Handprints

     Have you ever contemplated the palm of your hand?  Probably not, unless you had a splinter and were whining like a baby as you armed yourself with a straight pin and tweezers for the grand extraction.  Times when we wish we had gloves while scraping the first frost off the windshield with a credit card also brings attention to our hands.  There are the scented lotions ladies adore which help us enjoy our hands.  However, this carries a tinge of shame on account of our expansive stash hidden away in the back of the closet.  There, in the darkest of corners, one can discover a smellorama of hand lotions:  brown sugar, white citrus, jasmine, sweet pea.  From food scents to flower scents.
     As much neglect or nurture our hands receive, our hands and our handprint are very useful.  Take a moment to look at the palm of your hand.  Those lines, creases, and impressions are unique to you!  They make up your handprint.  Without a handprint, we could not distinguish between rough and smooth surfaces.  We could not pick up a small object or something wet and slippery.  Our handprints have helped us turn pages of books, learn to write, climb monkey bars, build sand castles, care for loved ones, meet new friends.  Without our handprints, it would be impossible to hold onto anything.  
     Our lives also bear lines and creases.  These are imprinted on our hearts by the people whose lives have touched ours. Just as the lines on our palms are varied, the relationships we share with people are varied.  Some people we meet remain only for a short time while others travel great distances through rugged terrain with us.  There are light groupings of lines on our palm and there are single, deep lines that stand apart from the others.  There are people we merrily greet and there are people with whom we have wept.  As different as each relationship is, a commonality exists; for, together they create our "heart print" whose artist is God.  These etchings on our heart help us read purpose in the triumphs and sorrows of life.  They share in writing the story of our life by making memories with us.  The people who touch our lives bring joy in living life and simply "being," having fun together, creating and sharing dreams, trying new things, reaching out and holding closely.  Without the etchings of people on our hearts, it would be impossible to hold onto anything that really truly matters.

When farewells must be spoken, our "heart print" 

helps us hold on to people across the miles and 

enables us to cling more tightly to God.

     And so, as I leave the place where I have made home to travel far from those with whom I feel at home, I am reminded that I am simply a pilgrim on a journey to my Heavenly home.  Each of you have been imprinted on my heart and I take you along on this trail blazed by faith.  I thank you for being uniquely you and I thank God for blessing me so richly by writing you on my heart, thus giving me the ability to hold on to you though two thousand miles separate you from me.