DANCING INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH GOD
by Julie Lavender
Most weeks on my blog, I talk about one of God’s
masterpieces that I notice on my morning walk. I love learning lessons from His
creations. I sometimes discuss the lessons I learn along my writing path, too.
This week, I’d love to spotlight a young gal who was born
with spina bifida occulta and a tethered spinal cord. She was delayed with each
stage of development as a baby and toddler, and the surgeon couldn’t assure
Katherine’s mom that she would ever walk.
But with great determination, 16-month-old Katherine took
wobbly steps that, with time, became more certain and purposeful.
In fact, Katherine’s steps eventually turned into beautiful
ballet arabesques, tendus, pirouettes, grand jetes and much much more. Katherine
excelled en pointe and was chosen to play the part of Clara last year during
the community production of The
Nutcracker.
The performances were bittersweet for her parents, who
remembered the long days of wondering if she would ever walk.
But God.
And I had the pleasure of writing about this faithful young
lady for my newspaper, a young girl who didn’t hesitate to give God the glory
with quotes and answers to my interview questions.
Oh, that I would have been that brave with my walk …. or dance
…. with the Lord at her age. Don’t get me wrong, I’d been a Christian since I
turned nine-years-old, but, I was more hesitant to speak openly about my faith
when I was younger, and it was only with age and spiritual maturity that I
began to talk willingly about God’s work in my life.
Thankfully, God led me to encourage my own children to share
God without hesitation, just like my sweet dancing friend I interviewed.
How’s your dance with the Lord? Do you hesitate to share
what God’s done in your life with others?
Or are you brave enough to do so like
my ballet friend? I hope you’re dancing with the joy of the Lord and sharing
that love with everyone you meet.
Merry Christmas!
I love this story -- the God of the impossible is still doing impossible things. THank you for the reminder that nothing is too hard for God. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, my sweet friend! This was such a fun story to write, and this beautiful dancer is a sweet young woman of faith and gives God all the glory for her accomplishments!! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteOh how wonderful to read this story, both for little Miss Katherine and for sweet, kind, and gentle Mrs. Julie. To see how God has intersected two of His greatest creations is a blessing indeed. As I suspect, you are like most writers, with a tendency toward introversion, it has taken the unique gifts God equipped you with to develop Ms. Julie. From your writing, I sense that Miss Katherine was filled with an effervescent joy from birth and her extroverted personality was meant to shine as an inspiration to many. This story shows me that while two wonderful young ladies may have taken different paths, each have achieved the goal of God's plan for them; to bring glory and honor to His kingdom. Thank you so much for this inspiring post. My day was just made complete. God's blessings and Merry CHRISTmas!
ReplyDeleteHi, J.D. - I pray your family had a marvelous Christmas! My kids arrived shortly after this posted, so I'm just now responding. I feel so blessed that God allows me to use the words He gives me to glorify and honor Him, and I love when I can share what God is doing in others' lives around me. I've loved sharing Katherine's story, and I'm so glad you joined the conversation!
ReplyDeleteNice shhare
ReplyDelete