By Tabatha McIntyre

My son, Caleb, and I were at church recently, having just finished up our weekly coffee date. As the worship team got into their places and struck their first chords, I noticed a larger-than-normal group of teenagers on the front row. One in particular caught my attention because of his height and his hair. Buzzed and bleach blonde, it reminded me of pictures I had seen of my husband at that age, and it made me smile. He immediately started jumping to the beat of the song.

I will be very transparent here and say my very first feeling was embarrassment for him. I felt that all too familiar feeling of self-consciousness that filters most of your teen and young adult years. He was the only one jumping in a large crowd of people, and for a split second, I felt fear that his peers and others might judge or ridicule him for how “much” he was, like I had at that age. Thankfully, I am not 16 anymore and a blessing that comes with age is a bit of wisdom. The freedom of self-forgetfulness is a badge of honor that you have to earn most of the time, usually after years of making yourself into what you think others will accept in order to belong, only to get to a place where you end up missing your most authentic self and begin the journey back to who you really are. This kid was impressing me by seemingly unlocking a level that bypassed all that masquerading and was unapologetically himself.

So, I had those few seconds of feeling concerned for him, then immediate pride. I was rooting for him. What I did not know was with each jump, he was creating ripples. Within a minute, his friends on either side had started to sway and sing. A minute after that, two girls a few feet away caught a glimpse of him and decided to join in. I watched the entire congregation go from quiet and still to singing louder than I had ever heard. It was like wildfire and the atmosphere completely changed, the air felt charged with joy and exuberance. The musicians were smiling, and the worship team started dancing. It was a whole vibe. I looked over at my son, who had gone from mouthing the lyrics to outright singing them loud enough to hear his voice. My eyes started to pool with tears, and I realized the message God was giving: it was a nudge to pay attention.

The pastor came out and greeted everyone, grinning from ear to ear. It was impossible not to feel what was happening. He explained that the youth group had just returned from a week at church camp and there was this understanding in me that, after experiencing a week of encountering God, it had created this momentum in him which he brought back and carried to that Sunday service. We were witnesses to something I often take for granted: the power of our energy and its effect on others.

When Caleb and I got back in the car, I could tell he was ready to have a deeper conversation about what we had just experienced. He told me he was not usually very aware of the effect other people’s energy has on a space, even though I talk about how sensitive I am to it. However, even he could feel how different the energy was after that first song.

Music to my ears.

It felt like a red carpet rolled out to communicate an important life lesson. We talked about the power of being authentic, and how all it takes is one person who is willing to stand in their power and shine their light without concern of who might not like how bright it is.

This kid may never know that his jumping with joy created a conversation that led to more conversations and now this article, which I write to hopefully create even more life-giving, joy-filled ripples. In a time when it is impossibly easy to get emotionally bumped, bruised, or drowned by all that is wrong or hard in our world, we can still actively choose to share a smile, a kind word and be a spark for good. We all have the ability to be mindful of how casually we toss pebbles of negativity.

I want us to all remember the incredible responsibility we have to one another because our energy is not in a vacuum. Joy and gratitude are just as contagious as fear and discontentment. We each get to decide how we ripple out into the world but make no mistake, we are always creating ripples. Unknowingly or not, we are changing the world with each interaction. My husband and I have a poster in our office that says, “You never know how far-reaching something you think, say, or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.”

Let us be intentional to create a ripple effect of grace, of joy, of love that extends far and wide, farther than we could imagine.