Can I Have You?

When my daughter was first putting together sentences, she, like many young children, often used words in atypical ways that, I am sure, made perfect sense to her. There was one request that she often made that has caused me to think deeply about why she chose these particular words. What was it about this experience – for her – that was behind her word choice? We know that children often describe things based on their affective meaning, that is, the emotional and psychological impact of the experience. I am now convinced that there was something very significant about the feelings expressed in the way she made this request.

When she wanted to be picked up and held, she would walk up to Mom or Dad, hold up her hands and say, “Can I have you?” Of course we knew that, “Can I have you?” meant “Will you hold me?” The normal terminology expresses the action of the adult, but her words expressed the desire and need that she felt. She wanted to “have” me, to have her arms around my neck, to have the comfort and safety that one feels when being held, to experience the warmth and security of being lifted up into the arms of one who is infinitely stronger, to have the attention and affection of the one who has known her forever, to feel the protection of being held by the one who knows all the things that she does not.

And I think about how I often feel as God’s child. Wanting to have my Father hold me close, and keep me safe in His infinitely powerful arms, to have the attention and affection of the One who has known me for longer than I can remember, to feel the security that comes from being close to the One who is able to conquer all that I fear. That is what I long to experience. That is what I need. So, when I am feeling lonely or afraid, I walk up to my Heavenly Father, hold up my arms, and ask, “Can I have you?” And He reaches down, pulls me up into His arms, holds me tight and says, “Yes, you can have me. And I will hold you.”