Comfort Cracker

One of our grand babies went through a phase where they carried around a teething cracker.  Not to eat.  Just to hold.  We called it their comfort cracker.  Since then, the kids sometimes need a comfort fruit snack.  Or comfort water cup... you get the idea.  They feel more relaxed holding it.

Maybe my 30 oz Hyrdroflask is my comfort cup - I take it with me almost everywhere I go.  I definitely need my comfort pack of gum and comfort chapstick to make it through the day, don't you?

The other day a friend and I were discussing our favorite movies and I've decided I have comfort movies, too.  They have happy endings, they are sweet, and they make me laugh!  I watch them over and over again.  I even have a comfort show.  I watch all of seven seasons every Fall.

We have a bad habit at our house of stacking books in front of the full bookshelves when there isn't any more room.  Now and then, we have to clean out a few to make the new books fit.  Last week it was two Trader Joe's sacks full - but now all of the books are IN the bookcase.  Whew.  I found myself trying to explain to the Coach why I needed to keep some of them.  They are my comfort books - I read them over and over again.  I go back to them when I'm tired of reading things that are supposed to help me learn or grow -  when I just want to read something predictable and sweet, where I know what's going to happen.  I have a shelf full and I know I'll keep reaching for them.  

I'm currently reading one of my comfort books, "The Beloved Invader."  Pretty sure it really belongs to my mom - don't tell her I have it.  I've read it so many times, I know what's coming next.  Very comforting.  It's also "historical" fiction, so it feels like it has some redeeming value.

One of the greatest comforts we have in this life is the comfort of others.  We experience hard things, suffering, trials, heartache, and God allows us to comfort others with the comfort He's given us.  We often don't see it in the moment - the hard - the heart break.  But later on, when we cross paths with someone else who is in the midst of a similar hard?  God often brings comfort to others through us.  It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?

What comforts you?  Is it a food (mine is Hershey kisses), a favorite movie (Pride and Prejudice), a worn book (The Rosary)?  It is sunshine, a walk, or a nap?  Whatever it is, I hope you have some time for something comforting today.  Those little comforting things make life's harder moments more bearable.

And most of all, I pray we go to the Comforter, Himself.  He's always there - and He has felt it all, been through it all, knows it all, and can comfort us in our weakness.