DAY THREE: DANCE BIG

“Let them praise His name with dancing…” Psalm 149:3

If there is one correction that I have received over the course of my dancing career the most it is this one… “DANCE BIG!” Or often times… “DANCE BIGGER!” It felt frustrating at times for me to hear that same correction over and over because there is just so much to think about as a dancer…keeping right in step with the music, keeping our lines in check, making sure the movement is just right, making sure our head, arms, shoulders, feet…everything…is just at the right angle. Dancing big was what I was called to, but so often, I got so caught up in seeking perfection in my technique, that I danced…small.

Many ballet teachers reminded me that dancing small only weakens a dancer. Dancing small reveals insecurity. Dancing small reveals hesitancy. And from the audience’s perspective, it makes them nervous! The audience wants to see a dancer owning her dancing. The audience wants to be moved. They don’t want to be worried that dancer up there is going to fall!

It sounds so easy, “Dance big!” But oh…it’s so much harder than it sounds. Dancing big requires letting go…of fear, of insecurity, of the quest for perfection. Dancing big is this place we get to as dancers where we are so free and so enjoying the dancing that big dancing spills out. The bigger we dance, the greater dancing is. Dancing big doesn’t mean we stop thinking about our quest for correct technique, but it does mean we’ve got to let go of some of our perfectionistic tendencies.

In the Bible, dancing is a form of worship…of praising God. And the thought comes to me…praise God, BIG! How do we do that this Christmas season? I wonder if He is calling us to praise and worship Him BIG with our lives by letting go of some things…

What if we let go of our fears?

What if we let go of our insecurities?

What if we let go of our quests for perfection?

What if we let go of worrying about who’s watching or who’s not watching?

What if we lived our lives as a praise offering to our Savior?

We let go by settling into the truth that He’s in control and He cares about the details of our lives.

What if in return for the precious gift of Christmas, we return our thanks by living a life of big praise…meaning…we worship Him by trusting Him. The way we praise God…the way we worship God…is simply to make our “work” whatever it may be…worship.

What if we made doing the dishes dance of praise?

What if we made going to work a dance of praise?

What if we made waiting in the carpool line a dance of praise?

What if we made loving others well a dance of praise?

How can you DANCE BIG in your life? How can you let go of whatever is weighing you down…and praise God and trust God…BIG? What if you lived your life FULL OUT, by FULLY trusting in the Savior of the world?

How might your Christmas season look different as you dance through it with a heart full of praise and trust in the One who came to you in the form of a baby in a manger on one holy night?

Prayer: “Savior, thank You for the gift of Christmas. Thank You for the gift of You Son. Lord, help me let go of fears, insecurities, and quests for perfection and instead be fully free to live a life of praise and worship to You by fully trusting You with my life.”