"Do you know what a hug is?"

A wonderful woman of God once asked me after church "do you know what a hug is?" Thinking "of course I know," I smiled and said "Yes...?" And she laughed, and the conversation went as follows:

"No you don't! You're supposed to say no!"
"Oh, okay."
"Go on!"
"No, I don't know!"

After I said no, she gave me the best, and I mean the BEST, huge I have ever received. Now, I'm not the kind of person who usually says whether a hug is good or bad. One of my love languages is physical touch (The Five Love Languages), so I'm typically not picky when somebody shows me love with a hug. This hug, however...wow. It wasn't just Esther, a sister in Christ, showing her love for a brother. 1 John 4:19 comes to mind. "We love because He first loved us." Today, I have been pondering who God is according to what He has revealed to us through Scripture and how awesome He is. Obviously, the first thing that comes to my mind is love. I've written about God's love and how He IS love a few times before. This wasn't just a "so glad to have you missionaries here" kind of hug. This was a hug that clearly said to me and everybody else who received it "I love you." How incredible is that? After the first hug, we (the team) kept getting hugs from people in the church. People showing love who actually meant it. It's such a blessing to be reminded that love is real, and love is there for anybody who seeks it.

This world is so superficial and full of things that make us think that we're receiving love or fulfillment, but this tangible, genuine display of true love was mind-blowing. The Bible tells us that when two are three are gathered in His name, He is there. That Sunday in Iglesia Bautista Cristo Para las Naciones--He was there. Fellowship together wasn't just a compulsory Sunday morning thing. It was a gathering of God's children to worship the one who has given them life. 1 John 3:16 says "This is how we know what love is: Christ laid down his life for us, and we should do the same for our brother." Wow. We should love others so much that we are willing to lay down our lives for them! Honestly, I can admit that there are times when I don't feel that love. But we're commanded to. And it's not "I love you because I have to" kind of love--it's the real love that we give to others because of the love that Jesus has for us. My prayer is that He would teach me how to love like that; that He would teach me how to love like Him.

What I have just come to call "The HUG" kept coming to my mind today. It also reminds me of God's faithfulness. Today I woke up feeling lonely, and I was struggling with a lot of things from the past. God used this experience to remind me of not only the love we are to have for each other, but also to remind me of the love He has for us. If that huge demonstration of love was just a glimmer of how great He really is, I can't wait to be before His throne to experience Him in all his awesomeness. He is faithful in His promises, and for that I praise Him. Sometimes all we need is someone to just tell us that they love us. God tells us that all the time. What started as a hug was a vehicle for God to show me a glimmer of the love He has for me. Bondieu li Bon, tout nan. I can't stop saying this truth.