Its the holiday season and there are joyful reunions taking place everywhere.  I witnessed one such reunion while waiting on a flight recently.  As the plane arrived and the passengers begin to deboard, I noticed a woman in the waiting area, that could barely contain her excitement.  She was standing on tippy toes trying to peer down the jetway as people poured out of the plane.  Finally, she let out a joyful scream and begin jumping up and down!  I turned to look in the direction of the plane and saw these two teenage boys coming into view.  When they heard the loud screaming, they burst into laughter while simultaneously rushing forward to be caught up in her warm embrace.  She continued to scream, "My boys, my boys!  I''m so happy you''re here!" 

They were grinning from ear to ear and laughingly said "Its OK mom, you can stop screaming now!"  By this time, those of us observing the entire scene were smiling broadly too as they begin to walk away arm in arm.  When suddenly she came to a dead halt and shouted at the top of her lungs, "I just love my boys!!"  As she made this pronouncement, she squeezed both of them by the head, even though they were nearly taller than she was!  Of course, this created quite a stir as we begin to laugh at her antics since clearly her sons were becoming embarrassed that their mother was showing such lavish affection for them.. She simply couldn''t contain it and begin kissing them all over their faces and saying "I just love you!",  in her loudest voice.  They tried covering her mouth with their hands but it only muffled the sounds of her expressions of love as they walked away and out of sight.

I boarded the plane with my own family and thought how wonderful it was that this mother had so unashamedly expressed her deep love for her children with no regard for who was watching or even where she was.  I tried to think of what other circumstances I had ever witnessed such a dramatic sight.  Maybe when men and women returned from war?

And suddenly it occurred to me how much this reminded me of God, the Father.  Each day, He eagerly awaits our rising up from the evenings slumber.  His great affection envelopes us as we become aware of His presence once again.  All day long, He covers us with kisses and hugs when we take the time to snuggle in His warm embrace.  And I can ony imagine that when we finally leave this earth to see Him face to face, the drama of that scene in the airport will pale in comparison to the scene that will take place in Heaven one day.  The thought of that day brings warmth to my soul and joy to my heart.  I hope it does the same for you.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever."  Psalm 118:1