Dreaming of Silver Roses

The Healing Touch

Touch, yes, touch, speaks the wordless words of love. We receive so much touch when we are babies and so little when we are adults. Still, in friendship touch often gives more life than words. A friend’s hand stroking our back, a friend’s arms resting on our shoulder, a friend’s fingers wiping our tears away, a friend’s lips kissing our forehead — these are true consolation. These moments of touch are truly sacred. They restore, they reconcile, they reassure, they forgive, they heal.

Everyone who touched Jesus and everyone whom Jesus touched were healed. God’s love and power went out from him (see Luke 6:19). When a friend touches us with free, nonpossessive love, it is God’s incarnate love that touches us and God’s power that heals us.
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I love this article. It is so right on! It is one of my top love languages according to research done by Dr. Gary Chapman. For language barriers, so that those you love can hear it in a way that makes it the most meaningful to them, I recommend Dr. Gary Chapman’s “Five Love Languages”. For personality differences and promoting better understanding I recommend “Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself” by Florence Littauer. Littauer also wrote a book for encouragers called “Silver Boxes” which I found very helpful.

None of those books are as helpful if you aren’t sure about your identity in Christ. For men and women and identity in Christ I recommend for starters (I know tons of them!) “The Blessing” by Smalley and Trent, “Search for Significance” by McGee, “Wild at Heart” (for men) and “Capativating” (for ladies) by the Eldredges. “Breaking Free” and “Get Up Out of that Pit” by Beth Moore. For mother and son issues I recommend “Raising Boys” by James Dobson. For girls and moms I recommend Elizabeth Elliot’s “Let Me Be a Woman”. And believe me I have more! I am a living advertisement for Amazon.com! Ha! But any relationship worth having is worth the work!

Let me also say that for those I love who can’t be touched due to distance, I send things that can be touched that remind them of me. My nephews frequently get hand written notes and a toy or stickers or something. My friend has a t-shirt I always wore on the college campus when I was praying. My other friend has a heart I made in VBS as a child that was in every house I ever lived in (I moved every two years so it is well traveled.) One of my friends has a teddy bear I prayed with for years. If I am allowed I send touch. You can do that too. It is appreciate deeply by those who have this love language. One of my friends who knows me pretty well gave me some jogging pants with the knees worn out because they are “April’s prayer pants”. I have a pillow case from a friend that smells like her. I have postcards and thank you notes on my wall and a stained glass cross that is irreplacable. I touch these when I can’t touch that friend. Get creative, let relationships matter, and love one another as Christ loved us!

Currently reading : Five Love Languages, Member Book, UPDATED By Gary Chapman Release date: 01 August, 2007