Rejoice in the Dance!

What does the Bible say about dancing?

A phenomenon has taken place in our homeschool circle recently.  We learned to dance the Virginia Reel.  And it has proved to be a joyous, old-fashioned, animating experience! (For some, that is. Others seem to have an abject terror of said dancing;)

However, when I was little, I always thought of dancing as something that was bad.  Something Christians shouldn't do.  

As Christians, we should strive to glorify the Lord in every aspect of our lives.  That includes searching the scriptures diligently to find out what His will is for us - His children.  

After I made this little study, I felt so joyful that I wanted to run and shout and dance and sing!  From these verses, it seems clear that the dance is used for praise, for rejoicing, for glad worship to the King of kings.  It is the opposite of mourning and lamentation.

Let us then be girt about with gladness, that our glory may sing praise to him, and not be silent!

 ''Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:

thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 

 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent.

 O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. - Ps. 30:11-12

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. - Ps. 150:4

 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...  

 ...A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. - Eccl. 3:1&4

 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. 

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. - Ps. 149:1-3

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Cor. 10:31

Rejoice in the dance!

Pasta is as Pasta does

The other day I made homemade pasta.  I envisioned something elegant, thin, smooth, uniform, reminiscent of fettucini.

Having none but the most primitive tools for the job, I began to be discouraged by the rather rustic appearance my pasta was presenting.

The dough was behaving rather well, in spite of my frustration and an unshakeable conviction that this meal was not going to look pretty...  (For those of you who are interested, the aforesaid dough had a remarkable propensity for elasticity that was quite fascinating!)

... The semi-finished product.

I preserved, cooked the pasta, and served it to my victims with fresh pesto.

And the result, though different from anything you've ever tasted before, was quite good, if I may say so.  The description is quite beyond me - rustic, thick, grainy, uneven, the opposite of what I'd imagined.

However, it was good.  As clearly proven by the fact that all traces had vanished in about ten minutes.

Who needs a pasta machine, anyway?