February 27, 2011: Dancing and Trusting God

Hola, All! A year and a half ago Ed and I started taking dance lessons. I have wanted to know how to dance, especially the East Coast Swing, since I was in college. I remember that my friend, Mary, could get on the dance floor and just boogie away! I was secretly jealous because I wanted to know how to do it too, but, for whatever reason, I never asked her to show me. Then, when I was dating Ed, we used to go to the Belle Star on Sunday evenings to take country and western dance lessons. Why we stopped going after we were married is a mystery to me. We went to our first lesson at the Rosemeade Rec Center in September, 2010. We learned how to do the basic steps of East Coast Swing (is similar to the jitterbug), and the country and western dance called Double Progressive. The interesting thing about Double Progressive is that it is mainly popular only in Dallas; the most popular C&W dance step in the United States is the Two-Step, which Ed and I are also learning. For the man, the hardest parts of dancing are that he has to lead the lady every step of the way and at the same time pay attention to what his feet are doing. This is a real challange for most men when they start learning to dance. For the woman, the hardest parts are doing all the turns and not knowing what step the man is going to lead next. For the longest time, I would get sooooo dizzy from turning that Ed would literally have to stay really close to me in case I fell , which never happened. I also had a really hard time leaving all the leading to him; it was so hard getting used to not knowing what step to do until he lead it. At some point it dawned on me the similarities between dancing and trusting God. In dancing if the lady doesn't follow the man's lead, the results are that he ends up going one way and she goes another. This can lead to frustration, anger, and having to start all over again. Something similar happens when God wants to lead us down one road and we, usually out of fear, go down a different road. God isn't frustrated (since He is only Love, Peace, and Joy) but I've been frustrated as I have resisted His lead since I didn't know where it was leading. As I have relaxed and trusted Ed to be the leader on the dance floor, it has taught me to relax and trust God to lead me off the dance floor. Just as on the dance floor, Ed can only lead one step at a time; the same is true that God leads me one step at a time. When I am doing the turns, I have to trust Ed to protect me from getting hit by other dancers. Similarily, I trust that God will protect me as I go about my day. I have come to understand that I really don't need to know the next step in either case; my job is to follow where I am lead, knowing everything will turn out beautifully, if only I will let it.
Life is good!

Dawnie