You know the advice to never save your china for special occasions? And to not wait until your house is clean to have a party? And the one about not waiting 'til tomorrow to do what can be done today?
Yeah...I'm workin' on that. As many of you know, I've been working on a Create Your Own Renaissance series over on my blog at www.malenalott.com. The whole gist is that we'll not wait for great things to happen to us - we'll go for it. NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT. So that got me to thinking about the lil things in life that I love to do, but don't do enough. Like dancing. Anytime, any place. And apparently, any music. My kids have started attending one of those big, high-tech, non-denom churches with the Christian rock music, big screens, donuts and prizes for things like learning your Bible verse. A far cry from the shhhh, let's be quiet and not shake your foot in church I grew up in. Thing is, I LET MY KIDS PICK THEIR CHURCH. In my own spiritual evolution, which I often write about to figure things out, I decided they are old enough to know what resonates with their spirit.
As I've said before, I could sit in the back yard and stare at a tree and feel God's presence. Or even, say, my gorgeous Mac computer. So, my point is, I asked a friend to go with me to the "experience" (they don't call it church service) and even though I've never enjoyed Christian rock on the radio, I was really digging the live band. You feel like you're in a concert hall. And what did I find myself doing? Dancing. Not obnoxious, mind you, and I'm not one to raise my hands and shake them all around (remember, no shaking growing up!). But I was sort of swaying back and forth and feelin' the beat.
I've also started dancing with my kids. Since they are tweens, we like the same music now. And I LOVE that they love music as much as I do. So there you go. I'm a dancing queen. What are you?
Also, I'm the featured author over at ijustfinished.com all week, so please pop over and ask me some questions! No registration necessary.
How courageous you are to let your kids pick their own church! It seems to me that no matter what happens, you've opened the way for a lifetime of sharing around the subject of spiritual lives.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'll dance to any music, any where. But now, "Hav-in' the time of her li-i-ife" is stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
:-)
Malena, I too let my kids pick out their own church. They've done a better job than we have. I love to dance, especially with my kids.
ReplyDeleteChristian music has some a long way. I was telling dh the other how I was so pleased that much of the music has changed from just praising God, to God ministering. It's as if God is singing to you.
This was a fun post.
Woohoo, Shake your bootie!
ReplyDeleteI agree with not procrastinating. When I do, it gets me in all sorts of trouble! Great post, Malena. Hope this goes through. I've been having trouble posting comments all morning. :(
Love the dancing thing. I had such fun learning ballroom dance in college, that I finally convinced Hubs we should do it as a couple. A lot of fun - until I tore my ACL and needed surgery. Now I have to re-convince him.
ReplyDeleteAnd how empowering to allow your kids the choice. That will go along way in their self-confidence. Good for you!
I danced with the kids when they were little. But then they went and grew. With our very mixed backgrounds, and living in England where choices were more limited, we didn't exactly let the kids choose their own church, but they were certainly heavily involved in the choice.
ReplyDeleteI would dance with mine, but at 22, Mom just isn't a cool dancer. LOL However, we do sing in the car together. I have to agree with the others, Malena. What a wonderful experience for the kids to find their own comfort zone within their spiritual lives. You're a good mom!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Malena. We just changed churches ourselves to give our kids more of a youth group and so they could be in CCD with the kids they go to school with. Funny, I haven't heard a single CCD complaint since we changes churches. It was a good move for all of us, even if I was sad about leaving the church I all but grew up in.
ReplyDeleteAs for busting out, I love me some karaoke... And Dancing Queen is a favorite. A coworker and I have a whole routine we do to that song that cracks up all the people we work with every year at our annual meeting. It never gets old!
I like to dance, but, alas, there are no dancers in my family. *sigh* Guess I'll just have to be a rockstar.
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