During church yesterday my daughter was a member of an all girl team of
praise dancers. It was one of those church acceptable dances where the
girls move their arms slowly in graceful motions to a song about
praising God.
I know that dancing in church can be a controversial issue, and before
seeing it, I didn't know if this dance was going to be one of the 'did
you see that spectacle in church? What was that about' gossip stories,
or if it was going to be a "that was pleasant" one.
Thankfully it was a 'that was pleasant' one.
But on the way in, knowing dance in church can be a hot issue, I decided
to ask Sydney where she stood on the issue.
As we walked up to church I said:
"Sydney, so how do you feel about dancing in church?" (meaning the issue)
she kept on walking and said simply:
"Don't know, haven't done it before."
I chuckled at the misunderstanding and left it at that.
and in she walked. And up she danced... and she felt pretty good about it.
And so did I.
My daughter surprised me with a fluid grace I had not expected. She was
confident she wasn't looking about to see if the other girls where in
sync with her, she was focused and she moved with style and grace and I
wondered where on earth she got THAT from.
One of the things I like to do, is construct good compliments. When
someone puts a lot of work into a thing, I like to construct a
thoughtful compliment that shows I put some effort into thinking about
what they have done. I have a very small, but growing reputation for
well worded and meaningful compliments.
So, when I saw my daughter afterwards, I waited until we were quietly
alone and I told her,
"That was well done, you danced with confidence and grace and I am proud
of you."
and then I added
"I wonder where you got all that talent? Neither I nor your mother
possess such grace."
and she simply replied,
"Maybe I got it from Aunt Julie or Aunt Cori."
and walked off.
I decided not to explain heredity to her. I thought it more interesting
to wonder why she felt her aunts were graceful dancers.
