Lately I’ve been thinking about twirling.  Remember, for a moment, being a little girl standing out in the green grass. The warm summer sun beating down on your face. The blue sky with white powder puffs here and there beckoning. And you would throw your arms out with abandon and twirl. Just turn around and around and around. Until finally too exhausted you’d fall into a heap on the grass, giggling at the dizziness and the fun.

I missed twirling. I missed the very act of just letting go of the things that press down on us. I missed the carefree abandonment that twirling provided.

So, every once in a while I’ll twirl. Just for the fun of it. I love to twirl in the rain. Or on a day when huge snowflakes are falling from the sky. I lift my face toward the white sky and feel the flakes hit my face. I don’t twirl as fast as I used to. I do it slowly, taking in the moment. Enjoying the freedom.

The freedom of letting all your worries and stress float away. The freedom of just being in the moment.

And then there is spiritual twirling. When life presses down on us and things rise to the surface that are ugly. That we didn’t even know existed deep in the recesses of our hearts. In those moments we need to get rid of those things. We need to ask Jesus to forgive us for the ugliness. For the attitudes. For the things that hold us back. And then walk in freedom. No, not walk. . . twirl in freedom. Letting all the guilt and the shame go. And living in the moment of forgiveness.

Twirling.

We need to do it more.

Take a moment. Get up from your chair. Put your arms out. Tip your head back and spin. Enjoy the moment. Take a deep breath and get back to life.

And if the ugliness in your life has surfaced lately. . .  Take a moment. Confess it to Jesus. Ask His forgiveness. Then savor the moment. Let the guilt and the shame escape as you twirl in the freedom that only forgiveness can bring.