I needed a hug.

I've had 5 or 6 really difficult days in the past three weeks. Patients have died or taken a turn for the worse. I've had to have difficult conversations with parents or had to deal with situations that I didn't realize God had prepared me to handle.

While I'm at work, I compartmentalize. I can't get too caught up in the emotional side because there's work to be done and I have to be what the families need me to be. I have to be calm. I have to be able to give information as well as take information during the difficult times. But each day, I came home and just really needed a hug. I needed a reminder of God's love for me. Yes, I can open up the Bible and read about His love but at each of those moments, I needed to feel it.

I didn't ever get those hugs. Miss Kitty might be a cuddler, but she's definitely not a hugger.

Last night at church, I finally got a hug. One of the girls in my class came up to me and gave me a real hug (as opposed to the side hug). I told her thanks and that I needed that, so she hugged me again. She didn't ask me why...she just loved me. She showed me God's love. It was the first real hug I had been given in over three weeks, and it was exactly what I needed.

Lord, thank you for providing again.