Shall We Dance?

I grew up dancing competitively - tap, jazz, and ballet. I loved everything about it. My early life goal was to be a Solid Gold dancer. It was the only way I could see to get paid to do what I loved. 

That dream ended when my dance group got invited to perform at half time of the college basketball game my dad was coaching. We danced to Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" and wore white sequence tube tops with electric blue hot pants that had a sequence star sewn on one of the "cheeks".  As we were dancing out,  I was the last one in the line and directed to kiss my hand and then tap my star. Needless to say, that was the end of dance classes for me and I was devastated. 

Fast forward a few (or many) years, and I now teach ballroom dance at our school. Dance class is not most students favorite thing to do, but it gets them out of homeroom, so they come. I tell the students every year that dancing is a life skill most people will ignore. In fact, I think most people probably disagree with me. However, our school is very small and these kids are a tight knit group. That means they will most likely attend many weddings and parties in the years ahead. I emphasize to the young men that if they can dance, they can win most any girl in the room, because the majority of girls do not like to sit on the sidelines at a dance. 

Every year, there are a few who, shall we say, can't find the beat. We make sure to emphasize that they don't need to tell anyone who taught them how to dance (at least we hope they won't :-)).

I'm grateful that through the years, the Lord has found such sweet ways for me to continue to enjoy the things I love. Dancing, art, and drama are all things I get to do through the school. I'm grateful for the gift that has been and continues to be in my life.