with abandon...all in

"Praise his name with dancing..." 

Psalm 149:3

I admire my six-year-old. Her world never ceases to be vibrant. She runs and walks and swims and talks and sings and creates and dances with abandon. I love it.

We spent time last fall in New York City. In Washington Heights, there is a studio which offers drop-in ballet classes on a donation basis. Such a great program! Belle attended a class with her cousin and loved every second. The pictures my cousin took are a perfect likeness of my girl. She's all in.

Every life can be an act of worship, art to a dying world around us. I don't have my daughter's personality, but I can still live with abandon for my Lord. It will look different for me, but I want it to be a masterpiece. I want to believe in the vision and purpose of the master painter. Glob upon glob of paint, layer after layer, seemingly nothing, but ending in the realm of glorious.

I want to praise His name with the art He's given me. Without fear, with patient trust, with a heart full of hope and joy and purpose. And when I do fear and I doubt and I feel discouraged, sad, and insignificant, I want to engage with my Lord with abandon. Our mess is part of the masterpiece too.

I look at my daughter's freeze-frame blurried form as she leaps across the dance floor. She's all in. I can feel it and I smile. I hope she lives like that as she grows up. I certainly hope I do too.



p.s. I loved Emily P. Freeman's book, A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made To Live. We all have art, I highly recommend this book.