A "little" boogie...

Church. It's the place you'll find my family on most Sunday mornings. Today was no exception. We attend church to be filled, to participate in worship and to fellowship. But our service today warmed my heart, not because of the sermon or the fellowship or the Scripture. Nope. Today's worship was special for one reason.

Kids.

Today, children reminded me of true, pure worship.

Today is Palm Sunday. We have a tradition in our church of giving kids, young and old alike, palm branches on this special morning. And during the singing of traditional Hosanna hymns, the kids excitedly participated with exuberant waving, flailing even, of these leafy greens. These kids didn't hold back and raised their palms in simple, joyful praise.

Earlier in the service, as is typical on Sunday mornings, our praise team led us in worship. Today's songs included a toe-tapping, hand-clapping spiritual. Two pews ahead of us, a young family worshiped with Daniel, their toddler.  Daniel bounced, slid and danced to the beat of the music. He was the picture of pure happiness, complete with twinkling eyes and wide smile.

Daniel's dancing reminded me of a Facebook post I had seen earlier this week. Amy, another young mom from our church, posted a video of her sweet daughter.

It's obvious that God created the jubilant joy of music in our very souls. Kids unabashedly celebrate this gift. I wonder why, as adults, we squelch this precious gift. Maybe it's fear or worry of humiliation, but whatever reason, we seem to have lost the innocence of pure worship.

After watching kids worship, I need to try to refresh my bones and get back to the pure joy of worship. I can learn from kids, but I can also learn from David.  He wrote about dancing in Psalm 51, here from The Message:

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!

Let's dance like no one's watching!