Fake!

I sit down, and the service begins.
Great music. I love the music in our church.
Granted it's not for everybody.
I know - bass guitar and drums...not your taste?
Whatever. I like it.
I can truly worship God this way.
The songs easily help me express my feelings to God.
I honor Him with the words, my voice blended with the others.
I'm sure the angels in heaven have joined in.
I am caught up in His praises.
Time to pray.
We sit.
And then...WAIT! NO! (This is where it gets embarrassing!!!)
It rarely happens, but they are bringing out the heavy artillery...
Miss Brigitte leads them out in an orderly line.
Okay, a semi-orderly line.
A DISORDERLY line.
Tanya has managed to drop her lanyard/nametag and when she stopped to pick it up, the others continued walking, crashing into each other one by one like a Three Stooges act.
The congregation snickers, trying not to laugh too loud.
Miss Brigitte gets control of the situation and the children are soon ready to begin.
It doesn't matter that they do not sound like professional singers, like the worship band before them.
It doesn't matter that the actions that accompany the words they are singing are simple and repetitive and not synchronized very well.
You can tell they have practiced many times to get things right, and yet there is something very genuine about their melody as they open their cherub mouths and sing:

It's not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It's not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It's not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It's not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar

Chorus:
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross...
With each verse they sing, I get more choked up. Why does this happen to me? I knew it would as soon as the children stepped out. It happens almost every time I see the children at our church perform. Do I have children? Sure! But they're TEENAGERS! They aren't in the production! I continue to beg tissue off the lady next to me and ignore the concerned looks from my family. (What is wrong with her? Perhaps she's ill...)
*****
Later, I try to figure it out. What is wrong with me? Now, I know this would be no big deal for most of you. But, I am NOT a crier. At all. I used to be...when my kids were little. Any sweet thing they did - WAAAAAAAA! And when I was PREGNANT - well, Hallmark commercials put me over the edge! But, I'm not that woman anymore. I'm not sure why...there's nothing wrong with it. In fact, when counseling with women, I encourage them to cry..."Let it all out." 
I guess I just cried all my tears out.
Unless children sing at my church.
Seriously.
Then it hit me! God spoke to me through His Word:
Matthew 18:2-4 (ESV) says:
^"2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus was talking about the pure faith of a child that listens and obeys - that comes when they're called, that believes Jesus when He speaks. Children trust Him.
I did make one observation while blabbering into my Kleenex, listening to those children sing. I wasn't the only one dabbing at their eyes with a tissue. There were others. Mostly older folks. (I refuse to acknowledge that I may belong to that group.) Old can mean wise. We could sense something spiritual.
Those children up there singing? They have genuine faith. They really believe what they are singing. Those of us listening don't question that. We can see it on their faces. We know the kids their age just - believe without questioning...yet. Kids don't pretend yet. They aren't fake in spiritual things.

We are.

And it's so beautiful it can melt a heart of stone and make a grown woman cry. :)
Beautiful.