Three Is a Magic Number

When I got home from picking Herb up at the airport yesterday afternoon, one of the first things we did when we got out of the car was have a family group hug with Ryan in the middle. I had one arm wrapped around Herb and one around Ryan, Herb had one around Ryan and one around me, and Ryan was flailing at both of us and getting a big kiss on each chubby cheek from us both. It was the best feeling ever!

And then late this morning, Herb took a short nap and just before his alarm was set to go off, I snuck in the room with Ryan and let him pat Daddy’s face to wake him up. Naturally the three of us ended up in a big clinch in the middle of the bed, wrestling and giggling. Best group hug ever!

There’s just something amazing about the family all snuggling together. Physical contact is truly an emotionally bonding experience, and when all three of us are in such close contact, I just feel like my heart will burst with happiness over how precious a family I’ve been blessed with.

It reminds me of the line from Schoolhouse Rock: “Man and a woman had a little baby – there were three in the family, that’s a magic number.” One point is just a point, two points are a line, but three points – that gets you a whole plane! Three points make a stable tricycle, a solid stool, a useful tabletop. Three is a special number throughout the Bible: the three gifts of the Magi, the three sons of Noah, Daniel’s thrice-daily prayers, the three parts of the Godhead, the three days between Christ’s death and resurrection. There’s a special significance to three, a sense of completion and perfection.

Our true family already includes more than three, and our family may not even be complete yet. But the three that are in our household right now? Are absolute perfection.