Lift your hands

The sun was out and we had all been cooped up with the stomach bug so the first chance we got, we hit the pavement.
Sledge started shaking his body + signaling for me to turn on his favorite song, “How Good is He”…we usually listen to it on repeat over + over—sometimes loud and we are both singing the verses in our own way (I’m tone-deaf and Sledge can’t quite talk yet, but you know), and other times, more quiet. I’ll turn it down and we will talk about all that we see around us—so much beauty! The soundtrack of God’s goodness always humming in the background…like an anthem to our movement—feels appropriate.

Well, I didn’t realize I had a lot weighing on my heart. I was randomly pulling up my Google docs notes adding to my list + putting things on the calendar…like my body wanted to just be but the restlessness of my mind wouldn’t quite let it.
Until I looked down and this was my view.
Unprompted.
Sledges arms in the air, praising God, swaying back + forth.
I peered over the stroller and his eyes were squinty closed.
Full on praising.
I had almost lost the beat of the music until his actions revived it in my soul.

I literally felt like someone bursted chains from my being as I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “When something is weighing on your heart, lift your hands.”
So I did.
Feeling the wind travel through them + the joy immediately return to my face, I was reminded that sometimes we have to coach our bodies to look up + remember how our finite nature works perfectly with His sovereignty.

It wasn’t like the weight I felt was so big or looming, at least I didn’t think it was—but sometimes, it’s just the general expectations of the season you’re in, the demands of your day that you’ve already had to pivot, or the hypotheticals you’re drumming around in your mind that keep you from being in the present moment, feeling the warmth of the sunshine, + hearing the words of the music.

When you’re frustrated by the stagnation of your feet, lift your hands.
When you’re feeling limited by the capacity of your own body, lift your hands.
When you’re warring with the anxiety in your mind, lift your hands.

How good is He…do you hear the music? 🎶