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)

{so true}

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!

Our Savior has come!!

Merry Christmas from JumpwithJoy!!!  May you dance with joy because our savior is born and we are set free!

Today we celebrate the birth of Christ the King - our SAVIOR!!!  If that's not a reason to dance, I don't know what is. :)

Merry CHRISTMAS!!

"Look to God that you may be radiant with joy" Psalm 34:6

Love,
Mandy

Barre Stretch!

I don't know about you, but my ballet class has a set barre stretch that we do at every class every week.  It's a nice rest after a difficult barre, and since it's the same each week, I don't have to think a whole ton about it, just sort of count and breath.  It's great after a difficult barre--or an easy one for that matter--it just feels great.

 Here is where I found another blessing: I can pray during barre stretch!  It's the perfect time to re-give your dancing to the Lord and to refocus while you dance.  It's calming and grace-filled - a present from God!

Pray during your barre stretch - it's a gift from God!!!

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

Mandy

P.S.  Another thing about a barre stretch: I personally think that you should always purposefully life your foot onto the barre during barre stretch.  Even just a 2 count develope, or a releve lent or anything rather than the lift-and-flop method.  Even after a hard barre, you owe it to yourself to make you dancing that much more polished.  Just my opinion there for y'all. P

Pics found on pinterest and tumblr :)