground. on top of everything else, this friend also hardly speaks a lick of english. poor thing. i got the teacher’s attention, and she came and sat with her student for a while. then, just as we were getting ready to go back in, the little friend hopped up and started playing again.

sometimes you just need a snuggle.



at the end of a long, hard day, how much of a difference does it make to see a smiling face, to be greeted with a hug, or to hear someone say ‘i love you’? how much better does it make things to just sit and rest in the presence of someone who makes you feel completely secure.

for thus says the LORD, “behold, i extend peace to her like a river ... “as one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.” (isaiah 66: 12-13)

human connection is absolutely critical. without it, children in orphanages fail to thrive. in genesis 2:18, God makes woman for man because He recognizes that “it is not good for man to be alone.” there’s no getting around the fact that we need each other.

but human connection is not always available. and it is never perfect. it is therefore so comforting to know that God has promised to give us peace and comfort.

be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (philippians 4: 6-7)

and if we have God, then we are called to extend the comfort that He has given to us.

the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. (isaiah 61:1)

will you be that smile, that hug, that expression of love to someone today?