“Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.”
-Psalm 149:1-4
To dance is to be mystical.
To dance is to be inspiring.
To dance is to communicate our hearts and stories through movement, song, and expression.
For dance is a language in of itself. A simple movement of an arm, point of a toe, or facial expression can tell us all we need to know.
Dance can communicate the complex emotions we have through movement, unlike words we can’t quite seem to grasp or find.
I think Martha Graham said it best: Dance is the hidden language of the soul.
I started dancing at the ripe age of seven and have not skipped a season yet. These days I feel like I’m the “older” dance teacher at the dance school I love and teach at. I’ve reached the age where my years of teaching and experiences are now being used to educate, guide, and inspire the up and coming dance teachers I once taught as students.
My adult dance classes have always inspired me- that age is but a number and that any number is never going to stop us from enjoying the art of dance.
In the current season I am in, the enemy is doing everything he can to slow down or circumvent Gods plans over my family. But there is no place for him in these lands.
So what do we do? We keep praising him. Even when we’re tired, or sick, or have a zillion other things we should be doing.
We praise him through songs- all day long! Whether it be in the morning routines, the drives to preschool drop off, the afternoon work hours, after school pickups, dinner time, or soaking time before bed.
And we praise him through our dancing! We put on our pjs, we plug in that multicolor disco ball in the living room, and we blast our music so loud to drown out the enemy and the seeds of doubt he tries so desperately to plant.
We let loose, we allow the music and lyrics flow into our souls and let our bodies move with dance in outward expressions of love, joy, gratitude, and praise.
It doesn’t matter what we look like (although I’m sure a sight to be seen somedays- ha!). All that matters is that in that moment we are a family, connecting with our God, and sealing our thoughts and souls with his promises.
For a few moments all of our troubles are gone. All of our worries seem to disappear. And the pure joy we experience is heavenly bliss. This is love. This is truth. This is hope. This is peace. This is a taste of heaven and eternity to come.
I pray that you can find this same bliss even in your own seasons of worry, doubt, fear, or pain. That you won’t let them enemy take root, and instead choose to dance.
“Even if the sun drops out of the sky
Even if the stars stop shining at night
Even if the drummer stops keeping the time
If your hands are in mine, I won't stop dancing
Dancing on the mountain of a victory
Dancing through the valley of a broken dream
Dancing on the plains of the in-between
If it's you and me, I won't stop dancing
I won't stop dancing.”