Singing and Dancing with Joy

by Anita Mae Draper

Do you sing and dance when you feel joy?

As web mistress for our church, I update the website and social media pages, and place Facebook ads when necessary. That means researching images and videos when we're hosting special guests. Last week, I was previewing videos for the Watoto Children's Choir out of Uganda, East Africa, and I was struck by the sheer joy they show when they're singing and dancing.  

This is not your normal children's choir... 



Oh What Love - Be Exalted The Music Video from Watoto on Vimeo


As I watched their video I was drawn to the abandonment with which they sing and dance.

They reminded me of King David in 2 Samuel 6 when he is bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jersulam and we read in verses 14 & 15: "Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets."

Did you see that...dancing with all his might. With his arms waving and knees raised high like the Watoto kids in the video? Yes, I can picture it. 

Another example using joy in singing came to light this week as I watched a video of Revv52, a Calgary-based performance group. Our daughter Jessica had to go through 2 auditions before being accepted as a soprano in this unique group. Sometimes they are accompanied by a band, and at other times they sing a cappella.

In the following video, you can see Jessica at the 13-15 second mark as she appears on the right side. She's the brunette in the lacy top with her hair partially pulled back, exactly as you see her in the cropped photo above. 





And although this next video of Revv52 was taped prior to Jessica's joining last fall, I felt their joy as they sang and danced to Pharrell Williams' tune, Happy... 





Jessica has been on my mind this week because on March 20th she'll appear with Revv52 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

That's quite an adventure for a small town prairie girl, yet it shows what can be done when you accept and use God's gifts. The joy of singing has always been in Jessica's blood and it shows on her face when she lifts her voice. 

Just like it shows on the faces and movements of the Watoto kids...Spirit-filled and dancing with joy. 

The Watoto kids sing and dance with joy now, but it wasn't always so. The fact that they are part of the Watoto holistic organization means that before they were rescued, they were one of 4,000 children who were orphans, former child soldiers, or born to rebel leaders during the civil war. Today, Watoto has over 3000 of these children in their care. But Watoto isn't just the children. It restores dignity to women in "vulnerable" situations, empowering them with literacy, business and practical skills which ensure their own children have a better future. 

When was the last time you sang or danced with joy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper's stories are written under the western skies where she lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their four kids. When she's not writing, Anita enjoys photography, research, and travel, and is especially happy when she can combine the three in one trip. Anita's current release is Romantic Refinements, a novella in Austen in Austin Volume 1, WhiteFire Publishing, January 2016.  Anita is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita Mae at  www.anitamaedraper.com

Writing Your Next Chapter IRL (In Real Life)

By Niki Turner

My 18-year-old baby's high school graduation announcements came today. I cried a little.

It's the end of an era. I've spent the last twenty-five years (happy birthday yesterday, dear daughter!) MOMMING. I'll always be a Mom, and now a Mimi, but things are a-changin'.

This afternoon I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection on my computer screen wearing my new reading glasses (in addition to my contact lenses, because I just couldn't keep adjusting the screen resolution and squinting at my Bible in denial).

Last week my husband and I were awakened at 10:30 p.m. (because we're TIRED!) by a strange sound in the kitchen. Hubby got up to investigate and discovered youngest son loading the dishwasher and doing his laundry. Without being told, threatened, or bribed. I nearly passed out.

One night last week hubby and I discovered ourselves HOME ALONE for the first time in... um... I can't remember when. We both fell asleep in the living room, in our respective "old people chairs," watching one of the late night shows. As I right this, I am alone in my house with three dogs. It's weird. I used to treasure the few, rare hours I had at home alone when my husband took the kids on an adventure. Now I treasure the few, rare hours when all my offspring are under one roof. (We're not fully empty nesting yet... Kiddo #2 and Kiddo #4 will be home while they attend our local community college, but it's different.)

I see the signs. It's the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Here's the problem: I don't have a PLOT for the next era! I never got this far in my planning process.
For some people this happens when they graduate from college, for others it strikes shortly after the honeymoon. They just didn't picture themselves past the toss of the tassel or the walk down the aisle. I plotted this far... get the kids grown.

Check. Mission accomplished.

But NOW WHAT?

Now I get to "write" the next chapter. Or risk getting stuck in the dreaded sagging middle. Or a squishy middle, which I'm finding more and more applicable, despite rigorous exercise... but that's another subject.

Proverbs 29:18 says "where there is no vision the people perish" (KJV). We need a vision, a hope, for our future. Many marriages fail because there's no vision, no hope for the future after the big, fancy wedding. I mean, it's all fun and games until the toilet's plugged and the bills aren't paid!

So now, in this new season, I have the opportunity to imagine how things will be, to "write" the next chapter. What do I want my marriage to look like? My relationship with my children and grandchildren? My work life? My writing life? My physical health? My social life? My recreation? What shall I do with all of that supposed "free" time I have now?

Everyone is in the midst of some kind of change. Some will falter, some will conquer. I hope to be in the latter category, so I'm building a vision that I hope will carry me through.

How about you? How do you respond to the changing seasons of life?



Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the production manager for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs at www.nikiturner.net.

Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 25 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers.

In 2014, she published “Sadie’s Gift” as one of the Christmas Traditions novella collection with eight other authors.  The Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. Her most recent project, “Santiago Sol,” was published by Pelican Book Group as part of the Passport to Romance novella collection. She’s currently working on a new novella for Whitefire Publishing, one for Barbour House, and four for Forget-Me-Not Romances.

Don't Worry

Jennifer AlLee

In the vast expanse that is Facebook, there are some things that will make your skin crawl. It's been my pleasure, though, to find more things that inspire and uplift. This meme is one of them.

I have been known to let worry get the best of me. There are times when I think that I've let everyone down and they all dislike me. (This is silly, because the majority of my family and friends are level-headed, intelligent people who wouldn't fly off the handle at my slightest mistake.) Sometimes, I worry about not having enough money for the future. (Also silly, because no one ever knows what they will need for the future.) I worry about lots of other things, too, but we don't need to go over the whole list.

When I saw this quote from Corrie ten Boom, it struck a chord. "Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength." That makes so much sense! I need my strength for today, and if I handle today with grace and character, then whatever I was worrying about might not even occur tomorrow.

It's a profound, yet simple truth: worrying doesn't help anything. All it does is suck the joy out of the present. I needed to hear that. Maybe someone else needs to hear it today.

****************

JENNIFER ALLEE was born in Hollywood, California, and spent her first ten years living above a mortuary one block away from the famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Now she lives in the grace-filled city of Las Vegas, which just goes to prove she’s been blessed with a unique life. When she’s not busy spinning tales, she enjoys playing games with friends, attending live theater and movies, and singing at the top of her lungs to whatever happens to be playing on the car radio. Although she’s thrilled to be living out her lifelong dream of being a novelist, she considers raising her son to be her greatest creative accomplishment. She's a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Christian Authors Network. Her novels include The Pastor’s Wife, The Mother Road, A Wild Goose Chase Christmas, Last Family Standing, and Vinnie's Diner from Abingdon Press; Diamond in the Rough, Vanishing Act, and Curtain Call from Whitaker House and co-written with Lisa Karon Richardson; the novella Comfort and Joy in the Christmas anthology, Mistletoe Memories from Barbour; and A Worthy Suitor from Harlequin's Heartsong Presents.

Farewell to Downton Abbey

Photo credit: 123RF stock photos

Sunday night, an era comes to a close when the final episode of Downton Abbey airs in the U.S. on PBS. (It has already been broadcast in the U.K., so no spoilers please, you lucky folks who have already seen it!) You remember your local Public Broadcasting Station, don’t you? You know, those fine folks who air documentaries and other shows for your elderly parents? In my house, PBS had pretty much become a kids-only network—a safe place for my youngins where the cartoons aren’t violent and the characters aren’t back-talking brats. We in the over-30 crowd got our entertainment elsewhere. At least, that was true until 2011 when a British period piece became a smashing success across the pond.

How did such a show become PBS’s most watched program in two decades? How about luscious costumes, witty lines, and delightful British accents for starters. 

At its core, Downton Abbey is a soap opera, filled with drama, sparkling dialogue, and more drama. Don’t believe me? Just consider Lady Mary. The poor woman has had more affaires de coeur gone bad than a leopard has spots. And don’t get me started on unlucky Lady Edith! Her tragic love life is almost as depressing as the relentless calamities endured by the longsuffering John and Anna Bates.

Then add a large cast of characters and a glimpse of life in another time, both its good and bad, for both its rich and poor. 

How big of a phenomenon is Downton? Well, there are the many “Which Downton Character are You?” quizzes such as those here, or here, or here. (All of which claim I’m either the dowager countess or the earl himself, so I guess I’m secretly nobility.) Of course, if you're not careful, you might end up being matched to one of Downton's many dead characters. This LA Times article lists them all. Or mostly all.

Then there were the many (and enormously funny) "If Downton were on Facebook" spoofs like this one:

There were Downton spoofs for little tykes:

And their older siblings:

If you want to go "low brow" Downton:

There are Disney Downton spoofs:

Cast members used their newfound fame in creative ways to raise money for charity:

And, of course, people around the world have created literally thousands of their own Downton spoofs, parodies, and tributes of varying quality, cleverness, and appropriateness. (The Downton theme song on an accordion? That's just so...wrong!)

So Downton, we bid you adieu. Sunday nights will never be the same without you.