Belt Out A Song

Do you ever think about the things children get away with?
I don’t mean misbehaving type things.
I mean the things that you wish you could do as an adult.
Sometimes I think about those things randomly, without warning.

Did you ever want to ride on a shopping cart?
Do you ever wish you could stand on the back end and have someone push you around?
Would you enjoy standing on a moving cart while someone else danced you around the room?
Do you ever dream about belting out a song in the middle of the supermarket?

I confess that I do!
My mind is always thinking of things that would be impractical but so much fun!
Those are the days when being an adult is not all it is cracked up to be.
Those are the days when the inner child screams to be heard.

When you have your own children, it gives you permission to indulge in some of these things.
However, you are still the parent so there are limits and boundaries.
There is always the age when your child will think that dancing in the kitchen is fun.
There is always the age when that just won’t work any more.

Or will it?

I have noticed that adult coloring books are very popular.
They are advertised as being calming and therapeutic.
What about saying they are just plain fun?
Why do inner child activities have to be marketed as appropriate adult recreation?

One of my daughters truly wishes that life was a musical.
If I heard her once, I have heard her a hundred times.
Why can’t I just answer someone with a song?
Seems like a good question to me.

I was looking for some cards for a few occasions that are coming up.
The card displays were quite tall.
It was impossible to see anyone in the next row.
I couldn’t see anyone, but I could hear her.

It was a little girl and she was singing.
She was belting out a song.
She was doing exactly what I wish I could do.
She did not care who was within earshot; she was not singing to them.

She was so happy as she sang.
I didn’t recognize the song, but decided that it must be a song she learned in kindergarten.
I heard her voice move along the aisle next to me.
I knew that she must be sitting in a shopping cart as her mother pushed her down the aisle.

I could hear her voice just on the other side of the display.
I found the cards I was looking for and went to the end of the aisle.
I had to see the little soloist.
I had to see the face of the one who sang so adorably.

As I turned the corner, there she was.
Her mother was looking for cards, just like I had done.
The little girl was holding a very loved stuffed animal.
That very loved stuffed animal was her audience and the recipient of her song.

You are a very good singer, I said enthusiastically.
Her mother looked up to see who was talking to her little girl.
The little girl looked shy at first but then realized that I truly loved her singing.
I heard your beautiful song and it made me smile, I said with a smile that matched my words.

She held out her very loved stuffed animal to me.
It was not an offering so I would take hold of it.
It was more of a, this is all I have to show you, kind of gesture.
It was not necessary; what she gave to me in song far surpassed any object she could show me.

I smiled at the little girl and her mother.
The little girl waved with the hand that was not holding her stuffed animal.
When I passed them and could no longer see them, I heard them.
I’m a good singer, Mommy!

Therefore, as Gods chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

That is who we are.
Holy and dearly loved by God.
Knowing that makes all the difference in the world.
No matter what we do, we know that we are loved first.

Being loved by God is an incredible motivator.
Being loved by God helps us to press on.
Being loved by God assures us that whatever we do, we do it for His glory.
Being loved by God makes us sing.

I’m a good singer, Mommy.
I told the little girl what she was and she believed it.
If she never knew that before, she knew it now.
Someone thought she was a good singer.

I’m holy and dearly loved.
God told us that in His Word and we must believe it.
If we didn’t know it before, we know it now.
We are loved by God.

Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.
This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. (Brennan Manning)

That truth should make us sing.
That truth should be so astounding that we want to belt out a song.
We are singing to an audience as well.
Not a very loved stuffed animal; we are singing to a Holy God.

God loves you!
God dearly loves you!
Let that truth sink in.
Then belt out a song!