Dancing with the Calgarians!

"Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight." -Psalm 119:33-35

I like to think of following Jesus like dancing (particularly ballroom dancing). I enjoy dancing the most when I have a partner who really knows how to lead as well as when I am able to follow and get the steps right. When this happens I find dancing to be pure joy. Honestly even when I miss a few steps I still have fun as long as my partner doesn't get frustrated. The great thing about Jesus is he really knows how to lead, it's us who sometimes miss a step or don't get his lead right. Fortunately when we miss a step he extends much grace which I need a lot. I find joy in my relationship with Jesus when I feel his lead and I am in step with him.

These past couple weeks I have taken up ballroom and Latin dancing at Alberta Dancesport which offers introductory lessons on two new dances and then has a dance party every Friday night. The first night we learned the waltz and the merengue. Afterward they played music for all types of dances most of which I don't know. After a bit a guy asked me if I wanted to do the foxtrot. Honestly I have never tried this one and was a bit hesitant almost saying no but I gave it a shot. He taught me the steps and I danced the foxtrot. It was a lot of fun and I ended up trying several other dances that night. I'm sure to be an expert at all the ballroom dances by the end of the summer (well at least have tried them all). I think this also relates to my relationship with Jesus. So often he asks me to dance to steps I don't know very well or ever attempted. I can be resistant sometimes to follow him where he wants to take me and I end up missing out on the joy he has to offer. All we need to do is step out in faith and follow, Jesus will do the rest.

I think Friday night dancing has become my favorite thing to do in Calgary thus far. I have met so many interesting people there. Last Friday I met a guy named Boaz was from Israel. Who would have thought I would meet Boaz from Israel in Canada? and his favorite dance was the Jive. I've never met someone who loves to dance so much even when he doesn't know the right steps. We even tried the quick step. I'm pretty sure none of what we danced resembled the quickstep but he made it fun anyway. I'm looking forward to the next dance class where we'll learn some country two step just in time for the Calgary Stampede. Yeehaw!

Well, this weekend I will be off to go camping with my host family which I'm sure will have it's adventures. It should be a good break as we have Thursday and Friday off for the holiday weekend.

Happy 4th of July for all you Americans! Happy Canada Day to the Canadians!