It's all part of the dance...

Precious Girl, my oldest daughter, is an Irish Dancer.

This love affair started back when she was a wee little girl of 2 and saw Riverdance for the first time on television. She was transfixed by the graceful, yet powerful dancing. She turned with wide eyes when it was over and said "I dance like that..."

If you will permit me to brag on my Precious Girl a bit, she is graceful and beautiful when she dances. Her joy when she dances shines from her face to her feet.

This gift comes straight from her Heavenly Father (if you've ever seen me dance you will know this to be truth) and it has been exciting to watch her develop her skills.

Part of the Irish Dance world, is the competition, or feis (pronounced "fesh"). These competitions attract hundreds of Irish Dancers from several neighboring states. The judges watch the dancers dance their reels, slip jigs, hornpipes, and treble jigs in front of a nervous and jubilant assembly of other parents.

As a mom, it is so hard to stand on the sidelines and watch my Precious Girl dance.

Don't get me wrong, I love to watch her - she is breathtakingly beautiful...

But she works and works and only has 2 minutes to do everything perfectly to get a trophy. There's a part of me that wants to tap the judge on the shoulder and tell him or her what she needs to know about my dancer...

Excuse me, judge, but did you know that my daughter dances for hours outside of practice - just for the fun of it?


Do you know that dancing is her favorite thing is the world?


Do you know the carpet is worn under her desk because her feet need to dance?


Do you know about the tears when those feet are too sore to dance any more? but yet, somehow she does?


Do you know that she choreographs elaborate dances in a notebook she keeps with her diary?


Do you know that every song she hears, she wonders what step she could do with it?


Do you know that we hear the same few bars of music for days on end as she works to perfect one little part of her dance?


Do you know that underneath the false eyelashes, fancy solo dress and curly wig is a very sweet little girl who just wants to dance?

But, I refrain from telling them. Maybe they do know. Maybe they don't. What is important to me is that my Precious Girl knows for Whom she is dancing. It's part of the dance...

And I watch, holding my breath...and I wait for results, just as anxious as my Precious Girl...

And, we learn together that the joy of the Lord is our strength when the judges didn't agree with us...
And, we learn how to win gracefully as other competitors shed tears of disappointment...

And as we learn and we grow together, it's all part of the dance.