Do you love dance more than you love God? People often comment on how free and graceful I am when I minister in dance. These statements are ironic to me, because I grew up an extremely shy child, and while I loved and found a refuge in dance, I really hated being on stage. I always felt self conscious and on display. In fact, I still have most of those feelings every time I get ready to minister. Back then I would hide behind technique and imagine I was a faceless dancer, and while that got me pretty far in the dance world, I never really excelled. The thing I lacked? Passion! I was simply too afraid to lose my composure, too conscious of self to let any true part of me shine through, and I watched as people with less skill but more passion, get parts I could do in my sleep. But that all changed when I came into the world of praise dance. Things began to shift for me. I realized that…

1. dancing was not something I was passionate about, it was something I was good at. Something I could lose my self in. Something I could do, without really thinking at all. and

2. There was Some ONE I was very passionate about.

Now this revelation was far from freeing. It actually made me even more conscious of myself. Until one day in a rehearsal, I saw someone pour out her whole heart to Him in dance. Unashamedly. And I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me “it is a decision”. Four words that revolutionized my thinking.

Now when I dance, I don’t lose myself in the music, I become fully conscious of Him. I pray for the congregants, their families, everybody really, with every move, every turn. And I hope that in my freedom someone else will too be free.