Comforting Things

“Smoke lifting out of a chimney is one of the most comforting sights. That and sleeping kids. And books. Also a pantry full of cereal.”
So says Andrew Peterson, Christian music artist, in a Facebook post.

How I appreciated the simplicity of what he wrote.
It challenged me to think of my own comforting sights…my own comforting things.

Freshly baked brownies on the counter.
A full moon just above the horizon.
A fire in the fireplace.
A child sucking their thumb and playing with their mother’s hair.
The first snowfall…with no footprints on the lawn…yet.
Raindrops…hanging precariously off a tree branch.
The toothless smile of a baby.
A table filled with food…every chair around the table has someone in it.
A tree swing.
A hot cup of tea and a blanket…beckoning to me.

Comforting things.

A cozy bed with lots of pillows.
The warm glow of a lamp in the window.
Cuddling with a child as you read a book together.
A friend using your back door…with no need to knock.
A package delivered to your doorstep.
The love-worn teddy bear your child carried everywhere.
The sound of someone you love on the other end of the phone.
Homemade soup simmering…and bread baking…on a cold day.
The smell of clean laundry.
A home-made fort made of blankets and chairs…just waiting to be explored.

Comforting things.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)

My oldest daughter carried around a Teddy Bear when she was little.
It was a gift from my aunt.
Teddy had a red and white polka dotted ribbon around his neck…that soon frayed.
He had a red heart on its chest, over the place a real heart would be…that soon faded.

She carried Teddy everywhere.
Teddy had long arms and long legs…not at all proportioned to the rest of his body.
He looked like a monkey.
She was highly insulted if anyone suggested he was anything but a teddy bear!

She would hold one of his legs, and let the rest of him dangle on the ground.
She sucked her thumb…holding Teddy…the tip of his foot under her nose.

We tried desperately to wash Teddy…but the two were inseparable.
One day, my husband lifted her in the air, and Teddy “just happened” to fall in the dirt.
He had to be washed!
There were tears and dogged determination.
She stood right in the laundry room, and waited until Teddy could be in her arms again.

When she went to college, Teddy went too…though not as her side by side companion.
He was her comforting thing.
Laying there against her pillow sham…the stories he could tell of their adventures!

We grow up and move away from the comfort of a teddy bear or an old blanket.
We are never too old for comfort, however.
Cuddling under a blanket…watching an old movie…sharing a meal together.
These are necessary things.
One-anothering.

The little girl with a party dress and cowboy boots.
The little boy with rain boots, shorts, and a space helmet.
We grow up so fast!

Our clothes match, our shoes hurt…but they’re in style.
Deep inside, is the little girl with her Teddy bear.
Deep inside, is the little boy with his superhero costume.

Deep inside, is our need for comforting things.

We can spend money, and never find comfort.
We can jump from relationship to relationship and still have a need deep inside.
We can climb up the corporate ladder and find the cold comfort of success.

When we have finished running and climbing and jumping and spending…there He is!
God, our Father, who has been there all along.
The God of all comfort.

For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
(Isaiah 49:13)

What is your comforting thing?
Who needs to be comforted today?
Who needs to know the God of all comfort?

We will never know true comfort apart from Him.