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By Marie Harrison

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s true, the members of our kid’s ROCC band should be highly flattered. This past Sunday, after the band had performed during service, one mom went home and was treated to her very own concert. From the comfort of the living room, her boys had built a stage out of cardboard boxes and overturned chairs. No band would be complete without instruments and so the boys grabbed broomsticks to use for guitars and kitchen utensils to use for drumsticks and then they proceeded to put on a show. The mom filmed as the boys sang a song of their own creation. Not a song they had heard that morning, but new songs, created with the same basic truths. “God loves us, He is always with us, tap, tap, He will never leave us.” This performance was nothing short of spectacular and I’m confident that I had the biggest grin on my face as I watched the video.

As I thought about this performance later, I began to wonder, what is it about certain things that makes us want to copy them? What was it about the band performance that sparked something in the hearts and minds of these young boys? Why do we choose to copy and emulate some things while leaving others to simply gather dust in our thoughts and minds?

I think the real answer lies less with us and our own motivation and more with God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It is obvious from listening to the words of the songs that these boys created that they understood what was being sung during church. They didn’t come home and start up a rock band to praise and sing the joys of pizza. No. Instead, their hearts and minds were tuned into God, who He is, what He’s done, what truths about God can we hold fast to. The whole point of the band’s performance that day was to help the kids learn to use their voices to praise and worship God and no matter the words or tune being sung, these boys came home and did just that — they praised and worshiped God. And I’d like to think that was God’s divine intervention. The nudging of the Holy Spirit to lead these boys into worship in their own way. The guidance of the Holy Spirit to call out what we know is true about God. The encouragement of the Holy Spirit to let these boys know that God not only heard their praise but counted it all as a beautiful sound.

And what about the young child who comes home and pretends to teach her own class? Maybe that too is the prompting of the Holy Spirit to begin trying out the gift of teaching. As a child, I remember holding classes in my house for all the younger neighborhood children. I used egg cartons and beans and taught multiplication to first and second graders in the same way my own teacher had taught me. Who would have ever guessed that years later I would be standing in front of a chemistry classroom working through math problems with my students, or years after that, standing in front of elementary aged children teaching about Jesus? I didn’t know, but God did. I think if we really take the time to stop and listen, we’ll find that God’s been talking to us all along. Throughout our lives, the Holy Spirit is always nudging us towards a deeper relationship with God, and using the gifts God has given us to grow God’s kingdom and share the good news of Jesus with others. Sometimes that Holy Spirit nudging leads us into a career but sometimes that nudging is just there to lead us to stop everything and simply praise and worship God. What a gift. Even if broomsticks and kitchen utensils are completely optional.