Greatest Aspiration

There is a special place in my heart for the show “Boy Meets World.” I feel bits of homeostasis when I get to catch an episode. While here in Lausanne, some of my treasured, me-time moments are where I get to sneak away into my room, start the laptop, and step back into yesteryear in today’s skin and country.  I enjoy how God still impactfully speaks to me though these shows.

Would you like to catch a glimpse of today’s lesson?

Enjoy this little clip. If you want to cut to the chase, feel free to skip to about 2:06.

Greatest aspiration. Family. Love.

Hefty, eh?

And how delightful.

Through the counseling school, and even now during our Bible studying portion, I am learning so much about God’s heart for family and inclusiveness. He has such a huge capacity for love and adoption.

Have you ever encountered a family that was not perfect, but their love for each other was just so beautiful and palpable? The family as a whole is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect individuals, but they still desire to spend time with each other, get to know each other, and champion each other to be the best and truest self they can be. How powerful and beautiful that is. I was particularly reminded of my dear friends Dave and Andrea. I remember meeting them when they were engaged. Their love was so beautiful: real, transparent, understanding of strengths and weaknesses, championing the best in each other, and enjoying each other and loving those around them. I’ve been blessed to witness how they have dared to see where that love would take them. Now they have an insanely adorable family, and I glean from their honesty and ways of loving every time I am with them.

The greatest aspiration is to find love.

Now, to be true to my convictions and pet peeves (and all who can relate), this is not just about romantic love. I would be a liar if I said that I don’t desire to find this sort of love, but I’m also wary that there are zillions of blogs that cover the topic of waiting for that; It drives me nuts when emphasis and pressure comes with the misconstrued message that fulfillment only comes from that blessing. 

This is not one of those blogs.

I have also seen (and personally experienced) marvelous examples of people who take on the call of Isaiah 54, spread wide their tents and have innumerable spiritual family members who also love and champion each other.

Family: Biological. Spiritual.

Thank you, families.

Today is Easter.

On this topic of family, I was reminded of Philemon. We spent days learning how to inductively study the book; I learned that the sum of these 25 verses shares the heart of God to redeem and bring people out of slavery to His family.

Philemon:

¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he [Onesimus] was separated from you [Philemon] for a little while was that you might have him back forever— ¹⁶ no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me [Paul] but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

Paul loved this slave, Onesimus, as a son. Paul was appealing to Philemon to adopt him as family as he also loved him as family. Paul was loving this man with God’s love. If our greatest aspiration is to find love, how am I loving? It doesn’t just magically happen, completely satisfy, and function perfectly when we find romantic love. How am I loving now?

Now don’t check out and please don’t skim over this sentence as an overused phrase. Maybe take a nice, deep breath, and in the release, ask Jesus to reveal this truth deep in your spirit in new ways:

2000 years ago, a man suffered immensely, died, and was raised from the dead because His Father’s desires for love and family were that powerful. Because of this, Jesus is alive and well today and adopts us as His family.

How am I embracing that love now? How am I receiving that love and engaging with the Author of it? How am I sharing that with the people He created and loves?

Care to start a journey through these questions? 

God, help us to love deeper, truer, fuller.

Happy Easter, dear friends.

Pulse

Dear sir, dear madam,
Take your seat amongst the partakers:
Welcome to my heart.

It's been building and building;
And with every lofty cry of yours,
My heart feels even more.

Oh strife, oh contradiction,
Oh lives built on foundations 
Now needing questioned and made own.
Welcome, my friends,

Millions of miles away,
Your cries are heard.
I'll spin and pop, 
Glide over the music,
collapse to the floor.

You are heard.
Your heart is felt.
Oh intercession, so full and sweet.
Our cries are heard.
Our doubts are felt.

Guidance can be made
with each long, drawn reach
to grasp something true and substantial.
Welcome humility. 
Welcome expression.

It's all here - an overflowing offering
Laid on a fineshrine in hope. 

Welcome, my friends,
To art paving the way to truth.
Prophesying over bones losing marrow
to bring them back to life.
Proclamation made
From long, drawn out cries
Made in desperation.
Oh God, meet us.

Welcome to the heartbeat of humanity. 

Progression and Change

Mmmmm, progression. Progress. To progress. To have something towards which I can progress. Progression.

Somedays, progression is overwhelming. Sometimes the ignorance to progression is what keeps one dangerously stagnant and apathetic.

Last quarter as a whole was great, like eating plain salad leaves (and not the juicy, iceberg kind). Honestly, it was great. The battle cry of this school is to rise now, rise new. Well, hallelujah, thank You, Jesus, I'm learning a crapload about my identity and the insecure crutches to which I've been clinging.

Thrust into a school where vulnerable, transparent artistry is demanded in dance, academics, and in a life of community, I wanted to take my slippers and go home. In juxtaposition, I wanted to check all of the deeds off of my list, please the teachers, get the best grades, and pat myself on the back.

Where am I in all of that?

Where is God in all of that?

Where is the actual growth?

What is progression?

False. The enigma of artistry is when you set out to make "good art," your work will probably suck. A dear, God-send friend, Chris Bezek once encouraged me "You have to see yourself as being excellent. But you have to let yourself fail so that you can become excellent."

If I cling to perfectionism or constantly pleasing others or myself with what I create, it will be empty, shallow, and less authentic than my deeper and broader potential. Taking risks is hard when you don't know from where your value comes and don't know who you are trying to please.

My friend and "one on one" mentor, Sherisa recommended taking necessary self dates. When in places of change, it's easy to lose yourself. Having dates where you just hang out with yourself and God is a great way to stimulate inspiration and to feel alive and yourself again.

Cray how we feel we can lose ourselves. Obviously I'm myself; Who else could I be? I'm only now coming to a place where I feel pretty grounded again - after about 5 months - and am getting ready for another shift. Friends have come and gone, and I've realized that my friends, family, and even my own identity are not reliable/steadfast foundations. I am brought to the simple fact that God is truly all I can draw on for my validation and, well, anything. 

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 

-Philippians 3:7-9

What is Truth?

"What is Truth?" 

The question that was posed right before sentencing an innocent man to death and releasing an imprisoned terrorist (Jn 18:38).

We are currently living in a culture that glorifies embracing one's own ideas of truth and reality. Simultaneously, there is a push for social justice, loving people, and improving the human condition. 

But if we don't know what truth is, how do we know what justice is?

From the movie Stay.

An introductory lecture to worldview and philosophy has shown me that I have embraced much of today's popular worldviews (which actually aren't so new, but have resonated throughout millenniums). I've discovered that I am curiously and analytically skeptical toward many biblical world views. What a brilliant recognition to a sneaky tainting of how I view and live life. While this illumination intimidates me with questioning and investing in
fundamental and ornamental truths, I am excited to pray and dig into God's character to discover what truth really is. 

The Postmodern would be that which in the modern invokes the unpresentable in presentation itself, that which refuses the consolation of correct forms, refuses the consensus of taste permitting a common experience of nostalgia for the impossible, and inquires into new presentations -- not to take pleasure in them, but to better produce the feeling that there is something unpresentable.

-Jean Francois Lyotard

We want to see freedom? We want to see justice? We want to believe that nothing really matters? We want life to the fullest now and eternally?


What is truth?


Instead of asking this rhetorically, like Pilate in his cynic culture, let's seek it out. If God is truth, we can be confident that when we pray and seek truth we will find Him (Jer 29:13).


God, provide a community where I can delve deeply into philosophies and discover what is true and discover Your character. Thank You for Your perfect timing, prodding, and provision. Help me know You more.

Trust Falls

Today, I took a leap of faith, and I jumped off a cliff. 

Recently, I've been recognizing some extremely skewed views I have on God - views that have been hindering my trust of Him, of people, and even of myself. I feel like He is calling me into a season of renewing my perspective and teaching me how to trust Him in strong and healthy ways. 

So, I jumped off a cliff.

Some friends were going to the End of the World here in Kona, HI. It's a sweet place to go cliff diving. I had no intention of doing such a thing. In the past couple of years, I have become more aware of my body, how important it is to take care of it as a dancer, and I'm just not as big of a fan of heights. Logical. But, I felt God challenge me... I felt Him saying He wanted to use this jump as an exercise of faith.

I scoped out the area for a good spot. With the help of the awesome Ships DTS, I found a solid place with little risk. Many had gone before me, and I cringed at the suspense of every one of them. Now here I was, taking forever and a day to jump. 

I felt Him whisper it was okay, He would protect me. I found reassurance looking beyond the step in front of me, and gazing into the horizon. I was shaking like mad, and everyone was encouraging me to go. I felt His assurance that I needn't go on their timing, but His.

After a loooooong wait, I push off, scream JESUSS!!!!!!!!!!! 

Photo Credit: Jamie Parrish

Then, I am swallowed up in the water. Ah, what a sweet release. It was magnificent to be surrounded by an expanse of water that has the power to destroy, bring life, thrash, and direct. It was so easy to float with the smooth swells and feel like I was a part of something infinitely bigger than I am.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

God is pushing my borders. He is challenging me to let go of what I think will save me for the adventure of His life. While this sounds like an easy trade-off, there are lots of deeply rooted barriers that stand in the way. I am super pumped that God called me to jump. As I continue forward in this season of renewal, I will have this glorious, physical picture of diving into God's deep embrace. He will take care of me. Hallelujah, amen!




**If you are interested in formal updates about the school of dance ministry I am doing, feel free to contact me/send me an e-mail with your e-mail and/or contact information. I am aiming to send out at least one newsletter a month. If you did not receive the July newsletter, please let me know.**

This is Why

What motivates me to dance, you ask?

Click HERE to see

Excited is an understatement. 

A gagillion thanks to the insanely talented Amber Doerr for creating this video.

I can't do this alone. The school of dance ministry I am attending costs $15,000 (broken up into three payments of $5,000) While that sounds like an outrageous number, if 100 people (about 10% of my Facebook friends) donated an average of $150, the whole school would be paid in full. So far, in just a short month, we have raised 1/3 of the whole school and outreach! I encourage you to pray about your role in this powerful ministry.

It's super easy to donate. You can make a donation via cash, check to Cathy Kaecher, or online via this nifty PayPal button:

 


Spiritual support is also a ginormous need. Let me know if you are interested in joining my mailing list. I will also be using this blog to keep you lovely peepz updated :)

Let's rock this thing together!

Mission: Benefit Dinner = Success!

Hello my friends!


Wow, a HUGE thank you to everyone who made the benefit dinner such a success. We prayed it'd be a holistic blessing, and it indeed was! I was so encouraged by your support. I am so glad we were able to show how God rocks our passions/gifts/service - whether dance, music, cooking, organizing, or sharpening pencils (thanks Lydia!).  We raised $4,198!! Tchyeah mann!

I think it was really the first time I have been able to share my heart for dance via words and actual dance for friends and family. Thank you for creating such a loving and welcoming environment for me to share it with you :) Everyone using what they love to make God's plans happen was like a taste of heaven. I have learned and grown so much through every step.

There is still much support raising to be done, but it is definitely becoming more of a feasible reality! I would most definitely appreciate your prayers. I've been discovering in the past couple of weeks how big spiritual support is. As time draws closer, I am getting so pumped! But I also feel the effects of tricky old and new spiritual attacks.

Hallelujah! God is doing a good thing, and He will be faithful to complete it! Thank you all for joining with me in this exciting adventure.

Didn't get to make it to the dinner but still want to support? It's super easy! Just click the button below to make an online donation. If you would prefer to donate with check or cash, just let me know :) Please feel free to contact me if you would like to join my e/mailing list ^_^

To check out online and offline donation progress and to see other updates, click HERE!