{"id":6847,"date":"2025-09-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6847"},"modified":"2025-09-12T16:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T21:18:51","slug":"loving-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6847","title":{"rendered":"Loving Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Short and sweet thought for the week\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6848\" width=\"250\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Loving-Hands-churchartpro-1320x990.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve heard it said that eyes are the window to our soul, but hands tell our story. I think there is some truth there which becomes even more evident as we age. Some read palms to tell our future, but actually our hands hold the key to our past. They show where we\u2019ve been and what we\u2019ve done. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smooth, nail-polished hands are lovely, but so are the ones that are wrinkled, calloused, or arthritic. They\u2019ve survived life\u2019s adventures and trials, and lived to tell the tale. Each hand has a unique set of fingerprints. Each hand has a unique story to tell. Some hands tremble a bit; others seem steady and sure. However, all hands can be welcoming, forgiving, and comforting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Loving hands are the best and have no cosmetic requirements to be considered beautiful. Loving hands will bandage scraped knees, hug the bereaved, place a cool cloth on a feverish brow, sew a doll\u2019s dress from scraps, hold others up when they are weak, bake a pie for the potluck, bring flowers to the ill, slip a dollar bill to the homeless, hold crying babies, care for ailing parents, drive a neighbor to a doctor\u2019s appointment, or fold together in prayer for those too weary to even pray for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God shows His love for us by writing our names in the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). The most loving hands of all belong to Jesus. The image of His nail-scarred hands should strengthen our faith. They could not have been pleasant to see, but revealed a story of redemption, grace, and love for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>\u201cPut your finger here; see my hands\u2026Stop<\/em><br><em>doubting and believe.&#8221; ~John 20:27 (NIV)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Short and sweet thought for the week\u2026 I\u2019ve heard it said that eyes are the window to our soul, but hands tell our story. I think there is some truth there which becomes even more evident as we age. Some &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6847\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6927,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6847\/revisions\/6927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}