Greetings!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating Christ's triumphant victory over death, hell, and the grave. We were blessed to be a part of Puyallup Four Square's five church services this past weekend, dancing to "Jesus Paid It All" and "This Beautiful Place". It is such a priviledge to be used of the Lord as He ministers to His people. We also had great times of fellowship with a Saturday brunch and a Sunday Easter lunch. ( yummy!)
We are starting our second week in the studio since coming back from our wonderful spring break. It was nice to have a little breather before we start up our next few busy months. Yesterday marked the kickoff of Surrendered School of the Arts partnership with Cascade Christian Schools. We are offering an after school enrichment program for the elementary grades to share with and teach kids how to worship Jesus with the arts. As of now there are ballet, hip hop, and drama classes in place. I am excited to see what all the Lord has planned as He continues to open new doors of opportunity!
Our next few days in the studio we will be preparing for a program coming up this weekend. We will be dancing at a conference in Yakima ( I think I spelled that right). I think we are all excited to be busy doing what the Lord has called us here to do, minister through dance!
Also, thank you Lori Plyler, (Amanda's mom) for giving your time and energy to help work on new costumes. I am pretty sure they are our favorite ones yet!
TTFN,
Holly

As I sit amongst piles of unpacked clothes, and disorganized articles, I pause for but a moment to consider how my thoughts so precisely parallel my unkempt surroundings. My mind, feverishly searching, finds it difficult to find just the right words...So I won't.

So these may not be "just the right words", but here's a snippet of what's going on:
Last Saturday we teamed up with a organization called The Dream Center. Every Saturday they serve a pancake breakfast, play games, and most importantly teach about the love of Jesus to kids in a mobile home community. The West family, from SSA, joined us as we talked, laughed, and played with the kids. Paradosi was able to do a couple of pieces from Worship Project, and also teach the kids a short dance. It seamed very well received, and I think we walked away feeling more impacted then we could have ever expected!

So back to those "unpacked clothes"... I'm zipping up my suitcase now and heading down to Louisiana to visit my sister! We're all looking forward to the next week off so we can come back rejuvenated and ready to start the busy season ahead!

Sunshine here I come!
~Sarah

My sidekick!

As I consider my day to day life at home, at the studio and performing, I'm constantly aware of my mini me that is with me wherever I go. She's on my heels at home doing laundry or making dinner, she's at the studio with the company watching rehearsal, sitting in laps, sharing her toys, giving hugs and drawing pictures. And of course she's at our programs in the dressing room, helping us set up and watching us dance (she loves to sit in the very back on the floor in the center aisle so I can see her at all times).  Of course I'm talking about Maeve, my 5 year old daughter, who is one of the lights of my life (along with her sister Taitum, 8 and her brother Samuel, 6).  She's my sidekick, my mini me (my only child that looks like me!), she's sassy, witty and loves to snuggle. This is her last year with me in studio as she'll be starting school in the fall, so I'm constantly trying to soak up the moments I have with her. She is a joy and the thought of not having my last baby with me, attached to me at all times makes me a little ill to be honest with you!

  

So I started pondering the word "sidekick" (close friend, assistant, buddy etc.) it makes me think about my relationship with the Lord and the responsibility I have as a believer, a wife, a mother, a director and a dancer.  I look at my 5 year old, looking up to me, shadowing me, believing in me and wanting to be near me at all times and it makes me think about what kind of a "sidekick" I am.  It's our job to allow the Lord to be the Leader, the One out in front, the One who is in charge, the One making the decisions.  However, do you often take the reigns after a while just as I do?  I find myself letting Him get me started and then stepping out in front and now expecting Him to follow.  Sounds like I need to learn a lesson from my little one...

Maeve asked me on the way home from a program this morning "Why do I have to listen to you and why are you in charge? I want to be in charge... I'm ready."  I laughed at her and explained she's not ready to be in charge of her life yet because she's not old enough and hasn't experienced enough and doesn't know enough about how life works!  The Lord revealed a lot to me on the way home... that He needs me to consistently maintain the position of "sidekick".  I'm understanding and realizing I don't ever want to make any decision or step out without the Lord leading and being in charge at all times. I will never have enough experience or know enough to be better at running my life that He is.  It is my job to trust and believe in the One who created me and know without a shadow of a doubt that He can do a way better job than I can.  I want to keep Him in the driver's seat, I want to be the forever passenger, the sidekick who believes we're going to arrive to the destination He has for me, not the one I think is best for me and my life.  

Hebrews 1: 1-3  In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

I think about this passage and the fact that this God, the one who spoke to Moses and Abraham and David, wants control of my life and only expects me to have faith and believe in Who He is and what He's doing. It's overwhelming to me that the same God who did amazing things with their lives, has amazing plans for mine. I'm trying to lay all things down at the cross each day, down at the feet of my God, I know He will take my life and do what He sees as best, He's consistent and faithful and wonderful in all ways. I trust Him way more than I could ever trust myself.  Praise Him for caring enough for me (and you) to want to be the driver of my life. What a glorious and majestic God we serve.

That's just a little snippet of what the Lord's been doing personally with me, I love the ways He teaches and encourages me. Oh just to be a little bit more like my Father. 

Blessings,

Tennille

"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions."
-Gilbert K. Chesterton

A friend of mine recently texted me this quote, and it struck me. I've been thinking a lot on the subject of tolerance lately. Let's look at the definition. Tolerance: a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry. So from this definition we can conclude that a). tolerance is a good thing, and b). we, as human beings co-existing with one another, should strive to be tolerant toward all people. That sounds reasonable, right? I mean, we don't want to be closed-minded, do we?

Sadly, this is the mindset of many people today, including Christians. Just as the quote implies, tolerance is a clear indication of a serious lack of conviction in a person's life. Now I can just see you there, scratching your head, saying, "This girl is crazy! She's saying that if I just accept what others believe to be right, then I have no convictions! It's not like I believe it, I'm just not gonna shove MY beliefs down anyone's throats! There's nothing wrong with that, right??"

WRONG. Let's take a look at the Bible. In John 8:24 Jesus states, "Therefore I say to you...that if you do not believe that I am He [God], you will die in your sins." He goes on to say in John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Uh oh. Tsk tsk. It doesn't seem like Jesus is being too tolerant of what other people believe. Let me put it to you this way: to be tolerant of other's fallacious beliefs is comparable to watching them burn in Hell for eternity, and doing nothing! That does not sound like love to me.

Let me conclude my rant. The last few verses in Matthew instruct us to go into the world, make disciples of the nations, baptize people, and teach others to observe the things which Christ has commanded of us. This is our purpose in life! Many would define this verse as "shoving Jesus down people's throats." You know what? If it will pull their butts out of the flames of hellfire, I'm willing to be accused of that. Are you?

On to Paradosi news. We have added a new 3 minute piece to 'A Walk With Paul!' It is designed to more clearly portray Saul's persecution of the early Christians, which was a little overlooked before. We also have a few bookings for these coming Spring months, which we are all extremely excited about. Please continue to pray for our company as a whole, as Satan is desperately attempting to get his grimy claws into our unity. (Little does he know that we have legions of angels fighting on our side. Ha!) Also we would really appreciate your prayers for each of us personally, as many of us are struggling with injuries that only serve to frustrate the mind of a dancer.

The Lord is doing mighty things in Paradosi! We see His hand everywhere we turn. We don't deserve to be this blessed!

~Cara Mia

So here we are, February 22. 2 weeks after the last post. This happened with me back in November when I was sewing costumes. Back then I had an excuse for being late. What's my excuse today? Nothing. No excuse. I simply just haven't taken the time to write one. So tonight I'm sitting here watching the Oscars, not feeling so well and just chillin on the couch so I figure I can take a few minutes to clue you in just a bit to what's been going on with us.

I'll just jump right in.......
We have been hit by every side with attacks. But we are still standing strong. We individually and as a group have decided to set our minds on things above. The Lord has been reminding me personally that I am an heir of Christ. And when you see yourself in that position, our earthly circumstances seem to take their place as far as what really matters. Now I have witnessed that it is a choice to think about that. Many days it is much easier to just get frustrated and throw up your hands. However, when you make the choice to think about things above, you'll get a new perspective on life. So anyway- I'll encourage you this week to think of spiritual things that bring life and peace.....not the carnal things that bring death. (Romans 8)

We have also been reading the Prayer of Jabez. We were all encouraged to expand our territories. It's neat to sit around and talk about what that looks like. For me, I've had a few opportunities to feed the homeless. There are a few men who have been outside my work in the past few weeks and I have been able to share dinner with them. For me that is huge. It is a complete 180. I was always too afraid to step out and talk to them. Now I find myself praying for them to be there so I can talk to them and share whatever dinner I brought. Interesting. When you ask God to expand your territory- you never know what that looks like. Ask the girls when you see them what it looks like for each of them. They all have a cool story. What's yours? Take a look at your past week- how has He challenged you? I'll encourage you this week to look for those opportunities. Listen to Him. He speaks. Are you in tune? That has become our daily prayer.

Lastly- I had the fun opportunity to share Jesus with 30 kids at my husband's Camp EDGE this week. It was a 3 day VBS type camp for kids during their mid-winter break. Many lives were touched and changed. It's so great to watch the kids singing and dancing and reciting their memory verse. And just as a side note- I love my husband. He's great.

Ok that's all.

-the Sham

Better Late than Never, Right?

My deepest apologies to our faithful readers out there, who have been expectantly waiting for the next thrilling new post! Well, it's here, it's new, but I wouldn't call it thrilling! (hahaha)

So... the Company:
We are continually working on getting back into shape after our Christmas break (it takes us old folk longer than you might think) and we are in the process of re-working A Walk With Paul to be more "tour friendly". We were so spoiled with our wonderful extras we had for the premier!! (thanks guys!) Now, without most of them, we have to be creative with our characters! A new piece is being added to the persecution scene, to show more of how Saul was before his conversion. I think this addition will help in our portrayal of the awesome grace that the God had for Paul, and that He has for each of His children.
I pray each time we "perform" that when people see our attempt at this story, God's spirit would move in a mighty way. We don't dance to have a "warm and cuddly feeling". We want God's presence to move, work, and speak to the hearts of everyone watching in a powerful way.

On that note, I know that nearly everyone that reads this is praying for us on a regular basis, and I just want to say thank you. We need your prayers so much, especially now, as we enter into our 2009 spring season. We're human. We have problems. Much of which right now include quite a few injuries. It's frustrating when you know your purpose, (and it requires strenuous exercize) but your body keeps falling apart and there's nothing you can do about it. But! God CAN do something about it! We don't have to settle for what Doctors say, or what logic would conclude in the back of our minds.
So, if you could be praying for our healing that would be amazing. Thanks!

Another thing: This morning, SSA families and us Pradosicals, went over to NW Foursquare and worked with The Dream Center, to put together over 200 bagged lunches for the homeless. We made pb and j, ham, and bologna sandwiches, put in some other stuff... (I'm not quite sure what all went in the bags- I was at the sandwich table) We had a great time and according to the leader Mr. Roy, we got the bags done in record time! Wooo hooo! (us Paradoiscals like to be speed demons!) We were too big of a group to join in with the distribution of the lunches, but there's always next time!

I will now bring this sporadicness to a close, I hope you enjoyed reading "the latest"!
Now I do believe that an old episode of Mission Impossible has my name on it!


~Audge

Patience

Hello Friends!

Well, if this were an actual conversation, I would start with the idle chit-chat about the crazy weather we've been having or how nice it is for things to settle down after the holidays. But since I am the only one talking here (sorry for the readers) I will just get right down the meat of it. I like being real.

We have 25 students enrolled in classes. There has been a lot of interest and people are continuously stopping in to find out what we are about and planning to enroll their children or grand-children. All of the enrolled students are having a total blast! Our teachers are fantastic and unique and all the parents wish they could join in on the classes (which they can in our Adult program!)

We should be overwhelmed by the bills that we know are coming the first of February and the income of the school, which does not match up. But God is not a God of numbers... He is a God of Power! And so we are laying our trust in a trustworthy Lord and surrendering it all to Him.

This is not to say that we are just sitting back in our easy chairs with our cup of coffee, saying "Ok Lord, I will just wait for you to do it and be amazed." We are doing everything that we can think of (and that money allows) to get students in the door---not so that we can have their tuition----that is ridiculous! We know that God will provide through whatever means necessary, not just tuition.

We want students to come through those doors and feel something different in SSA. We want them to experience the presence of God and to learn what it means to worship him through the arts. We want to make sure that every student in that place knows the name of Jesus and how worthy He is of everything that we have and of all of our praise!

And yes, we are not spiritual robots, so it is necessary to remind ourselves constantly of the promises of God and remember that He is never late---He is always right on time. I go in constant circles from anxiety to trust... anxiety to trust... TRUST.

Above all, I feel the Lord is teaching me patience. He has been so amazingly patient with me throughout my life. And therefore, if I truly want to be like Jesus, I must learn to be patient. I am a fan of the quote from the movie "The Devil Wears Prada", where Meryl Streep chastises her assistant for moving too slowly and says, "By all means, move at a glacial pace... You know how that thrills me." Likewise, I am not very excited by the speed at which the Lord is moving right now, but thankfully I am not the one who calls the shots here. I am going to patiently wait for the Lord because He has got it all worked out from the beginning of time until the end... Praise God!

So, I sincerely ask you to pray for us---that we would have patience. Also, please pray that we would continually surrender the company and the school to the One who created them. We cannot hope to teach the students at Surrendered School of the Arts what it means "to surrender" if we have not already learned the lesson ourselves.

I just love Him. Isn't He great???!!!

Sincerely,
Cathleen