30 Second Dance Party

March 2021

If you have been following this blog, you are starting to see that I love symbolism. I love word pictures and I love analogies. What you may or may not know is that I also love “the silly”. I drove around town for many months with a 5-foot teddy bear in my passenger seat. I purchased an inflatable llama for my living room. There may or may not be a puppet in my purse right now. One of my favorite gifts to give working moms is a superhero cape with a matching mask and yes, I wore my own when I was in the middle of that life. So I wanted to share my latest “silly” that is bringing me great giggles, joy and moving me closer to Jesus. The 30-second dance party was an impulsive purchase that occurred while scrolling Facebook a few months back. I watched the video, took advantage of “the deal” and sent PayPal to get that for me. I honestly forgot about it until low and behold it showed up this month! I am happy to report that it indeed surpasses all expectations! The 30-second dance party is exactly that. It is a big yellow plastic button you press to get a stiff robotic voice that announces “30-second dance party!” and you guessed it, 30 seconds of disco tech canned music comes screaming out with a blinking light to get your attention. I knew instantly that this was going to be great fun. So I unboxed it, put it on the counter, and announced that anyone who pressed the button initiates a no excuse, must join, dance party for everyone in the room. 

So here is where this silly thing meets Jesus for me. After a few weeks of spontaneous dance parties, around here I started to see a connection. The 30-second dance party is pretty simple. Hear the music, stop whatever you are doing, dance. Stop when the music stops. Does it feel goofy? stupid? uncomfortable, depending on who is in the room? Do I doubt my dance moves? YES to all of those. BUT I do it anyway and at the end of the 30 seconds, I am smiling. I am out of whatever mental moment I was having before and at this stage in the game, my heart is pounding out of my chest. I started thinking, “What if I could use this little thing to train and keep my spirit open to what Jesus wants me to do, to say, and to be”. What if I could feel the prompting, and just get up and do it, say it, or be it without all the overthinking, questioning, or doubting that is just too easy for me. Since this diagnosis has returned, it really has championed my deep desire to make these days count. I know that Jesus wants that for my days too and the devil wants the exact opposite. My new electronic training partner is just what I need. 

We had a double dance party moment this week when we got the news at the doctor’s office that my tumor marker finally took a much-awaited nose dive. It went from 104 last month to 75 this month! That is a significant decline and good evidence that the new medication plan is working. Unfortunately, my immune system wasn’t ready for another round of treatment to start so we are giving it a few days of extra rest in hopes that we can get back on the schedule next week. Join us in praying that this old body is ready to get back in the fight on Tuesday, March 23.

We also are all vaccinated! So solo dance parties will hopefully be replaced with family and friends that we can start hanging out with again. But fair warning, I may have that little plastic button with me and you too will have to join my “30 Second Dance Party”.  

Much love to you all and hoping that something silly makes you smile today.

Jodi