Keep Dancing!

Praise the Lord, Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 150

Each Sunday morning I help in Upstreet which is a worship time for elementary students. There are several adult singers that lead worship and a large group of 4th and 5th graders that make up the Praise Team. The Praise Team worships the Lord through dance. I have the honor of helping this team each Wednesday and Sunday morning. It is so much fun to dance with these students. I love watching them praise the Lord! 

Every Sunday, as the Praise Team leads worship, I notice a first grader near the front row. She is an adorable little girl who isn't ashamed to worship! She sings out so that everyone can hear and she dances as if no one were watching. She doesn't know the choreographed moves to the songs but that doesn't matter to her. She twirls and swoops, jumps and bends, claps and sways. Regardless of how fast or slow the song is, this sweet girl is dancing for her Lord! Sometimes she is the only one dancing and that is perfectly okay with her!

Psalm 150 tells us that we should praise the Lord. He deserves our praise and all of us should praise Him with our songs, our instruments, our words, and yes, our dancing! That cute first grader has a lesson to teach of all of us. No matter what everyone else is doing, we need to praise our Lord! Even if no one else is clapping at church or raising their hands in worship, we should be bold with our praise. Even if everyone in the congregation is moving to the right, if we feel lead to move to the left...we need to do it! This life isn't about doing what everyone else is doing. This life is about praising our Heavenly Father! Our Father is blessed by our praise and worship. We need to bend and sway and clap and shout for Him! 

Sadly, there will most likely come a time when that delightful first grader will realize she is dancing to her own beat. My prayer is that she will keep dancing! Her dancing and singing is precious in in the eyes of her Father. Yes, in our lives, there are many times when we will be the only ones dancing! So what? He's worth it! He is so incredibly worthy of our praise! 

Today I am thankful to be involved in a church that encourages our little ones to worship. I am also thankful for the lesson I've learned from someone so much younger than me. When I feel inspired to dance or shout or sing or raise my hands, I'm going to do it! It's not about what everyone around me is doing. It's about my God! I was made to worship and that's what I'm going to do! Mostly, I am thankful that my Lord is pleased with my worship. My dancing and singing probably isn't all that pleasing to most folks but my Father loves it! What a blessing it is to be able to bring joy to my God's heart!