Ballroom Dancing

Our first dance class was held on the stage of an old movie theater and there was about a 4 foot drop off the side and I remember our first dance around the perimeter of that stage.  I didn't trust that Wes wouldn't lead me right off that edge.  He teased me about that for weeks after that I didn't trust him and that I always thought I had to take the lead.  I really couldn't argue with him because deep down I knew that he was right. I don't always trust people or situations right away and I am a take the lead kind of person.
A couple of weeks later our dance instructor told us to switch places and  the women were allowed to take the lead.  I giggled as I watched Wes constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure that I wasn't going to lead him right into the couple next to us.
We both realized that our trust in each other had its limits, but, if you had asked us before we took dance lessons we would have both emphatically said that we trusted each other completely.  And we do, in the big things, but it was our trust in each other for the little things that seemed to trip us up a bit...pardon the pun.
Well eleven weeks later and we've had our final dance class and though we still step on each other's toes once in awhile and though we sometimes have to stop and start a dance step again because we didn't start with our lead foot and though we still have to laugh because we may move in opposite directions, we have come to realize that through it all, our trust in one another has been reborn. Even now in the little things like moving around a dance floor. I don't doubt for one minute that Wes will guide me around other couples and all it takes is him applying a small amount of pressure on my back.  Ok, so sometimes he has to apply a little more pressure because I'm not paying attention, but I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder because I'm simply enjoying moving along to the music trusting that he's got my back.
As we waltzed arm in arm tonight I looked at the man I have been married to for nearly 28 years and I thought, yeah, there's no one on earth that I would ever trust more than him, he is my protector and my encourager.  I hear him counting softly under his breath, his head moving along with the beat and I smile to myself, he's no Fred Astaire, but then I'm no Ginger Rogers, but we fit.  The love is still there, the trust is solid and our dance in this life has been good...it's been very good.
And in the midst of our dance through this life we have had the greatest maestro directing the music and guiding our steps. God has been there the whole time, watching over us, gently guiding us and loving us through it all and we have learned to trust Him in the twists and turns that this life has to offer. And for all those times when we needed You to take the lead and bring us into a new dance I say, "Thank you Father!" It's not nearly enough, I know...but it's a start!


My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.  Psalm 17:5