BACK TO FIFTH POSITION

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

For a ballet dancer, fifth position is like home base. Every other position and every movement stems from this basic position of the feet. Fifth position is a place of strength and a place to gather our coordination, placement, and turn-out.

One of my favorite teachers of all time, Mr. Truman Finney (he coached me for two years at Ballet Austin and I could write dozens of posts just about him and all of the lessons he taught me) was a stickler when it came to fifth position. I can still hear the snap of his fingers and the mellow tone of his voice….”and fifth, and fifth, and fifth….” He would demonstrate the fifth he wanted with his broken in loafers that he always wore. He wanted our fifth position to be tight, secure, and strong. He preached that fifth position was where great dancing and excellent technique began.

If dancers are not careful, we can become casual about our fifth…but then our dancing becomes sloppy. A great fifth becomes a great plie, and a great plie becomes a powerful jump….see the connection?

I cannot help but relate this to our spiritual life. Neil Tomba, the pastor of our church, recently put it this way…

“God is home.”

My “home” for my heart is God. Christ is home base for life. Everything I do and say stems from where my heart is. That is why we must be careful to guard our hearts in this life to make sure we are not making something else “home”.

I love this song my Christy Knockels:

“Come and make my heart your home.

Come and be everything I am and all I need.

Search me through and through till my heart becomes a home for You.”

There are times when we need to get back to the basics of fifth position in our dancing. And there are times when we need to get our hearts back home and set to God’s tune so that we can be secure and strong.

What are you leaning on as your home base? Do you need to let God be your heart’s home? What do you need to do today to let God be your home?

He is waiting and He cannot wait to be your everything…to satisfy your thirsty soul, to comfort your every concern, and to be the answer to every need.

On that note, I want to let you know that I need to take this summer to let my heart rest in God’s embrace and to focus on my three little hearts (Camp, Cooper, and Colt), one big heart (my hubby), and our home. This is not easy for me because I LOVE encouraging y’all so much! But I need to step away from my blog and instagram this summer…thank you for understanding and having faith that I will be back with fresh inspiration to encourage you in your dancing and your living. You all are such a blessing to me. I welcome your emails if you have a devotional topic idea or a prayer request. sarahbethmarr@gmail.com  I LOVE hearing from y’all about your hearts and your stories! Blessings and see you in a bit. :)

Prayer: “Lord, may our hearts find their homes in You in alone…”