Wrapped in love

By Ann Mann

Have you ever been in a place where you weren’t sure you would make it out? Maybe a close call on the highway. Or a doctor’s report that left you breathless. A deep night of grief when you could not see the sunrise.

When I broke my foot, on the first day of what was supposed to be my vacation, I found myself in that place. I sat in my house, plans undone, feeling both frustrated and discouraged.

But then, something beautiful happened. Love started showing up.

Friends came with food, warm casseroles, homemade soups, pound cake. Sweet church members and friends offered rides when I couldn’t drive. A card signed by everyone in the newspaper office.

Someone even brought safflower seed tea, known for its healing properties.

It was as if each gift carried a message: You’re not alone. We see you. We care.

And that message began to lift me up.

Perhaps the greatest gift came when my daughter arrived to take me to a doctor’s appointment. And she wasn’t alone. She brought her two little boys with her, Jonathan, just a newborn, and JJ, a busy two-year-old.

There I was, in my recliner, leg propped high, trying to keep a positive outlook. Then my daughter placed the baby in my arms. Little Jonathan settled in, calm and peaceful. I must have taken a hundred pictures of his sweet face.

There is something about holding a newborn, their very presence speaks of innocence and trust. For a while, we just sat together in the quiet, and I felt a deep sense of comfort and healing I didn’t even know I needed.

Then came JJ. My two-year-old grandson looked up at me with wide eyes and stretched out his hand. “Help,” he said. Just one word.

I reached down, pulled him up, and set him beside me. I started to lower my arm back to my side, but JJ had something else in mind. He took my arm, lifted it up, and wrapped it around himself. Then he pressed in close, laying his head on my shoulder.

And in that moment, I realized something profound.

JJ wasn’t just accepting my love; he was asking for it. He desired it. He wanted to feel it wrapped around him. At his young age, he is learning who he is, and part of that discovery is the assurance that he is loved.

Isn’t that what we all want?

To be wrapped in love.

The Bible puts it beautifully in Isaiah 66:13: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Just as JJ pulled my arm around him, God pulls us into His embrace. He surrounds us with love, offering comfort, belonging, and peace.

Life often tells us we must earn love, prove our worth, or hide our flaws. But scripture tells a different story. It tells us that God already sees it all, the good, the bad, the broken, and loves us still.
In these last few weeks, I have felt that love in tangible ways. In the kindness of friends. In the quiet weight of a newborn resting in my arms. And in the small but powerful gesture of a toddler pulling my arm around him.

My foot will heal in time. But I will not soon forget this lesson: the greatest gift we can give, and the greatest gift we can receive, is love.

To be held. To be known. To be wrapped in God’s love. This offers the truest kind of healing.

(Ann Mann is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, now serving as pastor to Barnesville First United Methodist Church. You can email her at annmann@comcast.net. Her book, “Finding Hope in the Storm,” is available on Amazon.)