They caught me when I was falling, put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. My mother taught me to fold them in prayer, and tie my shoes. They held my rifle and wiped my tears when I went to war. They have been dirty, scraped, raw, swollen and bent, even clumsy when I held my newborn son.

Decorated with my wedding band, they showed the world I was married and loved someone very special. They wrote letters home, and trembled when I buried my parents, and walked my daughter down the aisle. They have held children, consoled neighbors, covered my face, and combed my hair.

More importantly, it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when He leads me home. When He draws me to His side, my hands will touch the face of God.”

The next time you look at your hands that have comforted someone, bandaged hurts, held a child who was ill, gave water to someone who was thirsty, clothes to the needy, or cooked a meal for a family, think about the hands of the Lord. They brought sight to the blind, raised the dead, healed the sick, and comforted the hurting. Nails went through His hands, the hands that held Him on the cross for us, what love, what a friend!