Among my favorite memories as a mom are those morning greetings I gave and got from my infant and toddler children. I’d hear them stirring in their cribs, calling to me in their own ways, their own language. “Come to me.” And I would. The moment I opened their bedroom door, they would look to me with arms opened wide and broad smiles that clearly called out, “Come to me.” And I would walk to their cribs with arms outstretched and say, “Come to me.”
They are among my favorites because they are so simple. I knew then that their needs would not always be that simple and that their joy at seeing me would not always be that authentic. I loved those early morning moments. I have kept them in my mind and heart.
Those moments with my children are like my early morning moments with my LORD. I stir. I seek the LORD. I call out in my own fashion, “Come to me.” And the LORD does. And I can hear in my mind, in my heart, and in my soul, the LORD’s assuring answer: “Come to me.”
I believe with all my mind and heart that the LORD is all-loving and all-present. But like my children, I need to start my day that way, crying out to the LORD without whom I would not exist and cannot live. And every morning, I start with that embrace. It is not the only time in any given day that I will utter that prayer. But it is my starting line for every day.
We who journey in faith, hope and love know that we need the LORD always and everywhere. We rely upon the LORD for life, for purpose, for strength, for help in difficult situations. We will find ourselves calling out to the LORD frequently, “Come to me.” And the LORD will come and invite us to “Come to me.”
One of my favorite sayings of Jesus, to no surprise, is Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
Until tomorrow, let us all love well.
AMEN! Thank you.