Free Hugs!

I like hugs. I mean I really, really like hugs. And I really think that everyone else should like hugs, too. There have been many times when I have been made fun of because I said “She just looks like she needs a hug.” You know that person who needs a hug; it’s the old man eating his breakfast by himself at McDonald’s, it’s the grumpy guitar player who would much rather be sleeping than having a sound check at that moment. Those people who really look like a hug would make their day better are really difficult for me to ignore. Every once in a while, I don’t; there have been occasions where I walk up to a random stranger, strike up a conversation, and eventually hug them. They’re usually incredibly freaked out, but I like to think that when they get over the awkwardness they will feel better for having been hugged.

It’s sort of like that time in college when I was taking a self-defense class and we were having our “final” exam. What we had to do was attack the person in the middle when our number was called and they had to escape. I waited around and I finally heard my number called. I look in the middle and the girl is at least six inches taller than me. I rush to the middle to try and grab her around the back, only she turns and I am giving her the most awkward embrace of my entire life. I’m telling you, my chin only came to her mid-chest. There I am, wrapped around this girl I really don’t know, trying to pretend like everything is ok, while staring up at her from somewhere around her belly-button (or at least that’s how tell I felt at that particular moment.) Let me tell you, she passed the test that day. She pushes me and screams “What are you doing?!” I like to think that she really was having a bad day and turned around for a hug. But really, putting yourself out there and hugging a complete stranger is really awkward, which is why I love the embrace projects. They give us a chance to embrace (hug) other people without the awkwardness of actually putting your arms around someone else.

Webster’s dictionary defines an embrace as “[a] clasp in the arms, hug; cherish, Love, encircle, enclose; to take up especially readily or gladly; to avail oneself of, welcome; to take in or include as a part, item, or element of a more inclusive whole.” In other words, to embrace someone is to let them know that they belong; to show them that someone cares for them and loves them. There are groups who hug others just because they’re all a part of the human race. But we do not embrace people just because they’re human, too. We come from a loving, Heavenly Father who wants everyone to know that He loves them and desires that all would come to Him. We reach out from ourselves and minister to others, telling them that they belong and are loved. Thursday night we reached out beyond ourselves and let others know that we care and that God has not lost sight of them. There are firefighters who now know that we appreciate the service they render to our county. Nurses working a night shift know that their efforts to serve others in the wee hours of the morning when no one wants to be awake do not go unnoticed. Christians imprisoned and waiting to die have the comfort of knowing that their brothers and sisters in Christ are praying for them and they are not forgotten. Ladies who have lived most of their days were comforted by hugs from young teenage girls and were able to feel pretty again as those same teenagers took the time to paint their fingernails. Women who have been used and abused learned that not everyone wants to hurt them, some have come with words of life and love.

So often we get caught up in what God can do for us, and where our lives are going in the future. Yes, God has a miraculous plan for our lives and He desires for us to walk in His steps and in repentance so that we can see those plans unfold. But He also wants us to reach beyond ourselves and see the need in others. You may not see the fruit of your labor until you get to Heaven, but God uses those precious few hours that you give and ministers His love to others through you. Think about it! You literally got to be God’s hands and arms as He reached out and embraced hurting and forgotten people. I have often heard friends in my life say that they would trust in God if they could just feel His arms around Him on a bad day. We are so privileged to get to be those arms and comfort a hurting world in desperate need of a Savior.

There are more creative ways to embrace our world; more than I can talk about here. What is your favorite way to reach out to the lost and hurting? Or if you’re not, what are some of the ways that you can begin to? I challenge you to find one opportunity this week to “embrace” someone that you encounter. Maybe you pay for the person’s drink behind you in Panera, or maybe you tell someone how beautiful they look. Whatever it is, be God’s hands to a person in need and then tell us about it.

*disclaimer* - I do not advocate hugging opposite sexes without boundaries. God gave us self-control and respect for the opposite sex and we should not cross those lines. While I do like to give my brothers in the Lord hugs, they are only side-hugs; those intimate hugs are only for my sisters.