Don’t you just love little kids? They have no inhibitions whatsoever. They will sing, skip, climb and jump no matter the venue. I recently saw a little guy dancing his heart out in the middle of a grocery store aisle.
I, as an adult, am naturally a little more reticent. There are most certainly times when I am overtaken with a sense of joy and may feel like flinging my arms out and doing a twirl. But I hold myself back. Why is this? Who made these rules that us adults must be more stoic and reserved?
It certainly wasn’t God. Over and over in the Bible, He shows how He values joy. The Bible characters themselves portray this to us. King David danced with so much joy and enthusiasm before God that he caught the criticism of his wife.
This story really hits close to home for me. You see, my husband does not have a problem with dancing in the grocery store. In fact, his motto is that if they didn’t want people singing and dancing in the store, they wouldn’t play music! Honestly, God has had to do a lot of work on me in this area. I am very mission-oriented when I am shopping and do not understand taking time to play and dance while on that mission. However, as in many other areas, God has softened my heart and helped me move past the perfectionism that held me back so often in the past. Again, who made these “rules” that one cannot have fun even while doing a mundane task such as grocery shopping?
So these days you might catch me singing along with the old soft-rock songs in the store, or even catch a glimpse of my husband and I taking a twirl in an aisle at Walmart!
“A cheerful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22a
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