Life is a Journey, Not a Race

​As part of my own personal journey, I am in a great group of international studio owners who wish to become the best business women they can be, and reach our God-given potential.  One common thread is we need to be who WE ARE, who God called us and made us to be. No studio owners are alike which makes no two studios alike, and so therefore there needs not to be such a comparison and competition between anyone.  My studio is not typical is so many ways.  And I am thankful for that.  I didn’t grow up myself in a typical studio setting, so the Lord had a blank slate to work with when He asked me to start Steps of Faith back in 1997.  I have a management degree, and lots of dance performance experience, so I guess He thought that was good enough. I have to trust Him there, and hire a great team of women who know more than me! LOL
I love it that each week, I am encouraged NOT to follow other dance studio owners.  That their paths to success ARE and SHOULD be different than my own.  I know from what the Bible teaches that comparison is so dangerous.  What could take a few years to build for some owners, could take dozens or more for others, and what they want out of their studio could be light years different than mine.  And that is what makes this all so great.  No comparison.  No judgement.  Just encouragement and guidance to achieve my own goals.  Walk my own path…with excellence, not speed.
It got me thinking about my students.  It is hard to have a dance studio with progressions/promotions and the sort and to help them all see their paths are different.  And that is OK.  That is expected.  That is NORMAL.  Comparisons happen naturally, but should be tempered with God’s truth.  We are all created differently.  We are on different journeys in time.  And those paths could change under no fault of our own.  They are created differently by God as His workmanship to do great things for the kingdom.  All different, at different times and different paths.  So cool, eh?  (Ephesians 2:10)
I read a book years ago by Tommy Tenney, God Sized View.  It was life changing for me.  I could see how each little detail in my life is part of something so big, that I could and should not ever try to figure it all out.  This was hard for a control freak such as myself.  I WANTED to know the whys, hows, and whens.  Oh, but God.  He knows I can’t handle knowing all that. HAHA.  He just wanted me to trust Him and to enjoy the journey.  It is hard to do each and every day, but He is still working this out in me.
So why am I writing this now?  I feel that we as parents and leaders in our families, need to help guide our children to look at big picture things.  We need to help them to see other’s paths that are different (maybe perceived-not necessarily being truth- as better) than our own, as they are-- which is NOT superior and that those different paths should not make us feel inferior in any way.  God knows your heart, your motivation, and your hard work.  (SOF dance teachers see it too by the way).  Your journey at SOF is YOURS and yours alone.  I hope that your motivation to succeed is yours and yours alone as well. 
Intrinsic motivation comes from the heart, a desire to do well for the Glory of God (Col. 3:23-24). Not from perceived external rewards.  Company and class placement are about the BIG picture, how we as a studio and company can affect the outside world with his message in dance the most effectively (and teaching excellence in technique for each child personally – another blog post on how we have accomplished that so effectively over the years in mixed level classes), at the same time using His resources to the best of our abilities (money, time, studio space). 
We are proud that you are part of that journey. Sometimes I don’t have all the answers and make mistakes.  And I am learning that is OK.  Sometimes I can’t fix all that is broken. And for that, I lean heavily on my Lord.  He is the great fixer upper.  Please pray that we as a dance family can continue to raise up these children the best we know how.  It is a journey for sure.