You know those times when you’re listening to praise and worship music and you get so moved by the Spirit that you get carried away and seem to forget where you are? Well, I had one of those times the other day.

In my mind, I was singing beautifully, stretching my arms toward heaven while turning circles in a sunny meadow full of wildflowers.

In reality, I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of my daughter’s college campus, waiting for her to return from meeting with a teacher. Sleet began to fall, the beginning of what was to become the worst ice storm we’ve had in years. My daughter’s peers and even worse, some of her teachers, were filtering by my window every few minutes, oblivious to what was going on inside the car.

Inside, the stereo was blaring and I was belting it out with all of the talent of some of American Idol’s most… interesting contestants, to put it nicely. I clapped my hands and swayed back and forth to the beat; intermittently tapping my air drums (which I don’t even know how to play). I’m sure the scene played out a little stranger than my usual public silliness, me having a total disregard for what people were thinking as they witnessed my automobile audition. But right then, right there, none of that mattered. I was praising God and wishing that the passers-by could share the peace and joy that I was feeling.

And I have to believe that somehow, by the time my voice reached God, it had been transformed into something beautiful, something perfect for my God. And, at the very least, He sees my heart and my desire for this time to be all about Him - for my praises to echo the same gladsome tidings that even the mountains couldn’t contain at His birth.

“Gloria in excelsis deo! Gloria in excelsis deo!

How could heaven’s heart not break…on the day…the day that You came?

Salvation’s reason to celebrate…on the day…the day that You came!

Gloria in excelsis deo! Gloria in excelsis deo! Gloria! Gloria! Gloria-a-a-yeah-yeah-yeahhh! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah-yeah-yeah-yeahhh!!”

(Words and music by MercyMe. Lyrical interpretation is my own.)