A Wish and a Wink

                                                         

    

I can remember as a young child picking dandelions to make a wish. Eyes tightly shut, face all smooshy and distorted to the point of my eyelids disappearing beneath my lashes; the wishes I had were life altering, or at least in my budding heart they were. One after the other, I would blow those dandelion seeds until the perching of my lips caused my face to start to tingle. The more I picked, the harder I would blow in the expectation of my hearts desires to birth right there in that moment. 

I cannot remember the specifics of my many wishes. I can only recall the warm summers my tiny hands would pluck those dandelions in the hopes of one, if not all, of my wishes would show themselves true.  Wish after wish after wish I knew one day all my face scrunching, lip perching, breath blowing yearning would pay off. The hopes of a child are forever pure in the tender innocent of age. 

And I was no different. 

 As I got older my dandelion picking days became less frequent as did my wishes. I like to believe it was due to the reality's life threw my way instead of a despairing young woman who had, over time, saw herself unworthy of any goodness in her life. Life has a way of chipping away at our self-esteem and the knowledge of you truly are.  Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I had stopped.  

Over time, and as I began to age, I began to notice what I like to call, God winks.  Little subtle reminders of who I am and most importantly whose I am.  And where my identity lies. Life had robbed me of my self-worth. But my Jesus in his unfailing faithfulness reminded me. 

My winks came in the form of an encouraging word from friend or family member; a worship song on the radio or a daily devotional I randomly picked up to read. My favorite winks are those He whispers to my heart when I least expect it.  

Psalm 17:8

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. 

The apple of his eye.......

John 1:12

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God- 

His child.....

Though many of my child-like wishes did not come to pass, my hope in my Jesus remained. Rooted deeply and entwined within my soul as a tapestry of His love, I have seen his hand in and over my life many times over. 

He became my "dandelion."

I hold his hand instead of the stem of a flower. I whisper my hearts desires into His ear instead of blowing pedals into the wind. And above all, I know who I am and whose I am. 

Romans 8:16

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 

His winks and my wishes........

His daughter,