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There are moments that are frozen in the mind.
Moments joyous in the happening and heart breaking in their brevity at the same time.  If one could live there forever you would do it in a heartbeat.
 
For me many of those moments have happened since I was married 10 years ago, and contain the hugs of our children, their laughter, and a good night kiss.

My seven-year-old daughter Rachel provided such a moment recently.

She has her own bedclothes, but many times she likes to sleep in her mother’s gowns or her big brother’s old tee shirts because they are loose and comfortable on her. I had just gotten her out of the shower and, while she stood by wrapped in her towel, I was going through fresh laundry trying to find something that she would like to wear. It was one of those times when she wanted to wear none of the clothes that I suggested.

Finally, I lifted from the basket a shirt of mine that would drape over her and reach to her feet. I asked if she would like to wear that?

She took my shirt into her hands and buried her face into it and inhaled deeply.

“Yes”, she said thoughtfully and in a soft voice. “It smells like you”.

At such moments I am speechless.  Teary eyes and a gentle hug are the only response I have before such obvious and innocent love from this child who now has, and always will have, my heart.

How I long for the scent of my God.  How I love knowing the presence of my Father; to feel the safety and comfort of being wrapped in Him.

How I desire to be further clothed upon.

“I will never leave you, nor forsake you” He said.

Can we be secure in God?

Yes.

Gabriel Hoskins

What a totally WONDERFUL post!
Thank you SO much for sharing.

Yes it must be great to have kids and enjoy their innocently refreshing view of things! I'm 55 years old and never married or had kids because I never wanted to,and I didn't fancy being a "family man" anyway.
So for years I enjoyed the freedom of my solitary uncluttered existence,and I remember even boasting to myself that I was too tough to be lonely! Times have changed.
One by one I've seen my parents die,and my aunts,uncles,grandparents,a nephew and a couple of friends too,and have ended up on my own.The world emptied for me and seems a colder greyer place than it used to be,and this past few years I've been wrestling non-stop with the powerful demon of loneliness. Serves me right!
I see now all too clearly the profound truth of this verse:-"Two are better than one,for how can one keep warm alone?" (Ecc 4:9-11)

Mick,

While I'm glad that you enjoyed the story about my daughter I am so sorry for the anguish expressed in your post.

I don't want to simply give pat answers as I know your lonliness is real, but I would encourage you that 55 is not too old to find and marry someone special and share the rest of your life with. While I know it may be challenging, I would not doubt the reward. Please, if you are not already, be involved in bible studies or other activities ( movie nights, game nights, etc..) with a church group that will bring you in further fellowship with someone that God may have waiting for that certain someone.

I hope to read in a future post that God has given you and someone else to each other to, as Ecc. says, keep warm in God's ever loving embrace.

In His Grace..

Can we be secure in God?

YES!

The Crusader

Mick,
I’m 49 in another month or so, but next to you I’m a pup!  You’re 55?  Man you are OLD!  (He-he-he!)  ;D
Brother – my prayers are with you – I know loneliness and what a burden it can be.  It is particularly hard to go home from work, after a long day, to an empty house.  I agree with Singer – bible study groups, Christian Singles groups (wink, wink, nod, nod) – what ever you can do to fend off the ‘evil one’.

God bless

Thanks for the advice folks,but although my constant priority is to get some female warmth into my life,the advantage of being alone is that my spiritual evolution has been uninterrupted by having a family to take care of,so I suppose the pain of being alone does have its plus side!  "An unmarried man wants to please God rather than a wife,and an unmarried woman wants to please God rather than a husband" (1 Cor 7:32/33)
Seriously though,time and again when i've met a woman,i've seen satan working in her mind to put her off me,and our friendship never really got off the ground. Here's an example that occurred ONLY AN HOUR AGO!:- For the past few months a middle-aged lady is often to be seen standing in the corner grocers shop,passing the time chatting to him and customers.
She told me she was widowed last August and is depressed and lonely,and comes into the shop because she can't stand being on her own at home.
So i told her how i'm sick of being on my own too,and fed up not having a lady in my life to tell how beautiful and precious she is to me.
But to my surprise tonight she went all hard-faced when i walked into the shop and looked away,and ignored me as if i wasn't there! So i just bought my newspaper, mumbled "bye" to her and the grocer,and shuffled off home to spend another Saturday evening on my own,feeling as if i'd been kicked by a mule.
 See how satan operates? He probably injected into her mind some garbage along the lines that i was just trying to disgracefully worm my way into the affections of a recently-bereaved widow in order to get her into bed!
And she listened to him and cut me off stone dead!
 

Ah, Mick -
It seems you may only know part of the story - kind of like catching the last scene of a play.  Maybe Satan was playing on your lonely mind and the lady and the grocer were but pawns in his game?  Is it the lady and the grocer who enjoy your suffering or is it Satan?  Perhaps the lady and the grocer had some sort of altercation to which you walked in on the tail end of?  Lots of possibilities there, partner.  
You’ve heard ‘fight fire with fire’?  That’s wrong, of course.  Any thoughtful person knows you fight fire with water.  The next time you cross paths with the lady, tell her you perceive she was upset the last time you saw her.  Ask if there is anything at all you may do to help – that you are certainly concerned about her well being.  It is really hard to be angry at someone who is showing genuine concern about your welfare.  

The key to any relationship, be it a new relationship or old – is open communications.

Just a thought… :)

Yes Judgenot,open-ness is everything,but even that often works against me as far as women are concerned! We usually start off great for a while,but then she'll say something like "You sound so perfect,you're too good to be true,I bet you're a conman" and she begins to cool off and I don't hear from her again!
I think I'm in a "no-win situation"

mick

look at prov 6:2