There I was sitting across from my son getting ready to be as vulnerable as possible, not truly knowing how he would receive my heart.  And so, I leaped!

I was nervous, but I needed him to know of my inner sorrow so that I could heal our brokenness.  And then it happened…healing and wholeness.

We made a commitment to each other.  A mandatory daily hug.  Something as simple as a hug, intentional, and willing.  You see the last time we approached each other, it wasn’t in love, but in violence.  Healing comes with touch, and touch can be as simple as a hug.

Every day since that talk, we have hugged, intentionally, and with purpose.

I was reminded of the Rabbi who told me to “hold him, and he will be healed.”  My “aha” moment came when I realized I had stopped holding him.  “He’s too grown they said. He’s a man now.  You must let him go.  He needs to man up”.  Yet all he still needed was to be held.  So!  Our challenge is not to let a day go by without a hug.  Without the physical contact of holding each other, letting each other know that we see, feel, and love each other.

I didn’t come to this realization lightly.  It took a lot of self-reflection on my part.  My fear of rejection created a wall around myself that even protected me from my own children! Thankfully I was still enough to hear the voice of God say to me…

I see you and you belong to me!

Healing comes in unimaginable ways, and for that, I am forever thankful!  God’s plans are always so much greater and way better than our own.  So I live my life with an open heart and mind, allowing for love to live there each moment of the day.

Who in your life needs a hug?  Will you allow yourself to be hugged?

Lesson:

Let your heart heal and allow yourself to be hugged.

-Annette Ortiz Mata