A touch of assurance

I just put Timothy to bed. It is always special time. Most of the time he prefers the night routine with his Mommy, but tonight it was just Timothy and me. Each night the routine is the same. We put on a Praise Baby DVD and Timothy grabs his blanket (which he has termed "My-My") and we snuggle on the couch. At the end of the video, we carry Timothy into his room and put him in his bed. He says "nigh-nigh" and we usually sing a soft song of praise or pray while rubbing his back. The important thing to Timothy is that we are touching his back. He doesn't care if it's a rub, a pat, or simply resting our hand on his back. If we think he is asleep and try to leave the room, he will reach out his hand and pat his own back. We will then go to him and continue to give him the pat on the back. I believe the reason he likes this is that he wants to know that he is protected; that he is safe. He wants the reassurance that even though it is dark and we will soon be leaving him alone in his room where he cannot see us, we still love him and are watching over him. We have a video monitor in our room so we can see when he is restless and is moving around. We are watching over him and can see him even when he cannot see us.

This serves as a reminder to me that God is constantly watching over us even when we cannot see Him. Tonight as I was in Timothy's room resting my hand on his back, I began to pray. Sometimes I need to feel God's reassuring touch. I need to know that He is watching over me and guiding me. I need to be in His presence and I need Him to remind me that He is not far away. I need a relationship with God like the one Timothy has with Kellie and I. Timothy loves to spend time with us. We play together, we comfort each other, we get frustrated with one another...but Timothy always comes looking for us. When we leave the room for more than a minute, he comes looking. When we go into the kitchen to do the dishes, Timothy comes looking for us. When we go into the room to check email, Timothy comes looking. How I long to seek God the way Timothy seeks us. How I long to be so in love with God that I cannot stand to be away from His presence. Oh, how I need to feel His gentle touch in the dark times of life. Thank you God for using a 21 (almost 22) month old child to remind me of how much I need you.