Have you ever watched a ballerina perform an arabesque?
There are 4 main arabesque positions. Claire is learning 2 of them thus far in ballet.
There are 4 main arabesque positions. Claire is learning 2 of them thus far in ballet.
She has to stay totally focused and keep her "core".....the mid part of her body, tight and focused. It requires strength in the legs and core. She practices in our dining room by holding onto a chair. She can do an arabesque with out holding on to the barre if she is in regular ballet shoes and not on pointe.
She is 13 yr old & has been studying ballet for the past 9 years. She is in her 2nd year of being "en pointe". She is beginning to master the first arabesque the girls are taught. Now she is doing them on pointe as well. She stays focused most of the time....but sometimes she loses concentration or is distracted by something and begins to stumble. Down goes the leg. Gone is that perfect stance.
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| Claire in one arabesque position on pointe in our dining room 28 January 2012 c. faithe MTpics 2012 |
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| Claire on pointe focusing on being turned out and stretched using the back of a dining room chair c. faithe MTpics 2012 |
I watch my daughter glide across the floor and I think about what God says about staying focused. I watch her do plies (plee-ays) and demi-plies and how focused she is at everything........I watch her get into the arabesque positions demanded of her and I see the focused look on her face...I see it in the way her leg muscles ripple...in the way her hands delicately reach out........and I think of focusing more......
I watched her sewing new ribbons on new pointe shoes yesterday afternoon.
Painstakingly, lovingly focused on those pieces of satin, whip-stitches going around and up and down......focused.....
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| sewing new ribbons onto new pointe shoes c. faithe MTpics 2012 |
On Him.
Reminding me of Isaiah 26:3 & 4 which states:
"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength."
God has given us freedom in Christ! We just need to keep our focus on HIM.....He gives us the ability to keep our mind focused!
AND...we have the choice to put every thought in our mind on Him and His ways. If we wander in our thought life, we need to rein in those thoughts and focus on Him more! We might have anxious thoughts, or judgmental ones, or angry ones, or unforgiving ones. Any kind of negative thought is not a thought that is focused on Christ!
When we become unfocused....when our earthly minds are not centered on Him, we will stumble!! and we might fall........
The Bible tells us to "take every thought captive".
God's peace is simple. It's in that simplicity that we find Peace.
Stay focused on HIM! He really is the Prince of Peace.......
and our soul will dance with Him.......keeping our minds stayed on Christ brings an intimacy that requires focus, faith, and fellowship......
Just like Claire dances with focus because she loves it fiercely....she is focused because she knows she has to become "one" with her body and keep that mind focused on the strength within her......
so too do we need to focus on Christ.....we Love Him if we are His children.....we become "one" with Him when we focus on the faith we have within us and He will give us strength to dance our way through negative thoughts........
Are you focusing on Him today??
4 comments:
Thank you for a gracious reminder. Your little girl is precious. You must be so proud. She obviously has a mama who is a woman of faith. She is blessed.
I'm saying "ouch" to the second picture. Yikes what a position for those legs and feet!
What a great analogy of what happens when we lose our focus on God. We become "wobbly" in our faith. And it made me think that focus takes practice. Lots of it. I'm sure that Claire puts tons of practice into focusing on her moves. It's the same with keeping our focus on the Lord. It takes practice. If we don't practice it, it's not something that's just going to happen.
Hi Mountain Mama! Thanks for your kind comments...she sure does love ballet...yes we are proud of her "focus" :)
Susanne! thanks for stopping by....Yes I think we ALL need the reminders every once in awhile to practice the presence of Christ and totally focus on Him so we don't "wobble" :)
Yes.....I've been trying to focus on God lately. It definately helps with my marriage, work and other things. Thanks for this Faith!
Oh and beautiful ballerina!
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