We as dancers feel called to so many things. We love to dance because God put it in us to dance. We love to express our hearts through the language of dance. It brings joy, entertainment, and a deeper understanding into so many things of the heart, like no other medium. I want to talk about dance in the worship of God, in the actual assembly of His people, His church.

Sometimes we can’t put all this together.

There are many who feel that sheer movement on the stage may be distracting or take away from worship our meetings. The last thing we as dancers desire is to be a distraction from the focus on the Living God. This would defeat our very purpose.

So, why then do we do it? The following thoughts contain excerpts from a book entitled  ”Are there any Dancers in the House?”  by Michelle Leaney, the dance leader at Hillsong Church in Australia.

Why?

Just for God:

“It is not enough that the singers bring their gifts, or that the musicians bring their gifts. If the dancers don’t bring theirs, the worship is incomplete. It would be like the wise men bringing the gold and frankincense, but forgetting the myrhh. It doesn’t have to be in every service. The gift just has to be offered.  If never used in worship, then the dancer’s highest purpose - the worship of the King- is not being attained”.

I love this line of thinking. Bringing in the whole tithe, the whole gift, into God’s sanctuary. We are part of that.

For those who do not understand worship:

“It is for people who feel alienated in the worship time - who see everyone around them lost in God’s presence - but who don’t understand how to get there. When the dancers dance their worship,  they show what is going on “inside” that intimate relationship with Jesus. They express the emotion and communion in a visual way so that everyone can understand it”.

I absolutely love this. It echoes deep within me the things that God has spoken to me about dance in His kingdom, about keeping His worship accessible to everyone.  Many times people have come up to me after a service and expressed that we ” danced ” their heart for them, as they were not able to do it themselves, thus taking them more deeply and effectively to the places they longed to go with God. Yes!

To make worship active:

” In our churches in the western culture we have lost something in allowing our worship to be an inactive thing. We need to not just sing the words ‘ we bow down’ , but to do it. I know that the beautiful heart of the worshiping church is bowing down on the inside, but it’s not often coming through their physical bodies. The dancers  can bring this aspect to the worship, so people are truly bowing before the King of Kings, lifting up holy hands, and dancing their worship with all their strength. It is an offering that pleases the heart of God.” 

There is little I can say to expand on these thoughts. She is right. Although our hearts may at times be bursting within us, we feel confined in the western culture and stay “quiet” on the outside.  Dance in worship helps to bring a release to this internal conflict.

I would  add to these thoughts…

To continue the ministry of Christ : When we dance, we believe that we are carrying the holy spirit of God with us into worship, and thus, bringing Christ to the people. Before dancing,  we often quote the scripture in Isaiah 61,

“The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to  proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-

to bestow on the a crown of beauty instead of ashes,the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

This is the ministry of  our Lord, our Christ, and He wants everyone to have it. I believe to the bottom of my dancer’s toes, that this ministry occurs, whether seen or unseen, every time we dance in worship for our God, carrying  all of Him  with us as we go.    These are simple thoughts, really, but they resonate deeply in me. Living within our  own dancer’s culture, I think I sometimes take for granted that everyone understands these things. We take very seriously what we do on our team, and feel honored to be called to the House of our God, to lead the people deeper into His worship, and therefore into Him.    

Our team got the awesome opportunity to dance in the flowers in my front pasture for the filming of ” The More I Seek You” by Kari Jobe. It was magical in every way. The girls said that every time they did another take for the filming, a breeze would blow across their faces, and they felt God’s presence with them as they danced. I am so proud of these girls. Thanks to Mike Martin and 12 Stone Church for making it happen!!

 What an incredible night we had last night at O2!  I am continually amazed at the transformation that I see in my girls. They are constantly growing in their relationships with God and in their abilities to express their hearts for Him through dance. The night began with an arrangement of “Crown Him with Many Crowns”.  As the choir flowed in and out of a round of “awake my soul and sing” , the dancers spun  and flowed with silk jewel-toned scarves. It was pageantry and beauty for our God.  As I watched, I realized I was  holding my breath. So beautiful and appropriate!  After Dave read an excerpt from Psalm 57, ( awake my soul!) and declared a call to worship, the dancers threw their scarves up into the air and ran down the aisles  as “Salvation is Here” began.  Yes!!! As the night went on, I was able to go and watch each dancer individually. These girls are truly amazing! Some would never have dreamed that they would be out there dancing with so much vulnerability and strength, but they were! I whispered thanks to my Father as I watched each one offer her heart and gift to her God.  My heart swelled with pride and gratefulness. This is nourishment to a leader’s heart! Wonderful job, girls. Here are some images of the night. Almost didn’t get any as I just wanted to watch!                 

That’s right, it’s time for O2 ! Here are a few images from our last time at an O2 event. What a night! We had Kristin dancing to “The Glory of it All”,  a hip hop squad keeping it real to ” Love Everlasting” and worship dance unleashed in the aisles and experience stations. So thankful to serve with you guys! Looking forward to O2 this Friday night.  The dancers will be in house!

Our sweet Lauren was married to her Phillip this past Saturday, June 14th. It was a blissful day that had been long and patiently awaited.

The Monday before she was to be wed, our team had the privilege of celebrating her with laughter, dance, rose petals, prayer, and a crown of flowers on her head. She looked like a princess. We began this “ritual”  three years prior when Kristin was preparing to marry Craig. Lauren  danced for Kristin that night amidst the glow of candlelight and tears of happiness. This year, Kristin returned the blessing when she danced to “My Beloved” by Kari Jobe for Lauren. She danced with so much joy for her friend, and fellow dancer.

We then one by one showered Lauren in rose petals and prayed blessings over her marriage to Phillip.  Even Kristin’s daughter, Riley got in on the celebration. It was so much fun watching her throwing petals with the other dancers and laughing with joy.  (I believe she  will dance for her King one day as well!)  The following Saturday, on a rainy afternoon, Lauren and Phillip made their promises to one another and looked forward to their future as husband and wife. We all knew their journey  and watched them wait patiently to begin their lives together through high school and college, all the while pledging to keep themselves pure and wait for one another. It was a beautiful and rare thing. Something to be treasured and celebrated. 

Lauren was a stunning and fun bride. It rained on her “outdoor wedding” but she took it all in stride, and with a wry smile said something like, ” I have waited for this day a long time, and I am  not waiting any longer!” declaring the wedding be moved indoors. Later, she rocked the dance floor with all the girls ( having to compete with Phil’s grandmother!) and we all had so much fun! 

 I danced quite a bit myself, but only when I put my camera down.  (mostly with Phil’s grandma!) When Lauren threw her bouquet, guess who caught it? None other than my starry-eyed romantic Annie. 

She was thrilled! Here’s to our beautiful Lauren. May God give you much laughter, love and happiness in the years to come with your Phillip.

We haven’t all laid eyes on her yet, but our sweet Danielle is finally home! After three months blessing Swaziland with her love for God and people ( and her beautiful smile ), we get to have our Danielle back! Time to clear the front row again! No one knows what will happen when she is dancing.

We are glad to have you home again, Danielle. Our hearts have missed you, and the American soil is glad to have your feet dancing upon it again. When I would pray for you (Monday was my day!) I would always see your feet. Just your feet. So I would pray over your feet, that God would bless you as you walked the African soil, that He would give you every place you stepped upon, and of course, that you would dance.

And alas, a Well (now O2) this coming week. How appropriate!

I love you all and welcome home beautiful Danielle~

~ Mary Anne

Here are a few images from Kristin’s filming of “For the Glory of it All” by David Crowder. She danced beautifully with a full heart for her King and Father. She looked like a princess!

Hey girls,
I had hoped to blog a lot earlier in the week, but due to comp. issues I didn’t get a chance. I just wanted to share with you all a little of what I experienced this past Mon. night during our time together.

Over the last few weeks (since I started on the team) God has definitely been stirring something in me and on Mon. night, He broke me. I don’t know if it was the combination of quiet time with Katie playing worship songs (which was absolutely beautiful!) and then dancing for a long period of time after that, but by the time we were all worshipping on our own… I totally lost it (in a good way). At one point when I was spinning around I glanced around and saw all of you dancing in your own corners of the room and it moved me so much that I broke down and started crying. I have never been been moved to tears while dancing myself before and that was a whole new experience for me that took me beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. It was truly incredible. In that moment, I felt completely volnerable and naked before God and inspite of all my flaws and imperfections, He was saying to me, “no matter what happens in life, I LOVE YOU and I will take care of you.” All day at work on Mon. I felt like I was carrying this weight on my shoulders and was about ready to break at any moment. And this may sound a little strange, but it felt like each tear I cried was something that I’ve been worrying or stressing about and it was as if the Lord was washing them all away as I danced for Him. I will admit, I have had a difficult time with the 10-min. rest thing, simply because I struggle with my surroundings when I’m in my quiet time (that’s for a different post!), but I just wanted to say that after Mon. night and that moment that I experienced with the Lord was so REFRESHING that it gave me a longing to want to experience that every day. I needed that so desperately and this past week I’ve found myself taking the time to at least think about that moment a few times a day and it constantly reminds me that God is on my side and won’t ever leave me. What a wonderful feeling!

Phillipians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

I just was to thank you all for being a group of complete acceptance, love, and transparency. It means more to me than any of you will ever know!

I love you all!
~Windy

Hiya Everyone!

I know this is for us to share thoughts and stories with each other and I had this rolling in my head for a bit. I feel I need to share it, but please excuse me if I ramble!

Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of drifters in my area. I don’t know if they’re all passing through at the same time, or I just didn’t want to see them before…so I didn’t. I try and follow the whole “if someone asks, give” idea, but I’ve really been wanting to help these people I see on the street. At first, I had to find the right balance between being helpful and being safe. And then, whenever I would go to the place I had last seen someone I thought I might reach (cause they’d been there a few days), they were gone. The last time this happened, I saw a younger guy with the “will work for food” sign, freezing near a blockbuster as I passed. I wanted to give him money, but my husband warned it better to give food, incase there were drug issues. Made sense. We continued with our day of going to the golf range. I had very little fun. He stayed on my mind. The next day was Sunday, I thought, “I’ll go back after church and buy some things for him.” When I get home, there was feeding the baby and eating lunch and Noah’s nap time, and finally I went out to where he had been. He wasn’t there. I was struck with a very clear thought. I’m trying to do God’s will, but I’m trying to make it convenient for myself. I felt like my insides had been scooped out. How very obvious. How very like me to take something as good as caring for those in need and twisting it so it fits my schedule.

I know we’ve been talking about walls lately. I feel like a couple of mine are crumbling that I wasn’t even aware that I had. Perhaps I was blocking out those who needed help because I didn’t have time for them. I see them now. And with God’s help, I’ll learn how to go when he sends me and not wait for my own convenience.

Thank you to everyone at the meeting on Monday. Katie’s worship music, the chance to sing and dance with friends, everything helped to ease my mental and physical burdens. You guys are like an Anti-enemy barrier and it rocks!!! Talk about Praise frightening the enemy!!!

Love you all!

Brandy

Hello everyone.:)

I don’t have a lot of time to put words here right now, but I wanted to follow-up my mother’s thoughts with a resounding, TRUE THAT.

I have to say that I feel the press of performance from the very first moment I am awake in the morning. My head and heart fill up with words before I even know that I’m not sleeping anymore. Resting starts to feel like digging a hole in the sand by the ocean- as soon as the tides of my life come in, every bit of peace that I have attained gets swept away and pressed down beneath the weight of the waves. This is when I realize that maybe peace is unattainable.

Maybe peace is something I have to sink my spiritual roots deep down into, and not something to add on top of all the anxieties in my life, like neosporin for the soul. Peace is an inside-out kind of phenomenon, where the Spirit of God inside of me, my Counselor, is ever convincing me over and over again that I do not need to be in control. This is so much harder than it seems.

Anyway. That’s about all I can afford to divulge at this moment- it is a busy weekend already (but full of good things!).

I love you all! Write words here. I want to see your thoughts.

always,

Annie