"As long as I have a heart..."

"…As long as I have a heart
You've a safe place to dream in
A tree to carve your name in
As long as I have a heart
As long as you need a love
That time won't take away
Baby you have it made
As long as I have a heart…"
-Henry/Wilson

I was talking to my daughter today.  She is on the other side of the world in  another hemisphere.  At night she looks up at the Southern Cross.  While we are shivering in the bitter cold of winter, she is enjoying a sunny beach.  But when I think of her, and especially when I am talking to her…and the sound of her voice is filling all the space within my heart and head…I am not in a place defined by geography.  There are no latitudes and longitudes mapping out our locations.  We are one.

Her laughter is the most beautiful place I have ever been.  Her thoughts…the expanse of her dreams, the simple undulating rhythms of her day…are the landscape of this mother's heaven.   When she speaks I can feel her small fingers entwined in mine as tangibly as when we crossed streets on our way to Kindergarten when she was five.

Today, this song from Kathy Matthea's 1987  "Untasted Honey" CD sang through my heart all day as I thought of her.  My heart became her homestead the moment she arrived…tiny, strong, beautiful, feisty, funny, alert, and full of questions from the very start…she was (and still is) all of my dreams come true.

This heart of mine stands ready to yield its resources, accept the seeds of her dreams, provide shelter from the winds of doubt and frustration, remind her that we both are under the sovereign governance of a supremely good God, and welcome her home…always.

Because of her, I have learned that there is no time in this land of Love.  I have discovered that Love knows no distance and cannot be defined by space.  Love has only one address…the heart.  This heart never tires, never plumbs the depth of its capacity to respond, never thinks in portions, never holds on to what doesn't bless, and never lets go of her child's hand.  This heart is the home she can never leave and will always be there to find respite and refreshment in.

As long as I have a heart….she, and her sisters, have a home that will never change.

"…My love will always hold you near
No matter where you go…you're here…"

Kate