My daughter, Abby, is a snuggler.  I love this about her!  She is totally content being in someone’s arms.  While she enjoys playing independently on the ground, sooner or later, she is going to roll and wiggle her way right next to me.  Once next to me, Chris, or Brady, she will then reach her hands up for one of us to pick her up, pat her, or hug her.    She is not content being too far from us.  She wants to be up in the middle of everything.  If we are eating, she is not happy to be in the exersaucer or playing on the ground.  She wants to be up in one of our laps being part of what is going on.   She wants eye-contact and your attention also.  Abby desires to be close to us.  As her parents, we are happy to oblige to her desire, and we, too, desire this closeness from her. 

Thinking about this made me realize that God desires the same thing from us- closeness! God wants to be in a relationship with us.  God wants to be close to us.  God wants to be invited into the middle of our lives.  Not in a meddling kind of way, but in a way that we are inviting him to be part of everything we do.  God does not want to miss out on anything just like Abby does not want to miss out on anything.  That is why God is always revealing himself to us and inviting us into relationship with him.  He desires a close relationship with us. 

Do we desire that same closeness to God that he desires of us?  Are we accepting the invitation to be close to God? 

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.