Thankful Thursday: DISCIPLESHIP

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View this email in your browser “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 COR 9:12 10/12/23 Dance 4 Joy A weekly devotion as a thank you to all that you are & do. The Thankful Thursday focus for this week is… Discipleship. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” -Philippians 4:8 “What about God are you teaching to yourself and those around you through your thoughts & actions?” Think back… Recall that wonderful person in your life that altered how you wanted to show up in the world forever.  Whether it was a parent, a grandparent, a spouse, a child, a teacher, or a complete stranger… They touched your life and made you want to be a better human being, a better dancer, a more loving disciple… like them. By focusing on the Goodness, the Truth, and the Beauty our soul yearns for, our perspective shifts. By allowing Him to transform our thoughts and focus, we are able to disciple just as He disciples unto us. We undergo a transformation into healthy believers who can follow Him, walk, share, and multiply the Faith in our every joyful & loving action. THE GOD MY MAMA TAUGHT ME As you walk through this week we invite you to ask yourself… “What am I teaching about God to myself and those around me through my focus & my actions?” As you reflect, please enjoy this tribute & absolutely moving dance… “The God My Mama Taught Me”. To  further showcase Discipleship, we’d like to share this impactful speech from Autumn Conkle; a mother of three Dance 4 Joy students… “I don't know if anyone else in the audience is a Switchfoot fan, but I'm a big fan of Switchfoot and thank God for them. And they are local. And I was praying a lot about, you know, what to share. And as I prayed, one of their songs in particular really came to mind. It just kind of stayed with me.  I wanted to share some of those lyrics with you. And it says… “I'm picking up the pieces, I'm trying to fix a place that feels broken. Is this the world you want? You're making it every day that you're alive.” So, the depth of gratitude that I have for Christy and for Toni and for really our entire Dance 4 Joy family… it really is almost more than I could express. And because it is expansive, I wanted to focus on just a few aspects of what it has meant to me and been for me because I do have three children that have been a part of Dance for Joy. My girls were up on stage a little while ago and I wanted you to hear some of how dance and the community has impacted our family. First, Dance 4 Joy has helped my children understand that their whole body was designed with a purpose: to know God, to be known by God and experience joy and wholeness in relationship with Him. Dance for Joy has been our community over the years, and it's been a lot of years. And in many respects, wherever our studio has been, whether it was Chrissy's home, whether it was Newport Mesa, whether it's Irvine or Costa Mesa now. It's always a space where we feel like a home away from home, you know? And that's been incredible, especially as I'm sure everyone can appreciate, in the last few years. Dance 4 Joy has modeled for my children that even the pursuits we had that are educational or extracurricular or even just for fun can become so much greater when we do them with and for our Creator. That was something I kind of thought about this phrase that I hear my kids use a lot, which is “next level" and Dance 4 Joy is “next level”. It really is because we're not just a dance studio. We're not just a community and we're not just a ministry. We're all the above. And so, you know, I believe that one of the greatest aspects of Dance 4 Joy is that we are unified in service and in discipleship. It's how we come together that makes our relationships so deep and abiding and fulfilling. I feel like that brings me back to the Switchfoot song, because our world, it's not just broken, it's deteriorating and rapidly. But we know that our power, our ability, and our authority to make change in this world is with and through Christ. Our children are experiencing that as they're on-stage dancing, as they are taking that into secular communities in the cities and nursing homes where hope and encouragement is so needed. When we come together as a Dance 4 Joy Community, we're releasing that grace that God's Soul wants to pour into us. He’s always looking for our willingness to receive it and to give it out. And we're changing hearts. We're changing minds. It's growing the kingdom. Every day, I dance for joy. There is that discipleship that we're experiencing. I see those relationships in student to teacher. I see those relationship shifts in the parents. I mean, Cathy has moved, but she's still with us. The woman texts me faithfully. I love it, you know. So, it's the parents that are part of Dance4 Joy. It's the donors, It's the audiences. I mean, it's the collective. It's all part of the work that we're doing, but we're doing it in the greatest possible joy. I do believe that all of us here have experienced that God is our great redeemer and the world around us, our brothers, and sisters around us, they need nothing less. So, we are continuing to come together. I love seeing the program grow. I mean, when we started, we were dancing at Christy's house and it was so intimate and wonderful, and I met families that that are still dancing, that I still know, and how dancers that are no longer dancing with Dance 4 Joy like Jesse and in people who've done it. But they poured into my kids, so it really has been transformative. We love that. We are so fortunate to stand here and be able to continue that work. So, thank you truly for being here.” Thank you, Autumn. Visit dance4joy.org Follow Dance 4 Joy on social media: Click below to join the Circles of Joy Recurring Gift Program: Copyright (C) *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*. All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe