365 Days of Blessings - Days 21, and 22

A full weekend of dance production fever, and Father's day fun left me with zero time to write blessings. I started to yesterday morning, but realized I just didn't have enough time. So today is make up day, broken into two categories: Dance, and Dads. Since these are make-up posts I'll also post my Day 23 stuff this evening.

365 Days of Blessings, Day 21 and Day 22

Day 21, Dancing Day
1. The Lord provides a time to dance.

2. My husband and I danced on stage with 14 other parents and our kids, all at the same time. We had so much fun! And since I just saw the video, I can honestly say, we did pretty well too.

3. That rush of pre-stage performance excitement that happens while we're waiting in the wings, listening for just the right moment in the music to dance onto the stage. I think this applies to all those kinds of moments in life, when we are ready to dance onto the stage of the world with the gifts God has provided for us . . . like writing, parenting, editing videos, fixing cars, planting beauty in an outdoor garden, and so much more.

4. Calm stage moms, waiting in the wings to help their kids change costumes, and encourage them.

5. Fun, age appropriate costumes, chosen by a great dance director and teacher.

6. Bling and sparkles on costumes! So much fun.

7. Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap, and Hip Hop . . . all fun forms of dance.

8. Six dance numbers in one day, danced beautifully by my daughters. (total mom brag moment)

9. The energetic happiness that shines through my daughters when they dance. They just seem to light up from the inside and shine through the pores of their skin.

10. The incredible, wonderful joy of dancing with my family, in practice, on stage, and around our house.

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to
gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to fear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war, and a time for peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Day 22, Dad's Day
1. The Lord is our most awesome, and most loving Father. Thank you, Father God!

2. The Lord set me up with a great man, my husband, who is a wonderful dad to our daughters. They laugh together, play together, study together, cook together, ski and snowboard together, talk together, ride bikes together, cuddle together, and even dance together.

3. The Lord blessed me with a loving, gentle Dad, who raised me to think independently, to listen, to serve others, and to know that I could call on him at any time for help.

4. My Dad's stories about his life. I love the one about his motor scooter drive to Disneyland with his younger brother, the year that Disneyland opened. They didn't have to wear motorcycle helmets in those days, and they were so excited about their day at Disneyland, they didn't realize they were wearing their mouse ears until they received strange looks from other drivers.

5. My Dad's strength. So many times people are amazed at how strong he is because he is "little". My dad has never been little in my eyes. He is stronger than most people I know, and always has been. He is inventive, thoughtful, and tough physically and mentally, and yet is still a very gentle soul, who will cry for the pain of others.

6. My Dad's hands. They are older now, and he can't use them so well anymore to button or hold small things, but his hands have fixed many cars and airplanes, tilled the soil, planted vegetables, pressed jam, held large hands of slapjack cards, run power tools, driven vehicles of all kinds, fidgeted with coffee mugs, and given comfort when it's needed.

7. My Dad's love of flight and adventure. I took my first airplane ride in a Cessna at the age of 2 months, and I flew a dual control Ercoupe at the age of 12 with my Dad showing me what to do. He sold his Ercoupe not long after that due to tough financial times for our family, but later he used some of that money to buy two canoes, and our family took two 70 mile canoe trips. We were greenhorns when it came to canoe camping, but we learned a lot, and we had a wonderful time. Whenever I hear a small engine plane flying overhead, I think of flying with my Dad. Whenever I see a canoe, I can feel the wooden canoe paddle in my hand, hear the drip of the water from the paddle, see the green trees reflected in the lakes of Lake Bowron Provincial Park.

8. My Dad's love of dancing. He taught me how to waltz, two step, swing, and once, we danced a polka together with a lot of laughter involved.

9. My Father-in-law's deep faith in the Lord, and his desire to share his faith with others.

10. Father's Day. I'm thankful we have such a day to take time and honor the men in our lives who have been Fathers to us, and a day to honor our loving, steadfast Father in heaven, the Creator of heaven and earth.

"This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven
our debtors.
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'"
Matthew 6:9-13