So, here we are in our FINAL month!!! What??!! How has it been 11 months already? Sometimes I feel like it’s only been a few days and sometimes I feel like i’ve been gone for years haha. None the less I am so thankful for this time of my life where i’ve been able to see the world and share the love of Jesus with the world! So, if you’ve given any donations or spent any time in prayer for me for this year THANK YOU SO MUCH!! We are doing work with the homeless this month and I’m loving it so much!
I just wanna tell y’all a quick story. Jesus teaches me stuff in the funniest ways. So, yesterday I woke up, and yes I love to work out but I consider running a mild form of torture not exercise. However, I’ve been running correction attempting to run this month because there aren’t a whole lot of other exercise options. (I’m probably most excited to go to a real gym when I get home! Second to seeing my family of course!) But I woke up yesterday and thought, “man I sure wish I could do a fun workout today…” Thought well suck it up buttercup and hit the pavement cause that ain’t happening. WELL, look at God! I walked out of where we are staying and BOOM in the middle of this park in Lima there is a…(drum roll for dramatic effect) ZUMBA FESTIVAL!!!!
AHHHHHHHH!!! Your girl just started screaming!
Now if you know me you know I love to dance like so much, and as stupid as it sounds a dream of mine was to be able to do Zumba somewhere in South America. Look how sweet God is!! That He would even care that I wanted to do that. It’s not something I needed, but something I wanted and He provided. Don’t not be hopeful for something you want just because it may not be something you need. God loves to bless His children. He’s a good dad!
Anyways, so you better believe I took my tall white behind and joined right in the middle of this dance workout party. You really don’t realize how white you are until you are head and shoulders taller than a huge group of Peruvians haha.
So, when I first get out there i’m nervous you know. I’m like yo I need to get all these dance moves right, i’m not trying to look like an idiot, wondering is everyone staring at me. Just SOOOO tense. Like I had every muscle clinched tight as I nervously laughed my way through every 8 count. Now the instructor was WILD. I mean she was just going for it, she looked a fool, no move she did was perfect and you know what that girl did not care AT ALL. And you know what else I LOVED HER EVEN MORE FOR IT. So, about 15 minutes in I decided you know I can keep attempting to dance and get everything perfect and look like I have a stick up my you know what, or I can actually realize NO ONE is watching me and have a great time. Because that instructor in all her wildness of progression not perfection, was having wayyyy more fun than I was in my perfectionism and in my caring what people thought of me. Everything in life is about progression not perfection, remember that; and as long as you live your life trying to impress others with your unrealistic perfection you will always have wayyyyy less fun in life.
So, 15 minutes in I decided to cut loose and not care how foolish I looked. You know what happened…nothing. No one said, “excuse mam you aren’t doing those moves right?” or “excuse me you look like an idiot maybe you should stop.” No one said a dang thannnngggg and instead I was actually having so much fun! It was only when I stopped trying to impress everyone around me with my abilities, only when I stopped trying to reach perfection and realized every move is just a progression, only when I stopped thinking people were looking at me (cause in life ain’t nobody looking at you everyone is so concerned with their ownselves and their own lives they don’t have time. It’s actually really freeing when you realize that.) that I actually started enjoying what I was doing.
After that amazing hour of a dance party I just heard the Holy Spirit say you know that’s how your life can be right. It can be that fun if you stop caring what everyone thinks of you all the time. He asked me when am I gonna stop making decision based off trying to impress people and just trust Him? He said if I could stop striving for perfection and just stride into the progression of a walk with Him I would enjoy life a lot more. We walk with Christ, walks are just one step at a time it’s not a sprint. It’s when we constantly strive towards perfection with our works and our good behavior that we actually start to put the weight on us. We aren’t that powerful. We are righteous because of what Jesus did not because of what we do. When we constantly try to live in the place of good intentions over the place of grace we make ourselves our own gods. Because we think that if I just do enough good things then Jesus will really love me, if I just get it right for enough time then i’ll actually be close to God, if I just come to church every Sunday and post enough Scripture on my Facebook then people will actually think I’m a good christian. Your goodness is not what makes you godly it’s the blood of Jesus that gives us right standing with the Father, His blood that makes us righteous. Your works do not save you. God’s grace is undeserved, and it is what empowers us to be all that God called us to be. His grace is a gift. What do you do to get a gift?? NOTHING. And because of His gift of grace we don’t lack ANYTHING because the Holy Spirit dwells fully alive inside of us, giving us EVERYTHING we need to live a godly life. We have access to all wisdom, all creativity, all righteousness, all godliness, everything all we have to do is RECEIVE.
So, I’ve decided instead of trying to sweep things under the rug. Instead of being timid or shy about my progression. Instead of hiding my imperfections and worrying what everyone thinks about me and my decisions. And instead of trying to look like Mother Teresea so that everyone thinks i’m a good christian. I’m going to celebrate my progression. I’m going to allow the gift of grace to empower me to live a godly life. I’m not going to strive with a bunch of good behaviors and works just to impress people. I’m going to live FREE and wildly in love with my savior and allow Him to help me get the moves right. Because you know the more you practice the more you’ll eventually learn the dance moves. That’s how it is with Holy Spirit. It’s daily walking, dancing, moving, obedience with Him and the more you do it the more you will know His voice. The more you know His voice the more you will rely on His grace and not your works, and the more you rely on His grace the more you will realize that you are already fully loved by Him just as you are!
Moral of my Zumba lesson is this: Stop caring so much what people think of you (NO ONE CARES), Rely fully on the grace of God that empowers you don’t rely on what you can do, remember it’s progression not perfection, the more wild and free you are in Christ the more contagious your love is! (Cause that Zumba instructor, her wildness came from a place of confidence and that confidence gave me the confidence to shake my booty FREELY with no cares of what people thought and i’m just saying that’s the same in normal life too) the more free you are in your radical love for Christ the more confident you will be as a child of God and the more contagious your confidence will be to those around you, go have fun!! Jesus wants to bless you with what you want so tell Him what you want! And Zumba is still alive and popping in South America so crossfit hasn’t taken over the world yet haha!
Liv
