i sing

It was just another ordinary day.

I got dressed and slipped a special necklace over my blouse. It is a silver chain with an old silver spoon pendant with the words “I Sing Because I’m Free” embossed on it. My mom had it made for me for Christmas a few years back. It’s the name of this blog, and it is also a line from one of my favorite hymns- His Eye is on the Sparrow.

It’s funny, because I get asked more questions about that piece of jewelry than I’d ever thought possible! It seems like everywhere I go, someone will notice it and ask me what it means.

Anyway, I drove to town and met a friend for lunch, and then had a bunch of errands to run. I tried to plan them so that all of the stops were in order. My first stop was the health food store to pick up some vitamins. They are always friendly, but there’s not a lot of chit-chat in the check-out line.

I grabbed the one thing I needed and met the cashier at the counter.

I opened my purse and it took me a minute to find my debit card.

“I sing because I’m free?” he inquired.

It’s a line from an old hymn, I told him. Do you know it? It’s called His eye is on the Sparrow…

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one,” he said.

And I knew the Lord wanted me to just start singing it. Without any hesitation, I broke out into the chorus of the song.

“Ah… that’s a really nice song,” he said.

I am free because of Jesus, I said to him.

And I could have cut the silence with a knife. Can you say- AWKWARD!?!

“That’s real nice, m’am”, he says to me. He never looked up at me as he tore the receipt from the register, handed me a pen, and asked me for my signature. I signed my name and told him to have an awesome day.

I got in the car and something strange happened.

I wasn’t embarrassed.

I didn’t want to hide.

I didn’t feel defeated.

Although it might have seemed a little awkward in the store, I was obedient to do what God wanted me to do in that moment.

No regrets.

You win some, you lose some-

But when you are obedient to do what He asks- no matter how big or small-

you always win!

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10