Jul 07
7
Craving Affection
Posted by Stephen7
Tags: affection, father-son, goals, Joel
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The first thing I hear when I walk in the door from work is, “Daddy pick me up!” Joel loves to be held, especially by Daddy.
First I have to take my shoes off, I tell him. So he’ll help me, lining them up neatly on the boot tray. “Daddy pick me up!” It’s summer, so next I tell him I have to change into shorts. He’ll run ahead to the bedroom, pull out my shorts and hold them up for me. He’ll put my socks in the laundry hamper. He’ll get my slippers and put them by my feet. And then again, “Daddy pick me up!” So I pick him up and walk around with him for a while, hold him close, talk to him.
At first the whole shoes-shorts-socks-slippers thing was a way to hold off the tiring enthusiasm of a small child as I trudged in the door, weary from a long day at work. Then I got curious to see how many hoops this boy would jump through just to get what he wanted. Then it became routine, a family ritual Joel and I went through every workday. Finally I realized how special that short time had become, a bubble of closeness that shut out the cares and noise and demands of the rest of the family. Joel will do anything for me. And he’ll do it eagerly and willingly, just to get my undivided attention for a few minutes.
Jesus said,
