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Welcome my friends to season 3 of the Determined to Dance podcast. My prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to persevere daily in our chaotic world. Today’s episode, Stay Determined to Dance, encourages everyone to move out on the dance floor of life.
Show Notes: Stay Determined to Dance
I need to step back for a moment, back to March of 2021. The year when this podcast began. Its creation has involved study, learning tech stuff, lots and lots of it, and perseverance. Think back with me to the first episode. I said, “I’ll never forget the day that the thought, the God-nudge flooded my mind in that deep, quiet part within. God whispered that I had marched for Him and that was good but now he wanted me to dance with him instead.
Dancing, the kind I knew God was talking about, would be very different. I was being asked to join and not take the lead. I wouldn’t know exactly where on the dance floor I might end up. Maybe a quiet corner, or in a group of other dancers, or even in the center of the room, drawing every eye to us. I would follow God’s dance, His lead, His music, and go to the part of the dance floor where He led. At times, I could be asked to sit out a dance and rest.”
I didn’t know how true those words would become. God has taught me so much through the creation of the podcast. I have learned to dance better and freer than ever before. Even though many circumstances for me, probably for you too, have been so difficult since March 2021.
For me, it’s time to sit out for a while. Not from life or God but from podcasting. About halfway through this season, God impressed on me that it’s time to take a break.
Rest. Recharge. I’ve dealt with health issues this year, more than usual, and I need time to recover. Focus on me. So hard for a driven person to do. But God is helping and I’m trying so hard to listen to his voice. Follow his lead. And quit running off on my own.
You can enjoy all three seasons of the Determined to Dance podcast on my website. Just check out the label “podcast” on the menu. And share the episodes with your friends. They are short, encouraging, and certain to brighten your day.
I’m also so excited to mention that my YA novel, Smoking Flax, will be released in January 2024. I can’t wait to share Reed and Talitha’s story with you. With interesting characters like Mamaw Cora Belle, Poppi, and Aunt Lula to round up the book’s cast, how could we not be entertained?
Think Southern time-shifting. Yes, that’s a thing I made up but it’s still a thing.
DISNEY’S THE KID MEETS BACK TO THE FUTURE.
Southern-style. My story takes place in 1984 and 1978. Here’s a little more:
Almost nineteen-year-old Reed Anderson wants to belong in a world where he hasn’t always fit. Three days after graduation, he decides to ride a bus back to Louisiana and deal with the events of his thirteenth summer once and for all. Back then, he’d stood up to his abusive Pa, protecting Momma and his sister, taking control of his life. But who was the faded image of the child he saw that day? Aunt Lula predicted his life would shift and change. Something about space-time-continuum and the fourth dimension. He tucks her words in his heart. If he survives the shift, this could be his chance to start over. But the ghost child still haunts his dreams. Even though six years have passed, does he want to confront the lies he’s always believed?
Do you want just a little more? Let me share the first scene in the story. (Subject to further edits)
Chapter One
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench;
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (Isaiah 42:3 KJV)
May 27, 1984
I turned Aunt Lula’s Dodge Aspen off the gravel road onto the driveway leading to Golden Marais Baptist Church. The mimosas had grown tall since I’d last been here, the two magnolias missing entirely. The sun peeked above the horizon, but daylight was not my friend. Who knew the words of my crazy aunt would lead to this? Only three days after graduation.
Her words still hung in the air. Reed Anderson, you know why you’re here.
I repressed the shudder that ran along my spine and surveyed the scene before me. The old rectangular church building stretched to my right, with a shed behind, woods fringed around them. Where was the outhouse? The wood siding of the church needed paint and a shutter hung like a broken arm from one of the four windows which greeted my view.
I pushed open the car door and stepped onto the half-dead grass which brushed my jeans and wet my cowboy boots. A boat motor on the Amite River revved close by. I hurried to a door at the side of the building and stopped to read a crooked sign tacked near the doorknob.
Services on Sunday and Wednesday. Reverend Rod Guidry.
What happened to Reverend Littleton? Guess I should be surprised they kept anyone in this pathetic little town. I tried the door and found it open like I expected it to be.
Even now.
I pushed my way inside. Little had changed. A rickety podium graced the front by the antique piano and four pews intermingled with folding chairs to fill the front of the tiny auditorium. I counted twenty-five seats, same as before.
A quick investigation of the curtained area in the back showed his and her bathrooms, a real step up for this place.
Had Golden Marais, Louisiana changed? I crossed my arms. Nah. Hope had deserted this place long ago and would never, ever come back.
No matter. I darted to the altar and placed a small envelope in one of the two baskets to cover any cost.
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and reopened the door, wiping it clean, and then repeated the gesture on the outside.
My heart beat faster. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck and upper lip.
The shed.
I forced my legs to move in that direction and drew deep breaths, the weighty aroma of the honeysuckles sickening me. I stopped in front of the faded building, much smaller than my memory served. The aging wood had been coated with used motor oil to keep it from rotting. The strong smell of the motor oil mixed with the honeysuckles nauseated me even more.
I reached for the latch holding the door in place and licked my dry lips. She said I must.
If not now, then when?
Did you enjoy that sneak peek at Reed Anderson’s life? If you subscribe to my newsletter at https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/g5j0c2 you can be among the first to see the cover when it’s revealed and the release date. There are also two gifts waiting for you there.
So, I’m off to explore this new season in my life. What lies around the next corner? Part of me would like to know but I don’t see that happening. Instead, I’m reaching for the Father’s hand as he sweeps me across the floor, into my next adventure.
Please join me and let’s move out on the dance floor of life together. Until we meet again, stay determined to dance…
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Video of the week:
I absolutely love music and each week I’d like to share a relevant song we can enjoy together
Congrats on your upcoming release!
Thank you!