A young child’s joy when Daddy comes home from work . . . there’s nothing like it. Decades later, it still seems like yesterday. I’d rattle the door and here they’d come, all three kids screaming to welcome me home. Every 6 p.m. was a celebration.

Josh loved squeezy and shaky hugs. Leslie wanted me to twirl her around and bellow, “Daddy loooooves Leslie.” Caleb would hang on my leg as I walked around the kitchen. Even our dog, Abbey, got in the act, leaping and yelping until she too got my full embrace.

Funny how things change. Although Abbey never quite got over the thrill of a door rattle, my kids soon came to their senses. Their age and my cool index were an inverse relationship. The older they got, the less cool I somehow became.

But there was always one thing I could count on – a wife’s embrace.

Granted, I’ve been attracted to my wife since college. (Her little cheerleader outfit didn’t hurt … just sayin’.) But at some point, men learn that a hot wife doesn’t necessarily mean a great life. Thankfully, I got both. After all these years, Anna loves for me to come home and receive her love.

Our daily five second reunion feels like five hours. Work worries melt away. Relational and money problems are forgotten. In that moment, nothing else matters. We’re together again. Her embrace calms me when I need a chill pill and charges me up when I need a boost. As she stands on her tip toes, reaches her arms over my shoulders, and presses in, time stands still.

I can’t earn or deserve her love because she’s already chosen to give it. Her love flows from, and reflects, her love for God. She hugs me that way because she’s already hugging God that way. With that kind of love, I feel successful no matter how my job is going. No need to worry about home, because my home dreams have already come true.

Anna’s embrace is also a foreshadowing of God’s embrace. I can’t earn or deserve His love either. Like my wife, my Lord freely, liberally, and enthusiastically demonstrates His love. God’s Son gave His life for us and offers us an abiding relationship greater than anything on earth. Greater than a shaky hug. Greater than being twirled or carried. Even greater than a tip-toe embrace.

God can’t wait for us to come “home” too. One day, all of God’s children will enjoy His embrace in a grand heaven reunion. But until then, I get to enjoy a daily foreshadowing of God’s grand day … a wife’s embrace. Then again, the best way for kids to want to be faithful to a loving God is for them to see Dad be faithful to a loving Mom.

Questions:  What or who gets your warmest embrace? If married, how are you embracing your spouse today? And if a Christian, how are you embracing your Lord?