The Embrace Before The Words

The house is quiet, but your mind is loud with the speech you are rehearsing. You are testing every syllable, terrified that one wrong word will send them back out the door.

You believe the safety of your home depends on your perfect performance. But love does not listen for perfection.

It listens for the voice it knows. There was a father who saw his son coming home from a long way off.

He ran. Before the apology, before the speech — he ran.

The embrace came before the words could even be formed. You are trying to earn a welcome that has already been prepared.

The light inside you does not need a script to be loved. It just needs to be present.

Stop practicing. The door is not locked from the inside.