What’s Your Favorite Love Song?

Please step back in time with me ….

A tiny little girl of about three years old is all dressed up in a crisp red dress tied with a big bow at the back. When she twirls, the dress flows out like a ballerina. White ankle socks with delicate lace cover her petite ankles. Her feet are tucked into black patent leather Mary Jane buckle shoes. When she walks, she can hear the clickity-clack, letting all who are in earshot know that she is nearby, filling the space with the percussion of her shoes. She is making her own kind of music and singing along to words and sounds that are all her own. Her hair is pulled up on the sides into a tight clip with a big red bow at the back, with her hair cascading in soft reddish-brown curls down her back. Her hair swings around her face while she twirls and taps on her personal stage where no one is watching. Her eyes are wide and bright, and a smile beams from her tender face.

She is told to stop her personal recital so she won’t get dirty, scuff her shoes, or mess up her hair. It’s time to settle down and get ready. Telling her to settle down stops her body’s movement, but her mind is still enjoying the moment as she is taken to the church.

Walking up the steps through the doorway, she feels so very small. Along the walls are thick, velvety curtains that look to be as tall as the redwood trees she saw last summer. The wooden floor is polished like glass and picks up every sound of shoes and pieces of furniture and such being moved about. Very tall people, well taller than her, are shuffling about. Everyone is getting ready. The smells of evergreen, candle wax, and dust fill the air. Everything in this space is enormous to tiny Patty.

The children are led out onto the stage. Patty is standing in the center in front of the other children, where she is going to sing by herself to start the performance. The music begins, and just as Patty opens her mouth to sing, she takes a sudden look at all the people in the pews, pulls her dress up over her tiny face as if to hide, and runs off the stage, stage right, to be precise. Fear gets a hold of tiny Patty; there is no way she will do what she has practiced. People in the pews are watching her, and she is terrified.

At once, Patty is scooped up into the arms of a kind lady. She, too, has a red dress on, but she is wearing lady stockings and high-heeled shoes. She has dark, short, curly hair and smells very sweet. She is wearing a red carnation on her dress lapel. Patty wraps her arms around the lady’s neck. She feels safe from the people in the pews. The lady holds onto Patty tightly, comforting her, and speaks quietly to her as she gently kneels and places Patty’s feet on the floor. With her hand wrapped around Patty’s, the kind lady leads Patty back out to the stage.

Patty stands alone in front of the other children, and she begins to sing while rolling the hem of her dress in her tiny fingers. “Jesus Loves Me, this I know, for the bible tells me so; little ones to him belong, they are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus Loves Me. Yes, Jesus Loves Me, Yes Jesus Loves Me. The Bible tells me so.”

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This story comes from my vivid memory of the lady in the red dress with the carnation and how she comforted me when I ran off the stage. I felt so safe in her arms and could overcome my fear because of the love she showed me.  This memory has often reminded me of how much Jesus Christ loves me and has loved me through my husband, Ken, family members, friends, and even strangers. And I will not forget that sweet lady with the fragrant red carnation who gave me just what I needed at the right time. The fragrance of that red carnation is a reminder of how the love of Jesus fills my senses with hope and the ability to face my fears and challenges. He encourages me to keep going when I want to stop or run off the stage, as it were. Yes, Jesus does love me!

By now, you have discovered my favorite love song. “Jesus Loves Me,” which I have been so grateful and blessed to sing on a few other occasions to my children, grandchildren, other children, and some very precious folks nearing the end of their journey.

If you would like to listen and sing along with me and a special little girl from a few years back, click the link below or visit my Resource Page.
Jesus Loves Me, Hope For The Journey, Pati Rader

This memory and story remind me that Jesus will always be here with open arms to scoop me up and hold me close. I can breathe in the fragrance of his loving presence, fall into his loving arms, and feel his strength within my very being. And face my fears or whatever comes my way.

Thank you for sharing my journey today, May God bless and encourage you.

Pati

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16