Sometimes, things don’t go the way we want. Sometimes, things get all screwed up. Sometimes, all we need is a hug.

The child inside us asks nicely, and, receiving no recognition, begins to wail loudly. Then, before you know it, you’re curled up in the fetal position, said child kicking and screaming for all she’s worth. And all she needs is a hug.

I spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about others, about how they’ll respond and what they’ll do and why they’ll offend me. I waste away, thinking about this and that, focusing on things outside of myself.

I ignore the nice asking.

I forget to give a hug. Or maybe I forget to receive a hug.

Instead of worrying about those external things, which God is taking care of anyway, I need to be thinking about how I can make MYSELF better, about how I can be more receptive to what God wants me to be doing. I need to pray more, to reflect better, to reach higher. I need to do a thousand things internally, and when I’ve done those, there will be a whole different set of goals. (This is not to make things seem hopeless. This is to demonstrate just how far I have to go!)

Sometimes, I just need to take that hug God’s sending my way.