Dancer

Please send me your last pair of shoes, worn out with dancing...so that I might have something to press against my heart. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have many artistic loves.

The aroma of freshly pressed parchment and the crackle of a quill against the page...

...the feeling of guitar strings against my fingertips, waxy and smooth, just awaiting a melody...

...the scent of stage-black and new-hung curtains, the echo of my voice as it carries across the plush seats and expansive house.

But to capture emotion when words fail, there is only one form of majestic art that will suffice.

Dancing.

There is so much incredible emotion wrapped up in the stomping of feet, the weaving of bodies, and the swaying of hips.

These simple movements have incredible power.

Sometimes, dancing is all you can do.

So much can be expressed in the strong movements of the salsa, the raw passion of the tango, the romantic intoxication of the waltz.

Emotions can pour out through movement.

Whether it's just the need to leap with joy -- overcome with the delight of some precious bit of news...captured up in the sheer delight of the King...

...the intense ache that causes one to crumple down to the ground or arch a leg in some mournful movements at a sudden heartbreak or the loss of a dearest love...

...or the need to express. The need to be. The need to exist as art, as passion, as light.

It's at those moments when the feeling, the expression is pressing from your heart and exploding out from your fingertips...

...your toes...your eyes...your nose...your lips...

...and all you can do is dance.

Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. ~Havelock Ellis

Edmund

'You have a traitor there, Aslan,' said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund. But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he’d been through and after the talk he’d had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn’t seem to matter what the Witch said." ~C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

There are many quotes in the world of literature that speak to me.

It's part of being a writer, I think. The words composed by others just seem to leap out from between their home in the world of paper and ink, and launch like arrows straight into your heart.

But the quote above?

This one rends me in two.

For I am Edmund...

...and oh, what a traitor I was.

Gazing back upon the pages of my own life, the barest of recollections are enough to cause my stomach to clench into a painful coil.

The destruction. The degradation. The shame. The unearthly horror of the road I once walked is enough to make me cringe with despair.

I was deceived...

...lured with the sweetest of poisons until I was drowning in my addiction to myself. It was as though I could hear the slam of dungeon doors, the laughter of my captors, and the broken-hearted cries of those innocents that I had wounded in my foolishness.

But that is my past.

And as the Lion has said, "there is no need to talk...of what has passed."

No finger pointed can condemn me any longer.

No whispered cries of "traitor," "broken," "soiled," or "worthless" can touch me.

These things are in the past...faded, making them lies of the darkest witchcraft.

For there is another magic which my enemy knew not of...deeper than the seas, older than the dawning of time, and written with the ink of love.

A willing One has already taken my place.

Death is working backwards. The Stone Table is broken.

I am Edmund. Forgiven traitor, forever the ruler of the Western Woods...I cannot lose my crown.

So, as my accusers cry out my treachery, I will simply sit at the foot of the cross...

...and gaze at Aslan.

"This is my password...the light is dawning, the lie broken." ~C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Remind

Tonight is a night...

...for song lyrics that you had forgotten

until just now

and I reminded you.

Tonight is a night...

...for memories that had almost faded away

until just now

and I reminded you.

Tonight is a night...

...for the great Lion's redemptive power

over broken stones and almost-forgotten magic

until He reminded you.

Tonight is a night...

...for a strange sort of love that makes you want to sing

and weep

all at once.

Tonight is a night...

...for simple wishes and complicated piano concertos.

The things that simplify and confuse

all at once.

Tonight is a night...

...for overflowing thought and too much mystery

for one simple mind to comprehend

all at once.

Tonight is a night...

for reminders and recollections of past sins and glorious love

all at once

as you're reminded.

Because that's what He does, you see.

He reminds me

all at once.

His song is love.

I dare not forget.

So please, my King

remind me

all at once.

Ryder

I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
--It will be.
--And what if it is? What do I do then?
--Well, that's the good part, I guess. You get to go find a new dream. ~Disney's Tangled

Ever since November of last year, I have a new favorite Disney prince.

Well, I suppose I could say that the newest prince/princess combo ties with my previous favorites of Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

And that's really saying something, especially to anyone who knows my incredible adoration for the dreamy bookworm and her cursed lover.

But honestly, Rapunzel and her smolder-eyed Flynn Ryder have managed to start a tug-of-war battle of Disney fairy-tale proportions within my heart.

As much as I love the big-eyed, long-haired, frying-pan-wielding beauty...it's Ryder that really got me thinking as the credits rolled on my new favorite animated feature film.

While he starts out on the cocky side with a bit of a penchant for the illegal...which does appeal to my slight bad-boy attraction, I will admit...

...he winds up demonstrating the most sacrificial love seen in any Disney movie to date.

Most silver-screen princes have a very stereotypical process that follows a strictly organized checklist:

Find a girl who's just a little bit different. A girl with an intelligent mind, a mistreated housemaid, a former mermaid with no voice. ...fall in love with her...lose her...fight the bad guy, win the beauty, and live happily ever after with a heart-stopping kiss that causes every little girl to sigh and dream of the day her own prince will do the same for her.

Flynn Ryder, however, once again defies the pre-ordained rules.

He dies.

He surrenders his life, and any chance of his resurrection, to ensure that the girl he loves is kept safe and is freed from her horrible situation.

And as he closes his eyes and breathes his last, he does so with the peaceful realization that he has done the right thing for his princess...his world...the love of his life.

He would do anything to keep her safe and secure -- even at the cost of his own breath and blood. He stands to gain nothing and to lose everything...all for her.

Of course, in true Disney fashion, a miracle occurs that brings the star-cross'd lovers back together again in life to embark on their very own "happily ever after."

But even still, I left the theater with tear-filled eyes and a full heart.

Love has become a selfish thing. It's only "what can I gain?"... "what can he/she do for me?"...

Love isn't gain. It's surrender.

Sometimes, it's giving up everything for the one you love, no matter how hard it might be in the long run.

Because they're worth it...no questions asked.

I want to love like Flynn Ryder...

...because Flynn Ryder loved like Jesus.

And I want to love like Jesus.

You were my new dream.
--And you were mine. ~Disney's Tangled

Sweetheart

"So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventures. And here is as great an adventure as I have ever heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honours." ~C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The love of my friends astounds me greatly.

The amazing timing of God astounds me greater still.

The sweet and beautiful Grace at Puddles Of Memories and the gracious and lovely Kels at The Flip-Flop Farmgirl both passed along to me "The Sweetheart Award."

Truly this was a great honor, as well as a lovely and well-timed blessing to brighten my rather difficult and frustrating day.

As I read over their posed questions regarding their love of sweet delights, I found myself tripping down the peppermint-paved streets of my own imagined Candyland...

...a marriage of a frosty winter wonderland and the magic of Willy Wonka's mysterious factory.

Just for a moment, I found myself catching slow-fluttering chocolate sprinkles with my outstretched tongue, letting my tastebuds become lost in frosting-capped cupcakes of red velvet and vanilla bean wonder.

Oh, how I wish I could set sail a boat upon a river of peach-mango iced tea, dipping my cup into a waterfall of delicate sweetness as the aroma of tea leaves dance across my senses...

...for this would be a summertime paradise indeed.

Perhaps I should simply set up my reading corner in the old wooden booth of a local bakery, drawing myself away from Hogwarts just long enough to inahle a rich, buttery-cupcakey-coffee-scented moment.

Is this only a touch of "pure imagination," or is this magic truly to be found behind the display at my local coffeehouse, or at the old-fashioned candy shoppes in picturesque towns?

...I'll never stop until I find out.

But sweeter still than French macaroons...even more delightful than mango ice cream...more welcome to my senses than fresh-brewed coffee...

...are my dear blogging friends.

And so, I bestow this award onto the following precious sweethearts:

- Hannah at Aspire

-Jocee at Cupcake Dictionary

- Anna Olivia at the secret life of daydreams

-Grace at Puddles of Memories

-Mary at Sue-Sue's Stories

-Carlotta at Pastor's Girl's Ponderings

-Nzkiwigirl at Yours Truly

Girls, each one of your blogs has blessed me beyond measure.

You bear the joy of the Lord in your photography and the beauty of His love in your writing. I am honored to have you as fellow bloggers, followers, and truthfully, precious sisters and friends.

I love each one of you dearly.

Never cease.

Never waver.

Never falter.

Rise further up, go further in.

"All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it..." ~C.S. Lewis

Gypsy

Even though I'll never know what's up ahead / I'm never lettin' go, I'm never lettin' go / Roller coaster through the atmosphere / I'm drowning in this starry serenade...Owl City, Alligator Sky

Yet again, fellow bloggers have inspired me.

Carlotta at Pastor's Girl's Ponderings is having a truly delightful giveaway to celebrate her 1,000th follower, and Grace over at Puddles of Memories is celebrating her summer blog party: All Things Bright and Beautiful.

To their followers, they each posed the following question: what are your plans for the summer?

Perhaps this might seem like a fairly simple question. What activities and delights will fill my hours as these dreamy summer days float past me one by one?

At first, the answers seemed to come to me rapidly, with hardly a moment's hesitation...

...swimming in my parent's pond, spending hours curled up with a book under the spreading branches of a backyard maple tree.

...gathering with my friends to view the latest summer hits in the cinema, driving down the country lanes with the windows down and my summertime playlist of Owl City and Dashboard Confessional flooding my ears.

But then, I made a decision.

Yes, I plan on doing every last one of those wonderful things...most likely more than once through the weeks to come.

But I refuse to let those things define my summer.

I am going to make this summer an adventure...

...because I am going to live.

You see, there are greater things to do with my time than simply close my eyes and let the months drift by in a summery haze.

I am going to let my mind wander.

I am going to let my heart be a gypsy.

I will not linger in any place for too long...nor will I leave a moment too soon.

There are hearts to touch for the glory of God.

There are moments to inhale...breathing deep and holding my breath for just one more second.

Because I want to savor every tick of the clock...every clink of ice in my lemonade glass...every rippling brush of water against the lake's shore.

And so, this gypsy heart is going to wander amid the summertime.

I am going to live.

Because, as J.M. Barrie said...

...to live would be an awfully big adventure.

Burn

Holy fire, burn away
My desire for anything
That is not of You

And is of me

I want more of You
And less of me.

Empty me.

Fill me with You.

~Jeremy Camp, Empty Me

There are so many things I associate with summer.

Fire is one of them.

Bonfires on hot summer nights...roasting marshmallows over glowing coals and laughing with friends as we watch sparks snap up and join the stars.

The flash and boom of fireworks, exploding their tremendous color across the patriotic skies, the iconic scent of sulfur and warm summer evenings mingling to create an aromatic memory.

But there is another fire to add to this collection of glowing embers.

One so much more powerful, one so much more important.

And one that is the most deadly if it ever goes out.

It's the fire that cleanses. The fire that refines. The fire that saves.

The flame of my first love, burning like a beacon in my heart.

The flames can be beautiful, flooding my soul with His light and glory.

The licking tongues of fire can also be painful, purifying my heart through the burning of the rubbish that builds up in my soul.

But He holds me.

He keeps me in palm of His hand.

I would rather die than lose that spark.

I want to burn so bright that everyone who crosses my path can see His radiant light...

...the flame of His power and love...

...streaming out in waves from my eyes, my words, and my walk.

And so whatever the cost...

I want to burn.

But now, this is what the LORD says— He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." ~Isaiah 43:2-3