On Touch...

I was recently talking with a massage therapist.  She had three degrees, including an MBA.  I asked her how she ended up doing what she does.  She told me that she had given massages at a fancy spa to work her way through grad school.  Then, she went out into the corporate world.  She quickly grew tired of the lifestyle and sat down to make a list of all the jobs she'd done.  She found that massage was the one way she had literally "touched" people.  In her experience, most people are starved for touch and that contact is essential to the well-being of all of us.  So, she decided to go to work every day in a room with candles and classical music, literally touching and healing.

Ann at Holy Experience has written a series of posts on touch that give us much to ponder, particularly as our children grow older.  The need for touch doesn't go away. I remember a child of mine who needed to be held constantly.  Until he was six or seven or maybe eight, he could not go to sleep without rubbing and holding my upper arm.  Now, I'm not even sure he gets a hug a day, every day.  What happened there?  He's 5'9", for one thing.  He goes to sleep much later than I do, for another.  Still, there is so much in Ann's posts that is convicting.  Children need our touch well beyond their early years.  For that matter, their daddies need it too.

Need some inspiration?  Rebecca recommends a heavenly talc-free powder.  Trust me, the coordinating apricot baby oil is too heavenly to be limited to babies.