By Tonja Taylor

I grew up Southern Baptist. Then, in my early 20s, the LORD graciously introduced me to the high praise and drama of Carman. Through his music, the LORD has done much healing and freeing of my spirit, including teaching me to raise my hands in worship (called “Yodah” in the Hebrew).

Since the LORD got my hands up to praise Him, they have not been able to stay down! But when I was first learning the importance of the raising of hands (at least for my personal worship to Him), He took me deeper into abandoning myself (respectfully) in true worship of Him, the worthy King.

I was married to my daughter’s father at the time, and one day after buying groceries I listened to a Carman tape on the way home. When I stopped the car in the drive, I was so into the worship that I sat there for a few minutes with my eyes closed and hands raised as the song finished–then I looked up to see him (the husband, not Carman) staring thru the window at me.

He did not seem to appreciate the depth of the worship like I did. But the LORD continued to draw me, and impressed me to sing a certain Carman song, “Sunday’s On Its Way,” in my tiny Southern Baptist church. I’d never sung in church alone, and it took God months to even get me to agree to lip-sync.

God relented, or at least didn’t say no to the lip sync. I thought that, really, my very Southern, country pastor would not agree to let me do it, because Carman, a pastor himself, was an on-fire, Blood-washed, Bible-thumpin’, demon-chasing, Jesus-lovin’, Spirit-filled son of God–and his music reflected that (praise God!).

But God took care of that too. When I told the music minister and pastor I wanted to do a special, they did not even ask what I was going to do.

(Okay, LORD, I’m in!)

My daughter was just a few months old. And my husband, who’d actually come to church that Sunday, had to take her out right after I started, because she started acting up. The music started, and I started lip-syncing, and doing motions with my hands to act out the drama of the song, in my best Toastmaster style.

You should have heard the congregation when I finished! They said……

(nothing).

It was one of those classic silences, where you could hear the proverbial pin drop.

Finally, the preacher rose and said, “Well. THAT was interesting!” Then he started talking about church business.

I sat in the (back) pew and cringed, and actually cried silently and felt embarrassed, humiliated, and whatever other negative emotion the enemy could throw at me.

When church was over, I tried to bolt for the door–but a teen girl stepped in my path. “Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for doing that!” she said, beaming.

So, if for no one else but HER, I was (FINALLY!) obedient to the LORD, and it made a difference in her life.

And that, after all, is the reason we are here!

Copyright 2007 by Tonja Taylor. Tonja is a prolific author and has just released her first book, LEGACY: Crafting Your Child’s Future With Words, available now for just $9.99 from http://www.covenantgold.com. All proceeds (NO deductions) go to her church, Harvest International Ministries in Texarkana, AR.

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