Monday Musings...Comfort and Joy....

“There is no feeling more comforting and consoling than knowing you are right next to the one you love.”

                                                                                                           Anon.

I'm not a high maintenance girl...and even if I were, having eight kids would have beaten it out of me by now.  The romantic in me used to put a lot of stock in what gifts my husband would pick out for me, how well-planned an event was.  But those things have paled, and I find myself more and more aware of the small things that bring me great joy.

I'm an avid reader.  I read every night before falling asleep...and it is in those moments that I find a small gesture that makes me feel highly cherished.  I love to give in to the overwhelming craving to slowly close my eyes as the words on the page of the book I am reading begin to swim before me.  To not interrupt this gentle entry to sleep.  To not lurch myself from my pillow and reach for the switch on the light.  To simply lay in the quiet and let my drowsiness overtake me slowly and completely.  

And then something small happens...but it is something that makes me feel cherished.  It brings me comfort.  It brings a small smile in the middle of a dream.  My husband will gently pull the book from my hands, save my page and turn out the light.  What comfort.  What a luxury to drift off, knowing my page will be saved and the light extinguished.  Comfort.  Being adored.

I can remember late night drives back from amusement parks or driving through the night to our favorite campground in Yosemite as a young girl.  I remember dozing to the cadence of my parents' hushed voices from the front seat.  I remember the metallic click of the blinker as we would make a turn.  And that blinker, that soft staccato accented by the gentle amber lights from the dashboard display would speak a comfort to me.  To be a child, to trust in my father's ability to pilot our vehicle, to bask in the quiet breathing of my brothers, piled like puppies in the backseat.  To hear that blinker, taking us home.  Taking us to a new adventure.  Comfort. 

I think of laying with my head in my mother's lap during long sermons at church.  The rough weave of the material upholstering the pews, scratchy against my legs.  The coolness of my mother's hand brushing my hair from my forehead, from my cheek.  The sparkling feel on my scalp as my hair was finger-brushed by my mother's soft hand.  Comfort.  Feeling adored.

I'm want to apply these little moments and their gift to my children.  I want them to have those small gems tucked into the pockets of their memories.  I hope their spouses bestow little gestures of adoration and comfort on them.  Those small moments, those notes of love, arranged into a serendipity of a love song. Comfort and Joy.

So here's the prompt for this week.  Share with me.  What little moments, what small gestures, what soft wisps of memories whisper across your heart and speak love, comfort, adoration, being cherished?  Feel free to leave it in the comment line or write a post on your own blog, come back here and post that url and your name in the Mr Linky's box below.  Share a little piece of your heart!