This moves me.

I had a moment; it happened in church this morning when the music began. People were clapping to the beat, a few simply standing with outstretched arms. A time of worship.

I used to feel extremely uncomfortable with this open expression of faith. It wasn't so much what they were doing that bothered me, but that I felt moved to do it myself! I had no problem whooping it up at rock concerts but for some reason, it felt weird at church. That all changed once I began meeting people and hearing their stories.

One was a scrapbooking friend whose son nearly died in a freak accident, almost strangled by his own seat belt. Men with crowbars unsuccessfully struggled to free her son from the ever tightening grip. In what can only be described as a miracle, a passerby (who happened to be a pastor from a nearby church) stopped to help. He freed her unconscious son with a pocketknife he'd recently replaced. As I watched my friend raise her hands to this song during worship one Sunday, it brought me to tears. The words still echo in my ears:

We will remember, we will remember
We will remember the works of Your hands
We will stop and give You praise
For great is Thy faithfulness

Your our creator, our life sustainer
Deliverer, our comfort, our joy
Throughout the ages You’ve been our shelter
Our peace in the midst of the storm

With signs and wonders You’ve shown Your power
With precious blood You showed us Your grace
You’ve been our helper, our liberator
The giver of life with no end

When we walk through life’s darkest valleys
We will look back at all You have done
And we will shout, our God is good
And He is the faithful One.

Then there was today. I stood there this morning, several rows away from a family friend - someone I've known for a very long time. Jean would often hire my sister and I to clean house and babysit, with lots of added perks: orange soda, ceramics, and a summer trip to their cabin. Good memories. Today I watched Jean from afar as she openly expressed her faith - singing and clapping her heart out. She was praising the Lord, trusting Him and loving Him despite the news she'd received earlier this week. She has cancer and was given only two months to live.

These ladies know the sweet gift and sacrifice of praise. They know what it means to stand before our Lord with a fully surrendered heart, without a care or concern for what is happening around them. It doesn't matter what others think, it isn't about them. It's about Him. What a beautiful thing.