I Hope You Dance

I have spent a significant amount of time sharing about my mom or important things she has taught, shown, or said to me. I thought I might take a moment and share about my dad.

To say he is thorough is an understatement. He makes lists. He documents EVERYTHING. He has a file folder for literally everything. I think my Cabbage Patch dolls had files in his drawer growing up! HA! It is very handy when you wonder about something or wish you had a map (who uses maps anymore?! Dave Unruh) of southern Illinois...dad would go to his "map" file folder and there it would be! Beautiful.

Dad was another teacher of hard work. Practicing things hard. If you wanted to be good at something you practiced. If we signed up to do something (soccer, ballet, etc) you finished your commitment. Dad taught me how to lay tile, change a tire, the oil (not sure I can do that anymore), balance a check book (down to the penny). Another little tid bit dad taught me which I think is genius is this...(he taught me this as I was leaving for college and would be "on my own") that when you take your car in to have work done on it. Say a part needs to be replaced. Ask the mechanic to place the old part in your trunk or something so you can make sure that they actually replaced the old part. You also want them to put the box that the new part came in in your trunk as well so you can document that it was an actual new part and not some other broken part they had at the shop. Beautiful.

Daddy taught me about studying God's word. I can still see him studying especially on Saturday nights as he was preparing to teach his Sunday School class the following morning. He taught me about a man leading a home. I still remember that a few times a year my dad would lead our family in communion there at home. It was beautiful.

My dad has a nickname among our family...Safety Dave. Oh my he is safe. Everything has a good reason...most of the time its stuff I would never think about...but Safety Dave does!

One specific story I wanted to share in this post. Let me set the stage for you. My wedding day is approaching and I was sending the DJ a list of songs that we wanted played at the reception. My dance w/ Jason, Jason with his mom, and I told dad that I needed ours. I wanted him to pick it out if he wanted. He told me not to worry about it and he would choose the song and give it to the DJ. Cool. Because he is so thorough I knew it would be taken care of. Fast forward to the reception. It is now time for the Father/Daughter dance. I was excited and emotional over dancing w/ my dad. Besides walking down the isle with him this seemed like the last kind of emotional daddy thing I would do with him. I had danced w/ my dad lots of other times in our home growing up. He is a good dancer. He learned in that old school kind of slow dancing way that the man actually leads. He uses his hand in the small of your back to direct which way you should go...really cool. Not that many men seem to know how to dance this way anymore. So the music begins and a favorite of my parents and mine begins..."I Hope You Dance". Tears for sure while we begin dancing. All eyes are on us. The little twinkle lights above us are just so...its lovely. We are coming up on maybe the first chorus ending and all of a sudden the DJ begins talking to me over the speaker : side note...I had no idea what was happening I was so ticked at the DJ for starting to talk to me during my special dance with my dad...until I heard what he was saying: Allison your dad had a few words he has written down that he wanted me to share with you.

This is what it said. Now read this as you think about the song lyrics too.

When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and tentativeness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE. When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i." "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that you & Jason would get guidance about your life. Once again I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you and Jason today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you and your family on this day and everyday. May you abide in Him as He abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting Him to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.


Woah! I was crying. Daddy was crying. Those at the reception were crying...lovely guiding words said from my daddy. I have thought of this advice and prayer several times in my young marriage. About this dance that Jason and I do. Gentle guidance...a willingness to surrender sometimes to the others leading...and honestly that Jason and I would allow God to lead us...not ourselves.

So reader...I hope you dance as well. That you allow the Lord to teach you about what it means to dance with him. Be encouraged. He loves you that much!

*pics my dad walking me down the isle at our home. One of my favorite pics of dad and Caroline at 15 months. I used to ride the tractor w/ my dad ALL the time growing up.