Do the Shuffle!

Times are tough! Did I hear an "amen"? Today my son tells me there is going to be a lockdown at school because of a rumored gang fight. Yesterday I read that China is joining the chorus for a global currency to be established. Unemployment is up. Stocks are down. Punches are being thrown right and left. Even nature is joining in the fray. Blizzards in the West. Flooding in the Midwest. Twisters in the South.

What's a body to do when one of the punches lands? Like a phone call. One that announces that your income has just been reduced by ten percent. Of course, that is on top of the drop of your stock portfolio that came earlier that wiped out retirement funds. An ole "one-two punch".

Well, I chose to dig out the Nikes and take it to the road. I chose to clip on the iPod Shuffle loaded with praise music and do a little worship on the run. So I chugged down the road working up a sweat and a beet red face (those who know me know what that looks like!!! Not a pretty sight...) I thanked God that we still had a job. Promised Him that their ten percent was not His ten percent. Thanked Him for letting us spend the winter at the beach. Thanked Him for our family and our health. Thanked Him for the baby blessing that will be delivered in August. Thanked Him for His goodness.

Then, I started to formulate a plan. Here is how it went...when I finished my out-and-back, I'd do my cool-down walk along the boardwalk. (yes, stinky and beet-faced.) And when I reached the end, I would walk out to the edge of the sand and sing whatever song shuffled onto my playlist to Him at the edge of His ocean. I was getting kinda excited about this! I liked this plan. Decided whatever the song said, I'd do it. If it said "with lifted hands", I'd raise 'em high. If it said "down on my knees", I'd bow down (after a run, I might not get back up, but I'd get down there!!) If it said "I will dance", I'd do a jig.

Man, I was feeling good! I couldn't wait to make my offering at the ocean! But do you know what happened. None of what I had planned. Not a single thing. I walked down to the edge as a song wound down. My heart raced with anticipation. What would the next song be and how had God chosen for me to worship Him?

The song started. I had never heard it before. Couldn't sing a single word. Had to be still and listen. And you know what happened? God sang a song over me!

The LORD your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17