Our parents were the king and queen of sloppy wet kisses. They kissed in front of us kids all the time, sometimes just to embarrass us- which is typical for parents of young children. But unlike the typical parents, ours had the sloppiest, wettest kisses. They were so loud you could hear them from the next room. They definitely had the loudest, sloppiest kisses of anyone we knew, but this was one of the many ways we knew how much they loved each other.
My sister Haylee recently reintroduced me to John Mark McMillan’s music. If you don’t know who that is, you may know him by the song he wrote “How He Loves.” You know, the one with that strange line “Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss." Some artists that have recorded the song have even gone on to change that line. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing, but I just listened to the original version of this song from the album The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down. Most of the song is the same version I’ve heard a hundred times, but the last minute and 30 seconds hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so raw and emotional, I knew there was more behind this song. Through some research I found out that this song was written at a time of grief, bitterness, resentment, and anger. John Mark McMillan had lost his really close friend Stephen in a car accident. He was so frustrated and angry with God when he wrote this, but that’s exactly where God met him. God spoke to him despite his anger and resentment because that’s “how He loves us."
I have definitely dealt with my share of anger and resentment through my life. Losing Daddy to a sudden heart attack was no exception. The grief of losing someone close to you is one of the hardest things someone will walk through. It’s also one of the easiest places to become angry, resentful, or bitter. The loss of Daddy has been a hard road to walk down. I’ve had moments of being angry. Angry that Daddy didn’t go to the doctor more often. Angry at God for not performing a miracle. But as I listened to these few lines in this song, something resonated inside of me.
I thought about You
The day that Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me you’re cruel
But if Stephen could sing
He’d say it’s not true
Cause you’re good
I will forever hear this song and see sloppy wet kisses differently. I envision a parent showering a young rambunctious child with kisses as they are pushing away wanting to run off and play. God is a father that showers us with kisses even when we fight it and push Him away. He does not change, even when we do. He loves us because of and despite who we are.
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