What Next?

This past spring, I realized that I spent nearly every evening at home watching tv with my husband - not what I consider the best use of my time. So I decided to volunteer and join various groups. I go to dance class on Thursdays, teach drama to 8-10 year olds on Tuesdays and visit a homebound elderly couple each week. I've been dancing and teaching drama for a little over a month, but it's not going as I expected. My goal had been to form friendships and have fun, and hopefully find ways to enter into life-changing discussions with people. The problem is I often get so caught in the activity that I forget about initiating purposeful conversations.

I know the names of some of the ladies in my dance class, but can't seem to get past the initial "How are you? How is your family?" My drama class is much worse. I try to open the class in prayer and talk about how I believe God has gifted us with imaginations, but the kids seem bored and uninterested (in fact, one kid made buzzing noises with his tongue during last week's prayer). Even more discouraging is that I find myself spending more time planning lessons and worrying about "problem children" than I do praying for them.

So how do I move past the current stage to one where I can actually do or say something significant? How do I stay focused on the main thing and not get distracted by busyiness? And here's a deeper issue: how do you calm a class of 10 kids long enough to teach them drama, impart to them a glimpse of God's love and get out before chaos erupts?

Dance Steps

A friend of mine recently created a blog, Break Out Dancing, as a way to engage people in a conversation about spiritual matters. I love the writer's approach: the best way to connect is to "dance" with them. Sometimes you lead, sometimes they lead. The key is to adapt your pace and steps to match theirs.

Check it out! If nothing else, I love the case studies because it makes me think about what would I do or say in the proposed situation.

Seen by God

Years ago, Mike and I went to a church where a prophet was visiting. If you're anything like me, you may have viewed such a person with skepticism or maybe even fear. I had certainly never met someone who claimed to hear directly from God.

The prophet, Joan, was a middle-aged, average-looking lady who would have blended in at any craft store. She proceeded to pray over each person and offer words of encouragement from God. Often, her words offered peace but seemed to lack any specifics that would have made her pronouncement unique to the individual. Several people heard about how God loved them, God delighted in them, and God was going to help them. And then came my turn.

After a few moments of quietly praying over me, Joan revealed a secret that not even my husband knew about. She said that God saw me when I danced and he delighted in it. See, I took ballet when I was 7 years old and always had a desire to continue dancing. When no one else was home, I'd turn on some music and bust a move, usually worshipping God.

Joan's statement amazed me for 2 reasons: the obvious reason is because she was able to talk about something I thought no one else knew about. The second reason was because until that moment, I hadn't ever considered that God even paid attention to me - let alone delighted in something that seemed so insignificant. It's kind of comforting, spooky, amazing to think that we are seen by God.