Maybe...

Maybe you are that lucky one with a perfect leap.  Maybe your feet put Svetlana Zakharova to shame (ok, so I don't know if that's possible...) Maybe you are that one who has the best expression.  Maybe you are great at petit allegro, but adage kills you.  Maybe pirouettes are your forte but your jumps just don't make the cut.  Maybe you feel like a great dancer.  Maybe you just don't feel adequate today.

No mater where you come from, no matter how you do it, this is true:

Dance with what He has given you and He will make it great. 

Trust that God has a plan.  Trust that God knows how tomorrow will work out and how the next 12 years will work out.  He will make your life-dance great, no matter where you are.

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy

Only Reflection

"All beauty is only reflection." - Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts (112).

I read this passage in Ann Voskamp's great book this morning.  Immediately I thought about ballet.  In most circumstances, dancers strive to achieve beauty, and after much hard work, it's usually achieved!  Sometimes I have a moment where I look in the mirror and think yes!!! it's working!!!!  Even though I don't have those moments all the time, it's easy to let prideful thoughts seep through the success.

So when I read this passage, it made me realize how wrong I am about my beauty.  What I see as beautiful in the mirror is a reflection of the beauty of God, not of my success.   "He has not called me to be successful, he has called me to be faithful." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  So when I am successful, I want to turn it into faith by giving it to God.

Dear Lord, please give me the true humility to see Your beauty in everything others do and the things I do too.  Use me to reflect You today!!!!!!!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy

Picture from: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/grand%20jete?before=17