A Sweet Kiss

Romans 16:16
"Greet one another with a holy kiss."

The journey to recovery is a long one. There are a lot of small hurdles. Many times we'll take three steps forward and then one step back. While that's still progress, because it's a net gain of two steps, it gets frustrating. But then comes a benchmark that lets us know that we're making progress, and it's a celebration.

Today we reached one of those.

We were at the clinic this morning for Tammy's visit and they gave us her latest blood counts. Her white blood count is up to 5.4. Normal is 4.5 to 12.0, so she's in the normal range, even though she's on the low end of normal. But now that her WBC is over 5, the nurse said that Tammy and I could kiss each other, right on the lips. We pushed her out the door and planted a firm one.

It's been almost two months since we've been allowed to kiss each other, because her low blood counts meant that her immune system couldn't handle any germs I might be carrying. Today's kiss felt so good, better than the first time we kissed almost 30 years ago. We love each other so much, and a kiss is a great--and fun--demonstration of that love. I have been trying to demonstrate my love for her by keeping the house clean, giving her the necessary medicines and generally nursing her back to health. But I am so glad to have this reflection of affection back.

You know, God has many ways of showing His affection for us. He blesses us with the beauty of nature and the change of seasons. He blesses us with the love of family and friends . He blesses us with health and strength to do His will here on Earth. Mostly, He has blessed us with the gift of His Son. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

It's even better than a special kiss.