Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Tuesday, March 16
By Harvey and Kayla Carruth, April 1, 1979
Have You Hugged Your Kid Today?
Read: Romans 12:9a,10 (The Living Bible)
The popular bumper-sticker whose inscription appears above brings a haunting question to mind. Have you noticed how quickly time passes and before you know it those you love are suddenly “just not around anymore?” The one who used to be the baby is now into soccer and basketball-diapers and baby bottles are things of the past. Our little girl is suddenly eleven and going on eighteen! Family members are located hundreds of miles away. Parents, who never grow old, have joined the ranks of the retired. Even close friends are frequently transferred and move far away.
How often do we fail to express the love we have for family members and friends? Do we just assume that they will know we love them? To be sure, we have only the best of intentions but somehow those important words go unspoken until it is too late.
In John Powell’s book The Secret of Staying in Love, there is an account of a man whose father has just died in his arms.
His mother looked at him and said, “Oh, he was so proud of you. He loved you so much.” As tears streamed down the young man’s face he realized that he wasn’t crying because his father was dead but rather because his father never told him that he was proud of him and that he loved him. The son was just expected to know the great part he played in his father’s life and the great part he occupied in his heart – but the son was never told.
What a waste! Why do we let it happen? How long has it been since we told someone how much we cared about them? Do so today – don’t wait until it is too late.
Prayer
Dear God, there is a wealth of unexpressed love in the world. Today, help us begin to say those simple but all important words that have for so long gone unspoken. Amen.
