love in a hug

It is true that in general our family is an island.  We do mostly everything alone, without the help of others.  We do not have hardly any close friends and not much support from anywhere.  This has not always been the case, but as of now, it is our reality.

Recently a family has begun watching my kids on Tuesday mornings.  Julie claims is it good for her dad to be around them, but it is truly a huge blessing and ministry to me.  She willingly takes them and loves on them for several hours and I get things done around the house, I even have had the privilege of watching TV while folding laundry. 

She herself had four kids, so I am certainly that she knows the huge ministry it is to me.  I am so rundown, so exhausted, and sometimes so done with life and this act of kindness on her part has been rescuing to me. 

This past week she sat and chatted with me for several hours, she asked all the right questions to get me to open up and made me feel like she really cares.  It was nice to have an adult conversation and have someone there for me who wants to know me on a deep level.  She understood me, and could see my pain, sorrow, and overall stress.  Not only this, but as she has also lost her mom, she really truly gets me.

When I left this past week, she gave me a hug, simple as it may be, and when she let go she had love and tears in her eyes.  I left there with this feeling like someone actually loves me and cares about me.  It has been a really long time since I had anyone care about me, not out of obligation, but out of genuine love for me and my family. 

I am so grateful for this family, for Julie, and the way they have loved us.  She opens her home to my kids, feeds the little monsters (which is no small task), and is also ministering to my broken heart.  Thank you God for sending someone to me! It feels like a Christmas miracle.