CHOOSE DANCING

Choosing dancing can be an easy choice when life is going well. 

It can also be an easy choice when one is at the Apple store getting help on a disabled computer while using their wifi. Apple Store wifi dances and does not drop----hooray for "dancing" wifi!"

But....do we sometimes get complacent and forget to choose dancing. Forget to celebrate. Forget to be thankful.

Dancing can be an expression of gratitude.

Gift from Ashley Bryan---Used with the Artist's Permission

A video with "my" Ukraine ladies dancing with the Lord along with their ladies from India warmed my heart. They chose to take my D.A.N.C.E. teaching to India. We often think we, the United States, are the only ones who send missionaries. At the missions conference this week the number of missionaries going out from South Korea was unbelievable.
Some are sent to the US. Just last year, I met, in Turkey, a lady from South Korea who, with her husband, had been a missionary in New York City.
Such news pleased me as NY is home to three of my most precious loved ones.

That kind of news makes it easy to "choose dancing" knowing it can be a way of praising God in worship! Toe Tapping WORSHIP from the heart! 

Celebrate Life

Celebrate life and "dance in the rain." If there's no rain, go to a spray ground with your child or grand child. Celebrate and dance today.

YES---that's Lucy dancing..... a dance of summer celebration!

"Gaie-TEA

This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24, NASB)

"Good news, John Parker has a birthday!
Good news, John Parker has a birthday!!
Good news, John Parker has a birthday----He's 6 years old today!!!"

We all sang around the kitchen table at breakfast this morning. It is indeed good news when the day is blessed with family gathered, scripture read, prayers given and a grandson honored on "his" day. 

Lots of cuppas of gaie-TEA to be shared these next few days as we, grandparents, celebrate moments one-on-one with our son and his number 4 son. 

A cuppa gaiety with a baseball cookie because John Parker doesn't like cake, as he is quick to remind us!

There's even celebratory gaiety with a stinky fish, especially when it's caught at Pickwick on Pop's dock.

Sad to Glad

6/16/12 Death Anniversary Days can put one in a somber mood, at best. My day started in such a mood---because one year ago today Daddy died. But God…..reminded me that every single day I was with Daddy, he “thanked the good Lord for everyday He gave Him.” He saw life as a gift from God’s hand and I should do the same.

This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

My friend, Ashley Bryan, has told me virtually the same thing. Celebrate everyday as a birthday----a birth of a new day! Just last week, our mountain host, Larry Henize, shared that same philosophy. “Everyday is a great day; some are just better than others,” he said. A new lease on life--- daily wisdom from 3 men in their 80s.

"Uncle Larry" celebrating another great day in the mountains---just look at the reflection of those trees in the lake behind him.

Wow…..Do I live that way? Am I daily seizing all of life's moments which the Lord has given me? Does my life reflect such a thankful heart? Those are the questions I began asking myself on this “sad” Saturday.

Guess what? Gladness showed up.

Encouragement

2/13/09 Encouragement
Years ago, I received a birthday card from dear friend, Ellen----I was born in September on a Friday the 13th, so I consider all Friday the 13ths as days of blessing and am so grateful for all the ones the Lord has given me. The card said, “In this world, there are “dancers” and there are critics. Happy Birthday to one on the “Dancers.” That card was such an encouragement to me, that to this day, I remember it---I eventually found that same card at Hallmark---but only 2 of them--- and thus was able to pass along that same encouragement to two friends whose celebration of life and the Lord, had been, & continues to be, such an inspiration to me ---even though we live miles apart and I see them just every few years---and they don't even know each other.

You see a critical spirit comes far too easily for me, so I want to choose each day to encourage rather than criticize----or hold others to my expectations----I choose today to let go of the list of responsibilities I want to put on others and choose instead to respond in relational love.

Love is about relationship. I choose today to live and dance...... 

......in a time of glorious expectancy in relationships (not a legalistic expectation)---an expectancy of cherishing and encouraging----I want family and friends to know how much I love them and all too often I’m not very good at showing that.

How about you? Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day----show your love to those God has placed in your life---even those who grate on your nerves at time---God can allow His love to flow through you to others.
Habakkuk (one of those books near the back of the Old Testament) shows that when the prophet set himself to listen to what the Lord had to say to him, he heard not about himself but about others----“Write down this revelation and make it plain to others.”

Today, prepare to do something for others on V-Day 2009---something of significance to “herald” your love for them. Maybe put your dancing shoes on, and give them (or him/her) a whirl around the room and make your love plain to them. Celebrate life and each other.