Breaking Bread and Breaking Through

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 ESV


This past Sunday was our quarterly "2:42" service. It's a more intimate time of worship, of fellowship, of teaching, of prayer, and of communion. The songs were beautiful, we prayed specifically for "laborers", and, of course, broke bread together.

I interpreted the music in ASL. Being a more casual service, acoustic guitar and violin players literally sitting ON the stage, I stood on the floor in front of it. Another woman who has been learning the language was there, sitting in front, near where we interpreters generally sit.

We have been encouraging her to raise her hands (and sign) while she is standing in the congregation - to practice. And while I do encourage her to do it, I also remember how that feels - to raise my hands for the first time. It took a while for me to surrender to the call to participate. I knew once I agreed, I would HAVE to raise my hands and let them speak. That terrified me.

I reminded her she knew the words of the chorus of one of the songs. Her eyes got a little wide, but she nodded.

And then... it happened. As we sang, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!...." I looked over, and there were her hands: "Praise! Praise! Praise Jesus!" I grinned from ear to ear and nodded "YES!"

"Praise! Praise! Praise Jesus!" indeed....