How Will I Know Where to Stand?

Today marks one week since our adult tap class at The Dance Class ended for the year. If you've been following my blogging for the past couple of years, you'll know the role that this studio has played in building my confidence and helping me to step out of my comfort zone.

This year has been no different.

Our routine this year was funkier than the past dances that have been flirty and cutesy. The steps were challenging, and the formations were also a bit of an obstacle, but it all came together in the end, and I stepped off of the stage on our last night of performing knowing I'd miss this until we start back up again in September. It had become a running joke for me that no one was ever allowed to miss practice, and everyone HAD TO be there for the final performances because if they weren't there, how would I know where to stand?

As we filed back into the dressing room after our final dance, I said out loud, "No more tap...how will I know where to stand?"

It was a rhetorical question, of course. But one of the women answered it anyway with sincere kindness, "You already know where to stand. Just think about how far you've come since you've started...and that's just in tap"

I'm not sure if she realized it, but that statement meant so much to me. Sure, I feel like my shuffles are cleaner and I've learned a few new tricks for when I put my tap shoes on. But in life, I've come pretty far, too. I trust my decision making, and I know that even if I make a misstep here or there, I'm not alone.

Three years ago I was facing some uncertainty about where I would be in my life. I wasn't sure if I'd still be living in the Tri-Cities. I wasn't sure if I was working in the right field. I wasn't sure if I was good enough to have solid relationships. Fast forward to today, and I'm a much more confident woman who has gone through a year of very productive counseling, and through a lot of loving people and even more prayer, I feel better and happier than I ever have.

I've learned a lot about trusting God and his love for me. I've learned a lot about listening to his will instead of my own. And through those lessons, I've learned how to stand on my own two feet. I will always talk about the need to trust God and turn to him when we're struggling, and I will always lean into his love. But what I've learned this year is that I get to respond to the love and attention that he has given to me. I know my place in the world now, and all the while I know that He is right beside me, and so are the right people.