Dance With Me!

James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you"

Stop. Breath. Acknowledge what it going on. In the busyness of this day, all the things to accomplish and people to take care of.  Can you hear His voice... It's in the wind, it's in the silence, it's in your soul, God is calling, He is there wanting to have a conversation with you, for you to acknowledge Him and what He is doing...

Will you dance with me? It's an invite, a request of closeness.  Usually we are asked to dance at a celebration or "a dance".  When you dance, there is rhythm, a heartbeat that is shared and a focus on that person for a time.  Heart to heart, face to face.  Have you ever had an invitation to "dance" with Him when you are in the middle of doing something else like changing the oil on your car, doing homework, or doing dishes? God wants our relationship with Him to be filled with romance.  Romance and longing are not meant to be for just the beginning of any relationship, however, oftentimes, we forget about romance because of "business" and the things that we must get done.

The Holy Spirit stands like the gentlemen that He is with his arms extended, wanting, waiting for you to recognize Him.  he wants to dance..... with you.

Jesus asked me to dance, but most of the time.... I decline

He wants to carry my burdens,..... but most of time  I carry them myself

He always loves me, but most of the time, I love others more

He shows me his wonders, but I am often blinded by busyness

Jesus asked me to dance.......       
                                                               Author Unknown

I wrote a song called Dance after watching a beautiful drama done by the youth in our church showing a young woman struggling with all kinds of life events and how she made it through when Jesus would come and dance with her.  I was so moved by this that I wrote these words and through this song, I learned to slow down.......... let go......and recognize the importance of The Dance.

Will you respond in the middle of your trial? will you dance with Him in the valleys and not just on the mountaintops? He doesnt' care if your wearing your best outfit or if your hair is fixed or not.  Jesus is asking for romance, a dance of intimacy, and time for you to join the heartbeat of heaven here on earth.  He's waiting...

 DANCE - Jenn Manning

My hearts driven in so many ways

As I dance with all the cares of this day

I can hear you now, my name you call

Your drawing me to you

Away from the worries, away from the pain

DANCE WITH ME

LET ME TAKE YOU IN MY ARMS

LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR HEART

DANCE WITH ME

I WANNA BE YOUR STRENGTH AND SONG

AND WATER TO YOUR SOUL

WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME

Lord, here I am longing for your love

My heart, it thirsts for you

What's keeping me from seeing you

I cast it aside

Away from the darkness and into the light

Dance, Dance, Dance, won't you dance

Dance, Dance, Dance, won't you dance



Who am I God?

Isn't this a common question that we at times ponder on about ourselves? Who am I? I am starting this blog writing about me.
Jeremiah 1: 5 says " Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you."
When I want to know how to put something together and exactly what its function is, i often read the directions from the MAKER.  My Maker made me to be exactly who I am.  He loves me for what I love, my strengths, my failures. He knows where I have been, what I have thought, what I have said and did....and He still loves me.

So many times, I will look to others to define me,  to validate me, and to tell me who I am.  Why do we do this?  Why do we need this from people when God is the one who made us and He knows us.  I have 3 boys and it takes time from birth to fall in love with them and "know them".  God knows us and is in love with who we are, what we like, and what we look like.  Don't get me wrong, we are to encourage and validate others as "God's voice" to them.  I hear my boys playing saying, "mom, look, look at me".... and I hear in my heart, "Mom, tell me who I am, tell me who God says I am!".  "Mom, validate me!" Our job is to confirm to others who God says they are!

Write a statement about yourself. Who are you?
When was the last time you spent time on defining who you are?

Here I am!

I love God - He is my passion.  I love being a Mom, counseling, organization, worship, my house, playing piano, walking outside in the beautiful  Minnesota, date nights, my family, my friends, IKEA, reading a great book ,reading my boys books, and teaching music.  I love Chai tea and a good cup of Earl Gray with cream and sugar  - English style.  I have a great weakness for fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and Good and Plenty's Candy!

Music - I love all music, except for the screaming, growling, howling kind.  My favorite artists are Catherine Mullins, Jesus Culture, Rick Pino, Jenn Johnson, and Darlene Zchech.  My favorite worship leaders are all of the above, my sweet husband, Chad Manning - just a little partial! and the worship leaders at our amazing church.  I have been inspired by all of them!

My favorite books are sooo many.  I have multiple books that I read at one time.  the Bible is wonderful, Bill Johnson, and Dani Johnson.

My heroes are Jesus and the people who have served God for years and are still pursuing him... people who don't give up when the going gets tough.  My Dad and Mom are among my many heroes.

I recently started a venture in Fitness and eating good.  What a difference this has made in my life!  I am excited about this venture and am pursuing "eating clean and working out"!

I am married to the best, greatest guy.  I am deeply in love and crazy about him.  He is so real, loves God, me, his family, and the church... oops did I miss hunting, gaming, and football and "his boys"?

We live in Thief River Falls with 3 of the best, sweetest, craziest boys ever.  I can't stop kissing them.

My dreams are to pursue the dreams that God is dreaming about me and go for it!!!  I dream of having my own sweet daughter!  Thank you Father for your favor and extreme blessings!

Jenn's thoughts on:

God
 I am in love with God, ruined forever by his goodness.  He is the best Dad ever,the best friend ever, and the greatest love ever.  Who could say no to that?

Worship
Bring it on! Let the worship start now on earth and go into eternity.  Worship is anything that brings pleasure to the heart of God.  If I really want to please Him, it probably has very little to do with the songs I sing!

Friendship
Friendship is a covenant.  Its not necessarily how much time you spend with the person.  To me a friend is someone who I can trust with my heart, my dreams and my vision.