“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” —Colossians 1:17
Dearest Daughters,
As I shared in my previous letter, the role of a wife and mother is meant to be a dance to the rhythm and music of our Maker. But to dance well, a woman must have extraordinary balance and proprioception.
A trained dancer can hold an arabesque on one leg, complete multiple turns with control, or freeze mid-motion without losing her balance and fluidity. This type of balance is recognized as both static and dynamic. This means she can be absolutely steady both while she is motionless and while moving.
We are not, however, born with these abilities. Dancers practice and cultivate proprioception, which is the body’s internal awareness of position in space. This is an ability to sense where we are in relation to everything around us. This type of awareness is developed through years of training, barre work, turning drills, and exercises. A dancer’s core becomes completely stable, while her feet and ankles are refined. She becomes less dependent on visual cues but begins to move with an inner compass.
With her eyes closed, a dancer can maintain balance on one leg for more than 15 seconds! Most non-dancers lose their footing in under five! And with her eyes open, dancers can typically average 30 to 60 seconds of absolute stillness, while most of us can only hold for 15 to 30. These skills are vital when dancing under pressure, with lights flashing and the choreography shifting, but they do require discipline and repetition.
Motherhood, too, is an art of balance and proprioception. But in the dance of womanhood, the balance is not just physical but spiritual. It’s an awareness of our place in God’s design, an understanding of both our smallness and our significance. Proprioception in motherhood is knowing where we stand in relationship to our children, our husbands, our neighbors, and to God. It’s knowing how to take our place, not as the center, but in harmony with the whole. We become small enough to keep our problems and our ambitions small, but still confident in our recognition that we’re called, chosen, and placed here by God.
This inner balance allows us to stand, even when our worlds seem to spin out of our control. When we’re able to do this, we won’t be thrown off course every time our children feel unanchored and their voices and needs rise. We know with whom we stand, and so we do not fall.
But dancers don’t merely balance or just hear the beat; they embody it! They learn to get their timing, phrasing, and emotions synchronized with the music. A dancer can gesture with one arm while rising en pointe and tracking a turn with her eyes. Every movement is purposeful, and every part is in rhythm with the song.
If we are to live as dancers in the great choreography of God’s creation, we must first learn to hear the music, and not only to hear it, but to embody it! This music is the design God set into motion when He spoke the world into being. The stars, the tides, the seasons, even the breath in our lungs, all move according to the song He composed.
Scripture tells us: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). The whole universe is upheld by His voice, and if we learn to listen and have an ear for this music, we’ll find that same rhythm flowing through our homes and relationships.
To be a mother is to take our place in that music, to listen, to practice, and then to move in grace and balance with Him and within Him!
Because in Him, all things hold together!
With love always,
Mom