His Loving Hand

Last night as I went to sleep, my husband placed a hand on my side.  He knew I was sick and not feeling well, and he just wanted me to know he loved me.  He does this often, and not just when I’m feeling poorly.  Sometimes he’ll give me a brief and light massage with his hand, and sometimes he’ll just rest its warm comfort on my skin.

He goes to sleep before I do most of the time, since I stay up a bit later to do my blog in bed.  Yet that hand will still often reach out its loving touch just to tell me he loves me.  It brings a smile to my face and even helps me relax a bit, if my thoughts are particularly pensive.  I tease him that, if he goes to sleep before me, he’s leaving me all alone, and I think that hand is partly a small reassurance that he’s there.  He sometimes lets it rest on me until he’s fallen asleep, at which point I may or may not remove it.

I am thankful for my husband’s loving hand, that it’s one of the ways in which he tells me that he loves me.  I thank the Lord that my husband didn’t choose to simply tell me he loved me once, and assume that took care of it, but that he instead understands that reaffirmation is incredibly helpful.  

We “reaffirm” our love to one another often, and it can manifest in different ways:  verbally, by touch, an act of service... it’s really as broad as your imagination, so long as you have explained it to your spouse.  There are also certain things that will speak more to your spouse (or to you) that may differ.  For example, his love is most real to me when he is touching me - even if he’s simply resting his hand on my side.  My love for him is most real to him when I show him my respect in submission.

When was the last time you told your spouse that you loved him or her?