I Hope You Dance

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:2


A song came to mind on the way back to the hotel after welcoming the newest addition to our family on Tuesday. Our daughter Bree gave birth to our fourth grand child, a beautiful baby girl, Audree Ann. Born at 8:37 a.m. on Tuesday June 19, 2019, she weighed in at nine pounds eleven ounces and has cheeks you just want to grab and kiss. She is absolutely adorable. I wish I would have had my camera ready to capture a picture of the expression on my wife’s face as we received the news that our little girl had just given birth to a little girl of her own. It was priceless.

When the song, “I Hope You Dance” came out years ago, I remember my wife sending a copy of the lyrics to each of our children with a note encouraging them to live life the fullest, to love and serve Jesus with all their heart, glorifying Him and to “Promise her that they would give faith a fighting chance, and when faced with the choice to sit it out or dance…I hope you Dance.”

As we approached a stop light and cars came to a halt you could hear the music blaring from a car nearby. The song fortunately had a good beat to it, the kind you might not normally listen to except if you were taking an aerobics class and needed something to motivate you to maintain a high cadence on a spin bike. As my wife and heard the music playing we both raised our hands and were snapping our fingers to the beat. No sooner had I tried to get our grandkids to join in that Reese, our oldest grandchild looked at me and said without hesitation, “Opa, you can’t dance to other people’s music.” I laughed out loud and asked my wife to write that down as it was one of those quotes your kids or grandkids share with you that teach you something you don’t want to forget. There was truth in what she shared.

Most all of us have heard the expression, “They danced to the beat of a different drummer.” When Reese told me you cant dance to other people’s music I thought of Bree’s best friend in high school, Danielle, who was killed in an accident going into her senior year of high school. Danielle, who most definitely would have been by her side to welcome Audree into this world was someone who always, “danced to the beat of a different drummer.” Danielle loved to dance and would pretty much do so everywhere she went in life. She always had a song in her heart which made dancing easy for her.

As I thought about Danielle and what my granddaughter said another thought came to mind. It was another old saying, “we were all born originals but most of us die copies of someone else” which serves as a great reminder to be all who God created us to be. In the Bible in Romans chapter twelve, the apostle Paul writes to exhort all followers of Jesus to not let the world force us into its mold. We are not to be copies of other people, we were created by God to be unique, to be ourselves. We were not created to conform but to stand out, to shine as we dance our way through life to the beat of God’s drum.

As I drove and thought about what my granddaughter had said I prayed and asked the Lord to fill Audree’s heart at the earliest possible age so that she would know Him and understand the reason for her being born at the perfect time into this world. My prayer is that she would love God, love people, and dance to the beat of the song God Himself places within her heart. Like my wife, I pray that Audree will promise us that she will give faith a fighting chance and when she gets the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance!

And the more I think about my prayer for her, that is also my prayer for me and you today too! Today each of us has a choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance!


“And a time to dance”

Ecclesiastes 3:4 


I LOVE YOU!