This is one of those stories I never want to forget. It was told to me by my mom almost a year ago, and I am so thankful she was there to witness this...
About a year ago, we had a celebration at my church for my youth minister and her family as they were preparing to join a new church where she would be taking a new position.
The celebration was a huge success. Dinner was great and the show that followed had all of us doubled over in laughter and wiping countless tears from our eyes. The skits that we did were hilarious and the video that was done as a tribute to the Thomason family left not a dry eye in the building. As my friends and I walked down the aisle of the sanctuary singing "Goodnight Sweetheart," we were all crying and hugging each other. It was one of the most emotional times of the evening. A few minutes before, our committee presented gifts to each member of the family to commemorate their time with us. Beth and Tim have two daughters, Celia (18) and Sami (10). Sami received her gift first and had everyone crying from the start.
Larry, our committee chair, has been a father-figure in Sami's life since she was born. After presenting her with her special gift, he told her how special she was to all of us and gave her hug. And when he did, the little 9-year-old bundle of energy started to cry.
Now to interject, our Music Minister, Kristi Hill, and the rest of the Hill family are extremely close with the Thomason family. The Hills have three boys, Taylor, Parker and Noah. Noah is about 7 months older than Sami.
This is the part that my mom related to me. I was standing in a circle of friends and we were all doing enough crying for everyone, so I was a bit distracted...
After the celebration had ended, we were all gathered in the Narthex. As the Thomasons gathered to greet everyone, Sami was still crying. I'm not sure what Sami was feeling at the time. There's always the psychological debate about whether little kids cry because they're actually upset and feeling those emotions, or if they cry because the environment that they're in calls for it. Either way, Sami was emotional.
Mom said that she looked over and saw Sami standing there and and then she saw Noah (who is a good bit taller than Sami). Noah went over and put his arms around Sami and completely enveloped her in a hug. Mom said he just held her for a minute and Sami hugged him back. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
As we get older, we all deal with our emotions in different ways. When girls get upset, boys usually don't know how to react. Girls and boys deal with emotions differently, so we often feel helpless when someone of the opposite sex that we care about is hurting. We feel awkward or maybe even uncomfortable reaching out to them because what if we do or say the wrong thing? But then I think about that exchange between Noah and Sami. Noah didn't think about it. He didn't hesitate. He didn't wonder if it would be weird or awkward. He did the one thing that he knew he could do. He just hugged her.
I'm writing this with the title "the purist kind of love." Wasn't that it?
Love is a word that is both over-used and completely misunderstood. But in it's purist form, love is the one thing emotion that every single human being needs. We all just need to be loved. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that...
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
Sometimes I feel like that's one of the cliche Bible verses that everyone uses left and right. But other times, I feel like this is one of the passages that deserves to be heard over and over again. It perfectly explains what love really is about. Not just romantic love, but any kind of love.
The bond that those two children have is one that they don't fully understand, but the love that they have for each other was perfectly expressed in that one comforting exchange. There will probably come a day in the somewhat near future when Noah might wonder if it's ok to keep hugging his friend. They won't be kids anymore. There will be "feelings" involved and people wondering if it means something more than a friendship.
But tonight, I sit here as a college student who often wishes for no more than a simple hug from some of my friends when life gets tough....when your family is faced with new chapters in life, when family members grow old and face the challenges that come along with it, when you're faced with news from a doctor that makes you a little uncomfortable, when the stress of school and work and trying to still have a life becomes too much...and I pray that those children's hugs won't stop. That they will grow up and realize that often times, you say so much without saying anything at all. That sometimes love - the purist kind of love - really is all you need.
But tonight, I sit here as a college student who often wishes for no more than a simple hug from some of my friends when life gets tough....when your family is faced with new chapters in life, when family members grow old and face the challenges that come along with it, when you're faced with news from a doctor that makes you a little uncomfortable, when the stress of school and work and trying to still have a life becomes too much...and I pray that those children's hugs won't stop. That they will grow up and realize that often times, you say so much without saying anything at all. That sometimes love - the purist kind of love - really is all you need.
