ABT Austin

So I got back last weekend from a month in Austin, Texas where I was at ABT’s summer intensive. It was an incredible month, for sure…I learned so much, but not only about dance. Here are some things I learned, though I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot.
-taye


Things I learned, oh so much!

1. No matter how good you think you are at something, there is always a TON of room for improvement. That’s one thing I love about ballet and dance in general, you always have something else to work toward. Over the past month I danced in a class full of people that were really great dancers and I got to take class from some of the best teachers I’ve ever taken from. Doing this taught me that I still have a lot to work on in dance and that hard work is good for me. In dance, I have bad days where I feel like crap and wonder why I continue to do this, and then I’ll have good days where I realize why I’ve been dancing for the past 14 years, and why I love it so much, and what I can do with it in the future. I’m so thankful for all of the teachers that helped me grow as a dancer and a person over the past month.

2. I learned that when you live with a bunch of girls for a month, there is drama. This is one reason I think I was meant to be a guy. But God blessed me with friends that stayed out of drama and I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet those girls and get to know them, even though we’re all from different parts of the country. I learned and grew so much from spending so much time with them, and I’ve come to love them very much and I know we’ll all be friends for a long time. Girls, you know who you are.

3. Even though I was there to dance, throughout my month in Austin I managed to grow spiritually as well. I’ll admit that I didn’t always make time to read the bible, and some nights I fell asleep before I had a chance to talk to God, but I realized a few things while I was there…one, that God is present even when you aren’t thinking about him. Two, that dependency on Christ is something I lack very much. At the beginning of the summer I went to Camp Marannook and so many people were saying how they wanted to be more dependant on God, me being the stubborn teenager that I am thought to myself that I didn’t need to work on that…haha God showed me.

4. I’m realizing that with dance, there are a lot of options for my future and that I’ve just got to have faith that where I’m supposed to be is where I’ll end up this time next year.

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness...

So I just got back from Marannook and learned so so much through fellowship, worship, church, and bible study. I learned a TON, but I guess I can sum it up into three points:

Point numero uno: That fellowship is absolutely necessary. God created us for fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ and He uses that fellowship to strengthen, encourage, and grow us into the people He created us to become. I had an incredible time getting to see old friends as well as making so many new ones, and am so excited about my new friendships and getting to look forward to what God is going to do with each of them.

Point Two: Christ's love for me is unfathomable. For Bible Study, we had to memorize a verse a week and for the first week I memorized Romans 8:38-39 which says: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, neither anything else in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That is one of my favorite verses because it reminds me that even when I get busy, or stressed, or forget about the gospel that CHRIST LOVES ME regardless of anything I ever do, no matter how much I sin, or forget Him, or stray from Him that He loves me and will ALWAYS open His arms when I come running back.

Point Three: Jesus satisfies all my longings. There's a song we sang in Bible Study one night called "Satisfied" and the chorus goes like this: "Hallelujah! He has found me, the One my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies all my longings, by His blood I now am saved." My verse that I had memorized for this past week was Philippians 4:11-13: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." I would love to be able to say truthfully that I am content in ANY and EVERY situation. However, I am not one to be completely content, there's always that one other thing that I want, that one other person in my life to make me feel complete, that one other thing that I can do perfectly, that one other something, but I was reminded over the past four weeks that God + something NEVER works. It can only be God and God alone. There is nothing else to add, nothing that could make Christ in my life more complete. God + something is like downgrading the Lord of the universe.

I'm still working on a lot of things, but I just really wanted to share with you all what I have learned and am still continuing to learn. I also have a new favorite song: How deep the Father's love for us. It's an incredible reminder of the gospel and of Christ's incredible and deep love.




How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

ζωή

In case you're wondering, the title is Greek for "Life". I'm supposed to be working on a research paper right now, but I'm getting writer's block. So here are some life updates (hence the title).
-taye


ζωή


School: I have only three more weeks of being a junior in high school. The past three years seem like they have completely flown past. Still, the only college I have visited is the University of South Carolina. Hopefully, though, there will be visits to Belhaven University, and perhaps Texas Christian University and/or University of Texas in the near future as well. I plan to take the SAT once again next Saturday, hoping to bring my math score up a lot.

Dance: My studio is in "financial difficulty" due to the economy right now, so our recital this year will be in the tiny, in-studio theater that only holds about 100 people rather than the large performing arts building that holds over 700 that we're usually in. But nevertheless, we are preparing for the shows which are in a little over a week. This year I am performing six pieces, plus the class I teach has a piece. My pieces are:

Serenade- group pointe
Carmen- duet on pointe
Uninvited- group contemporary
Ruby Blue- group jazz
Amazing Grace- group contemporary
Single Ladies- group tap

Life: My seventeenth birthday is next Wednesday, the 28Th. I cannot believe that I will be seventeen! I feel like I am getting so old, I think I should just be turning 13. I feel very inadequate to be preparing for college and to be on my own soon!

Seventeen

Hello. I'm exhausted from dancing today, but I've got a lot on my mind and want to let some of it out so I can get some sleep. So here we go.
-taye


Seventeen

As I rapidly approach the age of seventeen, I am beginning to realize how opposite life is from the movies. I may be the only one who thinks this way; however it seems to me that nearly everyone falls in love at seventeen. Though the person they fall in love with may not be the one that they will live happily ever after with, it seems like the subject of love opens up when one turns the peculiar age of seventeen.

I still have ten days to go until that day, though I am eagerly looking forward to it. I adore birthdays; they are just so much fun! Unlike Christmas or Valentine’s Day or all other holidays, a birthday is specifically about you. Plus, my incredible friends always make it so special for me; therefore, this year does not look like it will be any different. However, I still want to experience that one birthday where that one special person make you feel important.

Perhaps seventeen will be like the movies for me, though I seriously doubt it, optimism can never be a bad thing, can it? I supposed we will see with time.

Insanity

Hey there on this lovely Tuesday morning! I'm in a great mood today so far, but that could be because I started my day with coffee and Regis & Kelly. Anyway, for literature today, I had to write a paper about insanity to go along with the chapter on Edgar Allen Poe. It's not very good but I thought I'd share it despite that fact.
-taye


Sanity or Insanity? That is the question.

Sanity is defined as the state of being sane, or having a soundness of mind, but what is sanity really? And by whose standards is “being sane” defined?
Some might define sanity as thinking in a normal state, but then if one defines it as that, by whose standards is normality defined? The list could continue endlessly.

One might believe that sanity would be a simple attribute to posses, however in my opinion it is madness or insanity that is much easier to attain and hold onto. Madness is defined as the quality of being insane, or senseless folly. However, folly is not a word that comes to mind when I think of madness. Folly is a fault or foolishness, but I think to have to the courage to be mad is genius. Marilyn Monroe once said “Madness is genius…” and though she is not necessarily one I would want to model my life after, I believe that she was correct with this statement.
Take the book or the movies of Alice in Wonderland for example. The Mad Hatter is brilliant! Indeed he is also extremely mad and out of his head, yet he has always been my favorite character for that very reason. He thinks in a completely unconventional way that most shy away from, and though others view him as insane, brilliance is a result of that madness. The most recent version of this tale is director Tim Burton’s take on the story and it has such a wonderful quote. The Mad Hatter asks Alice if he is mad and she cleverly replies with the following: “You're mad, bonkers, off your head! But I'll tell you a secret: All the best people are.” And it is true, the best people are insane.

To go in the opposite direction from Lewis Carroll’s mad tale, take Jesus for example. He came to the world normally as a baby born to a mother and father, Mary and Joseph. Joseph must have though Mary completely insane when she told him how Jesus was conceived, in fact, at the beginning he did not believe her and planned to “Divorce her quietly”. Similarly, throughout Jesus’ ministries here on the earth numerous people must have thought Him to be crazy. He performed many miracles such as healing the blind or crippled, and even raising the dead to life again! The chief priests thought Him insane when He told them that if they were to tear down the temple, He would raise it again in three days. However, the world thought Christ insane because they did not know Him; they did not understand Him. Continued into the present, this misunderstanding of Christ has caused people to think Him as well as Christians insane.

Therefore, in my opinion, insanity, within reason, is an attribute, not a fault. Though others may disagree, I believe that it takes immense courage to be insane or even just to take a stand on what you believe in resulting in being though insane by some.

A Break of Spring

Spring Break is upon us once more, though technically mine doesn't begin until tomorrow, due to the fact that I still have school to do today. But instead of writing today, I'm going to make a list of sorts of things that I want to do and become this summer, and I plan to start a few of these with this break I have this upcoming week. It's not that I don't like who I am, (though sometimes that is the case) I just want to become a better person; a better Christian.
-taye

Life to-do's:

1. Become a reader. I love reading, it is like a movie. For a while, you can just get whisked off into another world, another life, another person. My problem: procrastination, and the fact that I have so many books I want to read that I start reading about four at a time and then end up not finishing any of them. But I want to become one of those people who nose is always in a book, I do not really know why, but people like that always seem so peaceful; so content, and not bothered by the world around them.

2. STOP procrastinating. I think this one is going to be the most difficult because I have the feeling that I will want to procrastinate starting it. My procrastination has gotten so bad lately though, that I even want to procrastinate procrastination! It sounds ridiculous, I know. So I am going to stop, and I have the feeling that by stopping, I will get a lot more done with my life.

3. Study the Word. A girl at church talked about this two weeks ago. The Bible is literally the Word of God, He breathed it (2 Timothy 3:16) and it is here to teach us. Over the past, I have been a "skimmer", someone who skims, so to speak, while they read the Bible. But, the Bible is not here for us to simply skim, we should be in it daily, studying it. There is so much about God's Word that I don't know, so much that I have not yet read. I want to dive into it and absorb it like a sponge.

4. Live. At first glance, living sounds easy...oh no, it is not, not for me at least, in fact, lately it has been kind of a struggle. It is not like I am depressed or anything, I am content, but I want to be more than just content, I want to be happy. Joy is something I have a hard time with sometimes, but when I think about all that Christ has done for me, the idea of NOT being joyful seems absurd, though I still continue to struggle with it. I was watching a Hallmark movie the other night (I love those, by the way) and this guy said "I'm excited about waking up every morning now..." and that sort of hit me. I do not get excited about waking up every morning, most mornings I hit the snooze button about three or four times. I want to be excited about living everyday.

5. Lighten up on Facebook. Oh facebook, how you encourage my procrastination! Facebook has been a real contributor to my procrastination, it just seems to call my name every time I get on the computer to write a paper or study for the ACT/SAT. But it has got to stop. I am not going to quit it completely, but I am going to have to seriously lighten up on how much I get on.

So there we are...a short list of to do's that I want to accomplish from now (SPRING BREAK!) through the end of the summer.

April Fools!

April 1st has come around once again, and as usual, I can think of nothing to prank my family or friends. Oh well. I haven't written in a while so while I should be studying for my history test, I'll write instead. haha.
-taye


April Fools

Year after year on the date of the first of April, we are fooled by our friends--after all it is called April Fools Day for a reason, however, we are not just fools on this one day out of the year, we are fools everyday. Before I continue, let me inform you that there are two types of fools: Fools for the world and fools for Christ.

To be a fool for the world means to fall into its deceptive traps and lies. Recently, I have been there myself. You get caught up in something that the world is telling you and you forget to listen for what God is trying to say. But our purpose on the earth needs to be consistently remembered, because we were not created to live as fools of the world!

"Is this the way you repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?" -Deuteronomy 32:6

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." -Romans 12:2


The type of fool we should always be striving to become is a fool for Christ. This may sound odd to you, but it is one of the best compliments you can receive. When I say this, I am not meaning that we are fools for following Christ, but in fact the world views us as fools, because they do not understand. Therefore, it is better to be viewed as a fool for following after Christ than become a true fool by following the world.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." -1 John 2:15-17

"Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you." -1 John 3:13

"The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." -1 John 3:1

So today, I urge you to be a fool for Christ!