"This is what I do when I'm excited:"...

One of the benefits that I have as a single girl, is that I get to play, hang out with, and observe all of my friends' kids. I love watching them and seeing their little personalities. I have seen the older children convince the younger that the toy he has is not really the one he wants, and wouldn't he like to trade? And their facial expressions are huge. There is no subtle movement. When the eyebrows are up, they are WAY up. When the smile shows teeth, it shows ALL of the teeth. They will run and hug you, even give you a kiss sometimes, when all you did was walk in the door and smile at them. They do not leave you in doubt of what they are feeling.
I also help out with the Wednesday Night Live (WNL) childrens' ministry on (obviously) Wed. nights. I lead the music time, and then I teach, when they are there, the 4-6 year olds. There is one in particular who gave me the title of this post. His name is Ryan, and he is 6. He told me one night that "this" (the motion I'm about to describe) is what he does when he's excited about something. Imagine, if you will, a little boy with brown hair and big brown eyes. He takes his hands and puts them with the back of his wrists to each side of his nose. Then he wriggles his little fingers back and forth and amongst each other, while giggling, squinting his eyes, and hopping back and forth on each foot very quickly. If you've ever seen a little puppy try to contain all of its excited energy in one place, then you've seen Ryan's excited expression. Whenever the kids get split up into groups and given a challenge to complete, or they are told they can go to the treasure box and get a piece of candy, or they get cookies after dinner, or they get to go to the playground, you'll see Ryan doing his little motion. It is just too precious, and it brings a smile to my face to SEE him be happy.
This past week, we had a visitor at WNL. His name is Chris, and he turned 16 years old on Wed. Why, might you ask, would a 16 year old be attending a childrens' ministry? (The program is for 4 year olds and up through the 6th grade.) The reason is because Chris was born addicted to cocaine. He wears a hearing aid, and mentally, he is many years younger than his age. Anyway...It was his birthday, and Bro. Gary suggested we get him a cake, etc. So we did. I wish that you could have seen his face when we came out singing "Happy Birthday" with that cake. At first, he was puzzled...then he pointed to himself, as if to question the gift. When we sang his name, and he realized it was HIS cake...he bounced up and down in his chair, clapped his hands rapidly, and just squealed with joy. He looked around at all the kids singing and all the adults singing, and just grinned the biggest grin ever. He was SO excited!! His mom came up later and said that he had just asked her earlier if he would get a cake for his birthday, and she had said yes, not knowing if she could get him one. It has been a few days since that happened, and it still brings tears to my eyes. I had the priviledge of being a part of bringing a child such joy that he couldn't even contain it.
I think that as adults, we somehow lose that freedom...the freedom of trying our hardest to express joy inexpressible. We keep up that facade of "maturity" and stand or sit still. Or maybe that's not our problem. Maybe we don't get excited about anything anymore. Maybe all the joy in life has been drained away, and we don't even know that it happened. Heaven please forbid.
As I watched that precious boy clap and laugh at the knowledge of receiving such a small gift, I thought, "I bet God loves it when we do the same to Him." I mean...what is a true expression of joy without also being an expression of gratitude? I'm not saying that every time we are overflowing with joy that we should run around, screaming and shouting. And I'm not saying that we should stand sedately, thinking we lose reverance if we budge. But when was the last time that in the solitude of your bedroom, apartment, car, where-ever, you laughed and jumped around because you couldn't contain the joy inside? Chris Rice sings about it. Little kids do it impulsively. King David danced with joy, because he just couldn't be still and express that much joy. The word "overflow" means that it is SO MUCH that it can't be contained.
Unbeknownst to some of you, and sadly, known a little too well to a few others, I still jump up and down and scream and laugh when I'm really excited or happy. I can't help it. I'm still a kid in many ways. And I don't want to get into some long discussion on the appropriate posture or behavior for worship (ie. in the church). I just hope that each of us, in our daily, personal walk with the Lord, would show Him some of that uncontainable joy that is a result of knowing Him.