His love for me is serious. He had looked me in the eyes and said, "This pain I've endured... This waiting for you.... This love... It was all worth it."
He met me again on my beach, and, having said this only a few days before, pulled out two kites. His grin was invitation enough.
I suddenly remembered that there was a small course of time when I was a little girl, during which I was fascinated by kites with all their shapes, and colors, and tails, and their mystery of flight. I remembered waking to windy days, wishing as only a child does for a kite of my very own. Perhaps it was Mary Poppins that sparked my wonder and delight. It feels like a long forgotten joy now, or one that I thought I needed to outgrow.
His capable hands carried our kites down to the water's edge; I say capable because anything that can hold this fragile, messy, passionate heart is surely strong enough to hold an object even the wild wind could carry away. He is mighty to hold my heart whether it's in pieces or pumping with life. I followed closely behind.
Another memory took me back to a day when I was probably 7 or 8 years old, running around my grandparents' backyard with a plastic kite I was the luckiest girl to come by. I'd get my little legs to going, and it'd fly up in the air for a few seconds at a time. After a few failed attempts and several successful runs, I met the disaster of all disasters for a hopeful kid like me: my kite lodged momentarily in the trees and ripped down the middle. Heartbreak fell to the ground. My parents assured me that we could get me a new one, but for that day it was over.
The salt air brought me back to the present. He handed me a perfectly crafted kite, made of red and pink canvas and strong birch spines running cross-wise in the shape of a diamond. The wind picked up and so did our mutual laughter. With nothing but air above—no trees to snag—our kites lifted as we kicked up the sand beneath our feet. I said, "I forgot how this feels, to play like this, to play with you... to delight in this."
"I always delight in you."
He said it like it was the most natural thing in the universe. This love spoke to my worth. Then this love spoke courage.
He looked at me again with those compassionate eyes. He said to me, "My Love, spread out your arms and all I have to do is breathe. You'll take off. You'll rise like this kite, tethered to Me. I've got you."
And I knew that it was true.
"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." Psalm 18:19 HCSB
"Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." Zephaniah 3:17 HCSB
"How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!" Song of Songs 7:6 NIV
No comments:
Post a Comment