{"id":10695,"date":"2019-08-03T05:33:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T10:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=10695"},"modified":"2019-08-03T05:33:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-03T10:33:37","slug":"the-healing-power-of-a-hug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=10695","title":{"rendered":"The Healing Power of a Hug"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I saw this little girl’s video on my newsfeed. She is standing at the end of her pew reaching out to everyone walking by to give each one a hug. She was a producer of automatic smiles from each person as they reach out to oblige her. Her hugs boosted their spirits. And, now, they’re boosting mine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the way I roll, too! Well, I don\u2019t stand at the end of my pew to give hugs, though that just might be a good idea, but I do give free hugs. I get introduced to someone and as they reach out to shake hands, I reach out my arms and declare: \u201cI\u2019m a hugger!\u201d I can\u2019t think of any time I\u2019ve been refused that return hug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I know that hugs boost feel-good hormones \u2013 especially for me. Maybe, I\u2019m not quite as open to a stranger to offer a hug like I see many do on social media as they hold up a sign that says \u201cFREE HUGS\u201d, but I have a built-in sensor that tells me \u201cThat person needs a hug,\u201d and I\u2019ll reach out to them to hug them. That\u2019s why I embrace my Greeter position at my church. By now, if they\u2019ve been through my door very often, they\u2019ll reach out to give me a hug. I love that. Give and it shall be given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have you ever spontaneously hugged someone that was in a moment when their despair and distress was so intense that it seemed cruel on a human level not to reach out our arms to them? We hoped that they might derive some relief or comfort from an embrace. When I was the hugger, it was those times that the huggee hugged me back for dear life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know these days we have to have a stronger \u201cdiscerner\u201d about hugging because \u201cdo not touch\u201d has been overly spelled out. There is such a difference in a warm embrace that says \u201cI love you with the love of God\u201d and \u201cHey, Babe! Let\u2019s get it on!\u201d I\u2019m sincerely in to the \u201cGod kind-of-love-hugs\u201d. But I also know that non-sexual \u201ctouch\u201d, such as hand-holding, a gentle hug, a pat on the back brings God\u2019s love into the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We huggers should be focused on the huggee with purposeful intention to offer comfort, compassion and God\u2019s love. It is literally a heart-to-heart experience. I love the saying: \u201cWhen hugging, be the last to let go!\u201d It\u2019s not easy, but it says \u201cI\u2019m not letting you go in my hug and in my thoughts for good for you!\u201d My daughter often gives me that kind-of-hug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth being a risk taker to give out a hug to someone today. It just may brighten their world and help them feel loved and worthwhile \u2013 and if not for them \u2013 it\u2019s worth it for us to give \u201cFREE HUGS\u201d because we need that hug ourselves. Just think of it\u2026.the heart of compassion, the warmth of a touch, the closeness of a hug. This hurting world is hungry for the touch of someone who cares — who really cares! Through God’s LOVE, you and I can be that someone. We are chips off the ole’ block — and our BLOCK gave to us BIG TIME. Let’s reach out and touch someone or hug someone and GIVE what He’s giving us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I saw this little girl’s video on my newsfeed. She is standing at the end of her pew reaching out to everyone walking by to give each one a hug. She was a producer of automatic smiles from each person as they reach out to oblige her. Her hugs boosted their spirits. And, now, they’re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14170,14169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healing-power","category-hug"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10701,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10695\/revisions\/10701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}