Arms Stretched Wide

The other day I had the privilege of going to the park with my family. We had sandwiches and soda. The kids played on the playground and it was an all around picture perfect time. I had stopped at the store on my way out to pick up a couple of kites for our children. Neither of them have ever flown a kite, and it was a pretty windy day, so it seemed perfect. The first park we were at was nestled down inside a valley. There were occasional gusts of wind that would come down, but unless you had a great deal of string to get your kite up pretty high, there was no way you could really get one flying. After a while, we went to another location.

This open field was great for flying kites. The wind was blowing just right, there was plenty of room to run and no trees or lines in the way. The kids were having a blast. The cheap kites that I picked up at the store were taking a beating, but we kept making little repairs, and up they'd go. Tyler was very good at flying his kite and was having fun moving all over the field as he gazed up into the sky. After a while, even Grace got the hang of it and was allowed to fly her kite alone. As Tyler and I focused on his kite, I heard my wife holler in the background "oh no!" I turned to see my baby girl running across the field, her arms reaching up to heaven as her little kite drifter higher and further away. She had let go and the wind had taken it away from her. It was so sad to see her tiny frame running across the field, arms grasping for something that was never going to come back, and you could even hear her little voice yelling "come back, come back!" She wanted so badly for her kite to be back in her hands.
Have you ever thought about how God feels when He lets go of us? God gave us the ability to make choices - a free will - and we do what we desire with that ability. Sometimes we get caught up in the violent winds of life and drift further and further away from God. I can just picture Him, with arms outstretched, longing for His child to return to the firm, safe grasp of His hands. What would happen if His children began longing for Him with the same passion that my daughter longed for her runaway kite? What if we desperately yearned to grab hold of who God is, squeeze it tight and never let it go? How would that be reflected in how we live, how we talk, in our work and our relationships...and, of course, our worship? When was the last time you cried out to God, yearning for the touch of His hand in yours?

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13 (NIV)

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