We’re studying a book in my Sunday School class called “The Air I Breathe” by Louie Giglio; it is about worship. Although, I admit I haven’t been reading it as often or as diligently as I should, I’ve learned a lot both from the reading and the discussion with our class members.
In a nutshell, this book is about how we are MADE to worship, whether we know it or not. Just because you aren’t a believer or aren’t in church at this moment, doesn’t mean you aren’t “worshiping.” We were made to worship. If we aren’t worshiping the Lord right now, we must be worshiping something else. The message of this book has really hit me were it hurts because I don’t always have an attitude of worship. This week we read a portion of the book that talks about being in a constant state of worship. Is this even possible? Can I really worship God no matter what I’m doing?
I was standing outside of a bouncy thing (this is Ella’s terminology, not mine) on Saturday afternoon enjoying the squeals of delight coming from my almost-two-year-old and watching her enjoy herself and enjoy being with her friends. As I think back over the birthday weekend and how happy she was with every little moment I can’t help but think about worship. Yes, I can worship the Lord in every single moment, the hard part is going to be remembering to do it. Our pastor reminds us that worship is a mindset… we have to train ourselves to be engaged in worship at all times. Without Him, Ella wouldn’t have been enjoying a backyard birthday party. Without Him, I wouldn’t be enjoying her, enjoying a backyard birthday party. See the connection?
Some of you may know that for 18 months we struggled with the ability to have a child at all. We prayed and begged and prayed some more and God in his wisdom told us to wait. I’m still not sure why, except that if we had gotten pregnant even one month earlier I would be watching some other little girl grow up in Ella’s room. Somebody asked me recently why Ella’s birthday parties (remember, there have only been two) were so “extravagant” and why I spent so much money (which I didn’t). The only way I can even begin to answer is to say this: we prayed for Ella for a very long time and God didn’t have to answer that prayer with a yes. How can I not honor that gift with a celebration of the day she was so graciously given to us? She is such a blessing… a birthday blessing. And we will celebrate our socks ofF every single year!
I hope you see the connection between worship and the everyday things like a birthday party. It has taken me awhile, but I’m coming around. I hope you don’t get bored with that theme because it’s one of the things that has inspired this blog to begin with. I’ve been thinking about how to share my story, my testimony. How can I live in a constant state of worship for those around me to see? I’ll worship in my kitchen when I’m cooking supper for the 5th night in a row when all I really want is a bologna sandwich.* I’ll worship when I’m cleaning Vaseline out of the carpet (which left a cute little “reminder” stain). I’ll worship when I’m silently counting to ten because Ella refuses to use the potty. I’ll worship when I’m blogging and hope you’ll enjoy reading about it and maybe even buy the book (affiliate link), I’m going to.
