Not Just an Audience Anymore

Last Thursday night was the worship-till-ya-drop night at church. Turned out to be even more fun than usual!

It's not unusual anymore for the sparkles to show up. Once the music stopped, D was looking around the area where he'd been standing. There were red sparkles scattered around. But he found a chair that was caked. They're blue cloth chairs. The seat and back were heavily sprinkled with them - all red. The area around had a thinner scattering. No one was sitting in that chair or any of the surrounding ones.

It was taken to the front, and people were milling around talking about it. Then came another chair from the back. This one was just as well coated, but in silver. Once again, no one was sitting in that chair.

There was a lot of discussion as to how the "glitter" got there. Plenty of talk about the recent wedding, the possibility of Kids' Church, and the fact that all the chairs had just been scrubbed down. But D and I have seen this before. So have many others. And I am STOKED that God's sending it down at our home church now!
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Sunday, I had the 3-5 year olds during second service. Meanwhile, the mother of one of them was upstairs worshipping. Afterward, D and I were in the sanctuary milling around. We were talking to the leaders of our Friday night group when the mom came running up with her hands in front of her. She could hardly speak for laughing. Her hands were covered in sparkles. First time getting them. Ahhhh... church is a hoot.
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I've been craving 2 things lately. I need to worship, and I need a baby. Worship I can have. And boy am I.

Sunday morning, I realized I can no longer sing "holy holy holy" and stay standing up. Perhaps this is temporary, but it just ain't happenin'. Several times lately, all in different settings, we've sung those words and I soon ended up on the floor. I thought it had more to do with my choice than anything. But I generally am very concerned about not standing out at church. Best I could tell Sunday, very few people even had their hands in the air, and no one at all was on the floor. Yet, down I went. Grant you, I could choose to stay up. But it'd feel horrible to do it! I'd rather have the flu.

I don't know what's going on around here. But somethin' sure is. I know it's God and I know it's good. Can't figure out a bit else.
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After church, a group of us from the Friday night group went out for lunch. Looks like we're planning a solid 3-4 hours of worship some Friday night soon. I've been assigned to help find CD's to use. Like I said earlier, worship and a baby. I'm SO anxious for that night to come.
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My identity is wrapped up in being God's, my husband's and my babies'. But I've got God and D. E and J consume me.

We heard recently that God is always in worship offered through pain. I really see it. Worship, particularly in private, has become a gut-wrenching joy. The floor ends up wet with tears. I end up screaming in silence. But this kind of worship is life-giving. There are no words to describe it - maybe thick. Thick's good. God really is present in this kind of worship. He's not just an audience anymore.