Besides folding them in prayer, the most important thing I have ever done with my hands was when our son Kelly and his wife, who live in Wisconsin, adopted a little boy from Guatemala that they named Ty. A year later, they adopted his brother named Sam. I would tell them I loved them. I felt like I needed to do something different than say the words so they would better understand.

One day, as I held their hands in mine, I squeezed them three times. I told them that meant I love you, without saying the words. That simple gesture became our special thing throughout their years of growing up. Every time we would visit them in Wisconsin. Or, they would come to Missouri. They would squeeze my hand three times and I would squeeze their hand back three times. No words were spoken. They would smile, and so would I.

As they got older, we would text back and forth. Three-hand squeeze emojis were at the end of our texts. When they got to be teenagers, my son told me, “Don’t expect the boys to do that hand squeeze thing with you anymore. We can’t even get hugs from them.”

Soon after, my wife and I drove to Kansas for our Missouri grandson Hunter’s wedding. When the teenagers saw us, they ran across the room and jumped on me. Then they reached down and grabbed my hand and squeezed it three times.

Ty just graduated high school and will be going off to college. We sent him money to help with that. Later, he sent a text and then a card to thank us. At the bottom of both were the three hand squeezes. It has become more powerful and meaningful than the words. 

On Sunday, I do the three-hand squeezes with many kids here at church. They squeeze my hand back three times. After I make announcements, give you Something to Think About, and have prayer, I look out at all of you, raise my right hand, and squeeze it three times. You are family to me.

I hope that everyone who reads this story will pass it on. Try the three-hand squeezes with your family and friends. Teach them to squeeze your hand back three times. Lift your hand up to God and squeeze it three times. Discover the power of three-hand squeezes.