I had invited an out-of-town boy to take me to my junior prom.
The only problem was that I didn’t know how to dance. My denomination didn’t believe in dancing, but that year I was determined to “sin anyway!” Of course, now I realize it isn’t so much the dancing that is wrong as it is the things that usually go along with it. Like my kids used to say, “Back in the olden days” our dances were fairly innocent. The two-step and the Twist.
To overcome my problem, I asked my brother-in-law who loved to dance to teach me the night before. So we cleared out a little space in the front room and he showed me how to do the two-step. I am fairly clumsy so it
was a struggle to get my feet to move right. My dad used to call me a bull in a china closet and grumble about me stepping on his feet, when he stretched his full 6’2″ length out into the middle of the floor.
was a struggle to get my feet to move right. My dad used to call me a bull in a china closet and grumble about me stepping on his feet, when he stretched his full 6’2″ length out into the middle of the floor.
However, at the prom, I tried really hard to follow my dance partner, this boy that I barely knew, and just imitated the rest of the crowd especially when it came time to do the Twist. I wanted desperately to fit in with the crowd.
The desire to belong, to fit in, is so much a part of the teen years. Teens want to be valued, to be accepted, into the community of other teens.
I remember the exact moment, years later, when I saw that God was not mad at me, that He loved me, treasured me, valued me as I am now and not as I thought I should be. I realized that He made me unique. I look like I do, think and act as I do, because this is the way God made me. God loves me and He accepts me, because of what Jesus did, not what I did or will do.
In Ephesians 1:6-7, the Bible says, “He has made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood.” And He loves you too. God has made you accepted in the Beloved Who is Jesus.