PERMANENTLY
Today's reading: 1 Samuel 1-3

"But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, Wait until the baby is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently." 1 Samuel 1:22 NLT

Permanently-in a way that continues without changing or ending; in a way that is not brief or temporary.

I can only imagine Hannah's thoughts the day she dropped Samuel off at the Tabernacle to live with Eli and serve the Lord.

I can picture in my mind how strong and confident she was as she kissed her little fella good-bye, promising to be back in a year with a hug, a kiss and a new coat for him to wear.

I can see her push Elkanah out the door and urge him to get back on the road to Ramah.

I can see her smile at the other gals in the church house that day as she watched them rocking their littles, wiping noses and chasing after toddlers.

I can also see inside to where her heart broke in half--completely in half.

Oh, she knew Samuel was from God. She was well aware of the vow she had made to God about him. She knew in God's hands was the safest place for her little guy to be.

But I also know, from being a momma myself, she wanted to go back, scoop him up and run off with him to home.

Like with our prayer requests.

The ones we leave at the altar for God's safe keeping.

The ones we give to Him, vowing to trust Him, wait on Him, believe He has our best interest at heart.

The ones we're so used to carrying around, we kind of miss them and don't know what to do with ourselves if we're not worrying and fretting over them day in and day out.

I so want to be like Hannah!

I want to give to God what is God's alone, leave it in His more than capable hands and return only to see what He's done with it after a while.