physical

Physical space can be seen as a limitation.

God isn't limited by human flesh.  He is everywhere and everything at once, He is greater and stronger and perfect and free from the limits of a human body.

God stooped when He became Man.  He took on a limitation.  He accepted the humbling status of human; of having a physical body.

But God uses all for the best.  He gave us physical bodies in order to glorify Him most, and though the devil tried to contort and twist our physical existence into something ugly through sin, Jesus entered our world and through His resurrection redeemed the flesh; turned our human existence into something beautiful.

The devil wants our physical bodies to be a hindrance to our soul's praise of God, but Jesus became Man, and as the perfect One, He praised God perfectly being fully human.

We'll never be perfect, but we can glorify God with what He's given us: our physical bodies.

Dancers have a huge gift: use our bodies to praise the Lord in a way set apart from average living.  The devil wants us to believe that our bodies are a limitation, but it's just not true.  Our bodies were created by God, and though we are flawed by sin, we can still use our bodies to sing to Him.

This is part of the fight.  Our bodies can be used for good or bad, but when we dance to glorify the Lord, His kingdom is being fulfilled in and through us.

Dance is part of the fight, part of the struggle, and we know how the struggle ends: with victory.

So I'll dance now, though I'm flawed and sinful, because he uses all for the best.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

image: http://worldofballet.weebly.com/what-is-ballet.html

It will make you stronger

My head is spinning with new choreography.

My body aches from hours of dancing.

A voice inside of me screams, You're terrible.  That's awful.  It's horrible.

And then from out of nowhere:

It'll be hard, but it will make you stronger.

And with this strength I can rise to new heights.

It'll be hard, but it will make you stronger.  And God has never gone back on a promise.

Photo found on: http://www.emptykingdom.com/featured/henry-leutwyle/

Take Me Deeper

I've been realizing lately that there is SO MUCH MORE that I could be putting into dance.  The harder I work, the harder I can work; the more I see how much I need to put into this to make it beautiful; to make it worthwhile.  It's a cycle of perfection that is fulfilling but also can be draining without God in the middle.

And that's another crazy thing.  The more I pray the more I realize there is SO MUCH MORE that I could be giving to the Lord.  There are crevices and cracks in my heart that I haven't handed over to Him and the Devil takes advantage of that.  I came to God today, and I realized I was scared to give Him everything.  Scared to give Him it all.

And then a song began to play: "Take me deeper where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you may call me." -Oceans, Hillsong United

So why am I not working my hardest, practicing with every chance I have?  I must give all my energy.  I see that lack in myself when I dance, and I tell myself so.

Why am I not growing in my prayer life with every chance I have?  Why don't I take every opportunity?

Why am I holding back?

Take me deeper where my trust is without borders.  Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you may call me! Yes yes yes yes yes!  Father, I was literally, physically, jumping with joy when this song was played.  Fulfill that joy.  Take me deeper.

Mandy

A point to the pain

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On the Dance Floor!

If this is true, I want to be on the dance floor of life every day.  Like I want to have opportunities to shine on the dance floor, I want to have opportunities to work for God in my life and live life to the fullest; dance the best Divine Dance that I was meant for.

Here I am on the dance floor, Lord!  I'm scared and incompetent and get distracted easily.  But I trust in you.  Use me!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy :)

(Image from pinterest.  I'm sorry that I don't have better info!)

Why Walk?

"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest" - Owl City, Plant Life

He is risen.  We are saved!  The joy of the Lord is filling us, overflowing.  A dazzling light shines from Jesus, risen today.  It's spilling on us and we can receive and let the love spill over to others.

So the question stands: why walk when you can dance?  Why walk through this crazy, lonely, overwhelming life when God is allowing us to dance through it with Him?  It won't always feel like a dance, but with God beside us, every moment is a moment to give your all and live your fullest.

And that, even though we all fail many times, is dancing through life.  Dancers fail many times, but they get back up and try again.  It wouldn't be worth trying again if it wasn't for the promise of salvation that is in the Resurrection.  The promise is there!

Let's Dance!  He is Risen!  Alleluia!!!!

The Joy of the Lord is my strength!

Mandy

First Picture from: webshots.com (found on pinterest)
Second picture from: liveboldandbloom.com (found on pinterest too ;)

{love while dancing}

"Let me thus praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around me." - John Henry Cardinal Newman

This passage is from an amazing prayer that Mother Teresa loved to pray.  It's just....amazing.  Go and read/pray it now on this website.

(If you haven't read the prayer yet, stop reading now and go read it.)

This prayer goes on to say: "Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears for you."

I read this and at the above words, I thought, dance.  Dance!  Woah.  So You mean that I'm supposed to convey my passion and emotion and love without talking???  Let me think of some good ways that I could do that.....oh...dance?  Yeah.  YEAH!!!!  Now, I'm not saying that this is the only way that we should express our love for God - oh no - this is just the first step.  The prayer doesn't mean not talking in general, it just asks for so much love of God to be pouring out upon us and through us that people can see and feel God without our even talking about Him necessarily, but by our actions, etc.

But evangelizing while dancing is a great place to start.

Lord, I ask that Your amazing love penetrates my being so utterly that others can see You in me when I dance.  Come Holy Spirit! All you Angels and Saints and Blessed Mother Mary, please pray for us!

The joy of the Lord is my strength! - Nehemiah 8:10

-Mandy

photos from pinterest (balletmagnificat dancers pictured)

Broken Pieces

 "Broken pieces can be given to many; an intact heart is limited by its perfection..." -Sarah from Capturing Love Photography

Do I see my heart as perfect?  Am I limited by my perfection?  As dancers, we never reach real perfection, if we did, what would be the point of working so hard?  The point of working so hard is to reach a point where we can turn around and see the beauty in us.  Working toward perfection.

Am I limited by my perception of myself?  Do I see myself as too perfect to change?

If I am too perfect to change, I am too flawed to see my brokenness.

Lord, use my pride, my brokenness, my all.  You are my everything; the only reason that my life sings.  The only reason that my life dances.  The only reason that people see me with joy: YOU.

Thanks Sarah.

Love,

Mandy

(couldn't get the link to the photo site - sorry!)

All Glory Be...

All Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.  

As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.  

Amen.

-Manda

Pic from: col22apparel.com

I want!!

I want to have deeper joy.  I want to grow more in my love toward Jesus.  I want the joy of Christ burning in my heart at all time.

I also want more extension, better turns, more arched feet, better elevation in jumps, and better grand allegro.

Jesus, I give you these desires.  Please instill in me deep joy, and help me to work toward the abilities that I want.  Lead me to you through my striving!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Nehemiah 8:10

Mandy

(pictures from tumblr and indulgy.com)

Never wasted!!!

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." -Psalm18:32

These next couple months are the very scary summer intensive audition months!  Eeek!  Dancing in front of critics is so so scary... but it can also be a fun experience to perform under pressure.  I don't know about you, but tend I get really nervous the 15 minutes before the audition starts and then I start to get less nervous during the actual thing; at least usually.

Either way, you are dancing for the sheer joy of doing something beautiful for the Lord.  If your hard work gets you into where you are trying to go, that's fantastic.  If not, never give up.  Because any moment spent dancing will never be wasted.  Ever.  Dance for Him alone; for the joy of pleasing others because you dance for the Lord, and for the joy of dancing.  Yes, there's gonna be hard days, and yes there are gonna be days when it just doesn't feel worth it, but the time you've spent dancing is not wasted time.  Hands down.  Ever.  Period.

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy

I found these pictures on pinterest... I am sorry that I don't have any better citations!

Who are you dancing for???

The countdown to the Nutcracker has started.  Only a few weeks away!!  Everyone is feverishly practicing and preparing for the show.  You can't let the choreographer down, or your family who is coming to watch, not to mention your entire audience who actually paid to watch you dance.  No pressure, right?

Oh-- and then there's dance class and school and Christmas shopping and homework and you actually need to sleep at some point too.....

This season is so great and so stressful.  I'm really excited to be in the Nutcracker, but I'm nervous too.  I want to do my absolute best, but I also have to do all of the stuff mentioned above.  Stress and excitement levels are really high.

So here's something to think about while you're running around during this season of preparation: dance for Jesus alone.  In your dance of life (homework, school stuff, sports, sleep, eating, etc), do it for Jesus.  He's the One who cares the most and matters the most, and He will give you a reason to keep dancing your life when you feel ready to drop.

And in your dance life, try this: dance for Him alone.  In class, during rehearsal, dance for the King of Kings.  Don't worry about the others; do your best for the One who matters!

I'm going to try this, and I think it's going to be difficult to remember and do at first, but I want to find true peace and joy during Nutcracker, class, and everything.

Jesus, I want to dance for You alone today.  Be with me and give me strength, Jesus, as I live for You!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

Mandy

Beautiful for Me

This amazing song by Nichole Nordeman was the credits song of VeggieTales' Sweat Pea Beauty.  Don't be put off because it's VeggieTales, this song is meant for you.  I think that we dancers need to remember this over and over, because we are aiming for beauty and perfection and as human beings, perfection is really, really hard to achieve.  We are beautiful because we were created by God.  He is working in us to glorify Him with the beauty we make by dancing, even when it's not perfect in our eyes.

This song says the truth.  I pray that you can receive it as you dance the Divine Dance!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy

Don't Limit Yourself!

Have you ever heard someone tell you not to limit yourself to a double? Or a triple, or whatever you're used to doing?  My teacher told us to stay in releve the entire time we're turning so that we can see where we are falling, because dancers often automatically drop out of a pirouette just because they are used to stopping, not because they are done with the turn.

Today I read from two different sources about the power of expectations.  The Word Among Us said, "Don't limit what God can do for you, in you, and through you.  Life with him is full of surprises!"  So it's the same with God?  In One Thousand Gifts Ann Voskamp, went as so far to say, "Expectations kill relationships--especially with God" (169).

Wow.  Today I don't want to limit myself to what I expect from God, or to a double pirouette.  It won't be easy, and I won't do it perfectly, but I think it's what God wants of me today.  Are you with me?

"He must increase but I must decrease." -John 3:30

-Mandy

P.S.  The dancer in above video does a great job of pulling up during her whole turn.  This is key for multiple pirouettes!!

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

The Freezy Dance

Today I have a really mini testimony to share.  It has to do with ballet too - here goes:

Yesterday my two year-old little brother was privileged enough to receive a freezy.  It was bright red.  He proceeded to bring it down into our basement.

I didn't take much notice of this occurrence until I went downstairs to practice ballet.  (We have a hard floor downstairs and we have some mirrors that I got from my Grandma's house set up.  A ledge along the wall serves as a barre - I am so thankful for the set up!!)  Anyways, I was about to slip my technique shoes on when I noticed that sticky red drips covered the floor.  It looked as if my brother had sprinkled his freezy all over the floor.... I sighed, grabbed up a wet paper towel, and wiped up the mess.

It only took a few minutes, so I was soon running through plies and tendus.  When I get to degajes, I tried to make myself really push against the floor.  I have had many teachers tell my class to pretend that something sticky is on the floor and we need to try to work through our feet before they leave the ground.  Guess what?  Pretending that something sticky was on the ground became really, really, easy, because now there was something sticky on the floor!  As I began to degaje side, my foot came in contact with a bit of freezy that I had missed.  Sssliiddeee!  My foot pushed against the stickiness, through the ground and lifted off the floor.

The moral of my story??  (yes, there is one :P)

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

God used my two year old brother to help me with my technique by spilling his freezy all over the basement.  Maybe you think it's just a coincidence - God didn't do anything.  I don't think so.  God is always working - you just have to look for His loving hands.

How has God worked in your life lately?

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy

Picture found at: http://www.classicalballet.com/

WANTED!

God, I give you my desires and trust in YOU.  Thank you for hearing me.

Strength

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13

It's true.  "But," you say, "I do all of the work when I'm dancing!"

Well, in a way, you do.  Your body extends it's own leg into arabesque.  Your body uses its own head to spot corner one.  Your body pushes you into the air for a royale.

So yes, it's you who does all of the work.  Right?

Wait. Who made you?  Who keeps your heart beating?  Who opened up the door so that you could study dance?  Who gave you the love for dance in the first place?

I think this is so cool: God designed you so that you would love to dance (or do whatever it is you are passionate about)!  He knew you, and He knew that this particular form of praising Him would give you joy.

Yes, in a way, you are doing the work.  But really, God is present and alive all of the time.  He is giving you life, perseverance, commitment, and passion.

So thank Him!!!  Jesus loves you, and even when things are difficult and seem impossible, He is there for you, holding you up, giving you strength.

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

{You know that Feeling?}

You know the feeling that you did a good job?  The very last minute of the dance, when you just know that it was good?

I really like that.  

Or the time when your teacher tells you that you did a great job?

I really like that, too.

I love feeling like I'm a good dancer.  It's fun to feel amazing and awe inspiring and fantastic.  But is it true?

Imagine that you just completed the best pirouette of your life.  You've worked so hard, and finally all of that hard, grueling work payed off.  It's all because of you.  You worked, you sweated, you tried, you failed, and now you succeeded!  You did it all, right?

Nope.  God did.  God worked in you.  He sweated in you.  He tried in you.  He allowed you to fail.  And now He just allowed you to succeed.  

Wipe the sweat off of your brow and give your creator a hug.  Tell Him thank you.  Show Him what you've learned.  Thank Him!  God, the creator, the lover, the healer, did it in you.  You have Him to thank.

That is humility.  

"To be humble is to walk in truth" -St. Theresa of Avila 

Spring to Jesus!

"He...sprang up and came to Jesus." -Mark 10:50

Did you see it?  In this passage, a blind man springs up and runs to Jesus in order to be healed.  He was so in love with Jesus, so eager to let Him work.  He sprang up and ran to the Lord.

As I was pondering over this verse, I couldn't help thinking of springing up to releve en pointe.  When you spring, you can't jump up too hard, because then you will crush your toes.  You can't climb up to releve either, or else you won't get up in your box.  You need just enough umph to get you up, and just enough strength and stability to keep you there.

Is it that hard to spring to the Lord?  Do we need to find the perfect way to pray and then we'll find Jesus?  Of course not!   Thanks to God's glorious grace, we can surrender ourselves to Him.  Jesus will take what we give Him, so don't be afraid to give Him everything.  Spring to the Lord in prayer and give Him yourself.

When you practice springs in class, think about springing to Jesus.  He's the ultimate dance partner, so spring away!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

-Mandy