Dance, Dance, Dance

My children are very musical.  From very early in life, both enjoyed singing “their” song as I put them to bed.  This habit led to numerous CD purchases and now as they grow older—musical instruments and toy microphones.  However, what I didn’t expect is to see how quickly they began to dance.

My three-year-old has been especially entertaining lately.  He jumps all over the place, does a special hip-hop move he learned from his big sis and then does his “trick,” which is a glorified half hand-stand.  It’s ridiculous.  My husband and I usually start out watching him with a what-in-the-world look on our faces and end up laughing hysterically. My six-year-old has a much better grasp on what real dancing looks like.  She’s had plenty of practice.  She does a little mock square dance, with a hip-hop flavor and then some jumping and sliding.  Again—we watch in amazement…then break out in hysterics.  The kids dance with no inhibition.  They don’t even care that dad and mom are laughing!  They don’t see their dancing as cute, funny, entertaining, or even odd.  They are freely expressing themselves without thought of how it looks or seems to anyone else.  Freedom.  Excitement.  Exercise.  Expression.

I wonder if this is what God’s Word talks about when it says for us to dance with joy.  I can’t remember the last time I got up in my living room and danced because I was joyful about something…although my heart has sure felt like it on occasion.  The physical act of dancing was an exercise that the Israelites practiced in the Old Testament.  Very often after a victory, they would take the time to praise God with a dance. What a great way to outwardly express the joy of living a victorious life!  After all, if freedom, excitement, exercise, and expression can come from dancing, I’d say the benefits are endless.  I’m motivated by my children to do a little better job dancing for joy—no matter how ridiculous I look!

PRAYER: Lord, set my feet to dancing!  Help me embrace each day with freedom, feet to praise You and a heart ready always to give You credit for the joy You bring to my life.

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance,” Ecclesiastes 3:4 KJV.

Today’s devotion is by Gina Stinson, wife to Bruce, mom to Savannah and Tucker, co-founder of The Mission in Gunter, TX, and publicist assistant for Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.