How do you dance? 9 moves to live out your callings
Blessed 2022, Curlfriends! It’s a new year, you know what that means…keep listening and obeying God’s call with immediate action.
…and that’s what I want to chat about today - our callings.
Gotquestions.org provides these thoughts as it relates to determining our spiritual callings:
“…the vast majority of believers are not called to a single, ground-breaking ministry. Instead, we’re called to several, depending on our stage of life, our spiritual maturity level, and the needs of those around us. God calls us to serve where we are. Ultimately, our "calling" is to love God, love others, obey God, and take care of others. If we concentrate on fulfilling the responsibilities He’s given us now, God will take care of our impact on the world.”
It appears very clear, but the actuality and practicum of it can be difficult to live out.
In January of 2018, I began to create a dance company.
Yep, I planned to create an evening-length concert. I composed a list of local artists of all skills I wanted involved, came up with the concert name and theme, had every dance title that ever crossed my mind on tap, prepared to apply for a local grant, shared the goal with a few people for review, created a budget, and dreamed a quiet dream:
Compass Dance Theatre.
The name came to me while reading an amazing book the year prior, one I still highly recommend: A Credible Witness by Brenda Salter McNeil.
...and the company name was pictured in this idea: everything we do is founded in crossing the relationship between Creator to us (North to South) with that of us to people (West to East) - creative evangelism. I knew Compass Dance Theatre would dance out that Truth.
Well, nothing happened as I planned. The grant team rejected my proposal. I convinced myself there was no concert future without their funds - I thought I wasn't enough to make it happen, I barely had my own of anything. At that time I didn't understand:
God's provision.
woe was not the way.
the holy gall of a calling placed on your life.
that shame masked as being a private person is not what God calls cautious, but cowardice.
So I dropped the dream, and a surprising thought to return to school dropped on me. After the initial shock, I hoped it would "enough" me into completing this impassioned work of starting a dance company.
If you’ve read “When A Dancer Stops Dancing…” you know what happened next - my life’s direction shifted in 2019.
After deciding a master’s degree actually was not the path I desired and dance had really lost its purpose in all this chasing, I returned home.
Curl check: Has the path you’ve taken toward your dreams actually felt like a detour - a long road where passion and obedience are lost in your utter exhaustion?
Well, again, nothing happened as I planned. So I further tucked that dance company dream away, far beyond where the mind reaches. Deep below the heart's beating. Aggressively erased, and only silhouetted by my memories. I didn't want to think about what was...
Years went by (I began to twirl with God) and I wrote my first children's book (something I DID NOT plan to happen, but began to make all the sense in the world). When it came time to self-publish that book and prepare to set up the company it would be birthed under, all faith pointed to one name:
A crossing of the relationship between Creator and me (N to S) with that of me with people (W to E).
So what changed? This is where the nine distinct moves came in - I knew that things would have to be different this time. I would have to dance differently and be careful of my:
SPEED (I'll pace & humble myself) 1 Peter 5 (v6); 1 Kings 18 (vv22-19:3)
BOLDNESS (I will not move in scared silence) Romans 12 (v12); Joshua 6 (vv1-6)
CONSULTATION (I will pray feverishly) Proverbs 3 (vv5-6); 1 Thess. 5 (vv16-18)
PARTNERSHIP (The work will be done with God, not just for Him) Matt. 19 (v21); Luke 1 (vv26-38); Romans 8 (vv28-30)
PERSEVERANCE ("No" will not stop me) Prov. 4 (vv25-27); Hebrews 11 (vv1 - 12:2)
EXPECTATIONS (Success will be God's to determine) John 14; Psalm 75
CONNECTIONS (My village will be carefully curated) Prov. 13 (v20); 1 Cor. 5 (v11); 1 Cor. 15 (v33); 1 John 4 (v1); Judges 7 (vv1-23)
ALLEGIANCE (I will cling to Jesus's peace) Colossians 3 (v14-15); 1 Thess. 5 (v23-26); Romans 12 (vv1-2)
COMMITMENT (The project will not be forgotten) Romans 12 (v11); Genesis 21 (v1)
The above 9 moves have accompanying affirmations and scriptures for biblical confirmation & deeper meditation.
Curl check:
What are you running after that you need to pace yourself and carefully curate a plan to pursue Christ first (3) before making another vision board, taking another step, making another move?
Some things are yeeeeaaasrrrs in the making and I wholeheartedly believe in “right timing” (1). What will actually be birthed of your quiet dreams won't be planned. Your “why” will be etched out by how boldly, obediently, and faithfully you move. It might be hesitantly welcomed at first - but welcome it. It will offer so much peace, don't try to understand it.
Proverbs 16 (V9)
Ecclesiastes 3 (vv1-15)
Because I took these nine steps, and still take them, I made myself available to be recaptured by God to do the very thing I always set out for: meeting you!
That’s right!
I knew I wanted community, an expansive safe space for God to be glorified (N to S) and His creation to be encouraged, emboldened, and set free (W to E). Compass Dance Publishing does that through leading children - the future leaders, change agents, and healed adults of tomorrow - towards emotional, relational, and spiritual healing.
…and Compass Dance Theatre will come to be one day in God's needed space as well.
When you glorify God by pursuing a personal relationship with Him, “things” gravitate toward you - things like discipline + motivation + strength + stamina (6). Once they’ve arrived, your work truly begins.
I dance to be a sacrificial disciple of Christ.
I dance to share God’s redemptive story of love.
I dance to cross art with evangelism.
I dance to help heal the wounds life has created emotionally, relationally, and mentally.
Let’s pray over the bold moves of your calling:
Heavenly Father,
The One who made us and loves us, called us and directs us, thank You for seeing us with righteous eyes and wanting us near Your heart. Thank You for not leaving us in the hopeless pit of our iniquities, but calling us out by Your AMAZING Son’s sacrifice. Everything about Your character is to call us near, nearer, next to You. Please don’t let our ears go deaf, our eyes go blind, or our hearts go hard because of where we currently stand. May Your Holy Spirit guide us into the faithful, impactful, and willed moves You’ve destined for each curlfriend reading these words. There’s greatness in what we do for Your Kingdom! Your glory is what we are after, so teach us to move with pace, be bold in our convictions, never (ever) stop talking to You - never forgetting that You partner in everything good. Your “yes” is louder than any worldly “no,” so we expect success by Your standards, and will surround ourselves with people who expect it as well. Those who know You and those who are yet learning, we are called to them all. We won’t forget that, and in all we request Jesus’s peace to pursue Your best for our lives. This is BIGGER than our own breath, but we breathe the Spirit which saves. May our callings and work reflect that commitment. Forever and always grateful, your daughter prays in Jesus’s unblemished name.
Amen.
Share why you dance in the comments below, Curlfriends!
Shine, Smile, and Love!
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