The past few months, but most especially the last month,
have been very difficult for me.
My schedule was packed from dawn to midnight with an over the top work
schedule, freelance jobs, new transitions, my sister’s wedding planning/events,
and sadly weeks in the hospital visiting my mother who had become ill. Because of all this (and probably more)
I had become distant from the community I so love.
I hadn’t seen my roommates during this time and still only
see them for minutes on end. I
hadn’t talked to my friends during this time unless it was through a boring
text message. And worse of all, I
hadn’t been to church during this time.
Not only was my growth with Jesus on the back burner, so was my
relationship with my church community whom I love so deeply.
I will be completely honest with you, I have never prayed so
much in my life during this time.
Especially when I received that dreaded phone call that my mother was in
the hospital. With so much stress
and fear, my prayers never ceased.
But as far as growing my relationship with the Lord, that was as far as
it went. I didn’t have the energy
to read the Word. To get to church
or prayer meetings or connect groups would mean leaving my mother alone. It was really hard for me. I longed for my church’s community but had to sacrifice it for a bit.
Just last week, I had finally been able to catch a breath,
enough shut eye, and energy to leave the house and build my relationship back
up with all the people I had been missing. Fortunately, my church had a wonderful guest speaker (the amazing RT Kendall) come in and
preach for us. I attended the
Saturday morning service where I was greeted by all the wonderful people I had
missed.
You know, I thought I had cried myself out during all this
stress over the past months but when I reconnected with everyone from church,
the tears started pouring again.
Little did they know, though…
As I received hug after hug, smile after smile, love after
love, my eyes built up with water.
But the hug that surged love into every last blood vessel was from my
dear friend, Jesi. This very pregnant lady climbed over the bench just to hug me. Her face was lit up with the most
loving smile and warmth. I was
sitting down as she hugged me so my head rested so nicely on her chest. As her grip around me became warmer and
filled with love, my eyes filled with tears.
I had missed this love so much.
She didn’t know that while my head was rested in her big, pregnant
bosom, tears swelled up in my eyes.
It was just crazy how her little, twenty-second hug had
filled me with such love. This is
the community I love. The
community that is absolutely immersed in Jesus’ love that a simple hug
reignites that love in my heart!
