From Pointe to a Place

Psalm 84 (NASB)

How lovely are your dwelling places

O Lord of hosts!

My soul longed and even yearned for

  the courts of the Lord

My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the

  living God.

The bird also has found and house,

And the swallow a nest for herself,

  where she may lay her young,

Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,

My King and my God.

How blessed are those who dwell in

  Your house!

They are ever praising You.    Selah.

How blessed is the man whose strength

  is in You.

In whose heart are the highways to Zion!

Passing through the valley of Baca they

  make it a spring;

The early rain also covers it with

  blessings.

They go from strength to strength,

Every one of them appears before God

  in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob!      Selah.

Behold our shield, O God,

And look upon the face of Your

  anointed.

For a day in Your courts is better than a

  thousand outside.

I would rather stand at the threshold of

  the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord gives grace and glory;

No good thing does He withhold from

  those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

How blessed is the man who trusts in

  You!

I was playing the game Headbandz this weekend (if you don’t know what that is, you are missing out on life) and I was reminded about something elementary but interesting: A place doesn’t have to be a building.

I was once again reminded of this when I think of one of my favorite comical quotes from one of my favorite cartoons: “You will always hold a special place in the organ that pumps my blood.”

So, when the scripture began discussing places, I was all like, “CHURCH BUILDING TABERNACLES THINGS YEAH!!!!” And then…….souls and hearts and bird’s nest. I was clearly very far off from what the scripture actually had in mind of places.

But this is exciting! Do you know what this means? It means that if hearts are places (yes, the organ that pumps your blood) then that means feet are places, too!

Okay maybe that is not as exciting for you as it is for me.

I have been trained in ballet for nearly my entire life, and for two years I danced en pointe. I do realize that a majority of dancers dance en pointe for much longer than that, and I salute them, but I really felt like I got a good grasp of the strength it takes to dance en pointe and make it look effortless. The key to all of this is *insert dramatic drum roll here* strength!!

So, preparing to dance en pointe takes a long time. Like, I’m talking three to four years of footwork and pre-pointe classes (and crying what?). And then, you get the shoes. Contrary to popular belief, there are a few more steps before you actually get to dance in the new shoes.

I guess finding the correct shoes to fit your foot is a step of its own. There are different companies that make pointe shoes, like Capezio, Grishko, Bloch, Freed, and about a million others. Then there are styles. Let’s just not talk about those. My pointe is (what a pun) that there are a lot of different types of pointe shoes out there, and not all feet fit into all shoes.

Then comes the fun part! (Not really) After you spend your life savings on a pair of pointe shoes, you get to sew them to fit your foot! Yes, you have to sew them because your foot is different than every other foot on the planet, and it is up to you to make those shoes 100% yours. It’s beautiful and patience testing, but it is also annoying, and, well, patience testing.

Now that you have your shoes sewn you actually get the chance to dance in them. This requires even more months of footwork, adjustments, crying (what?), band-aids (blisters are real, my friend), and strength.

Oh, look! It’s that word again! It’s like it wants to be in my blog post!

“They come from strength to strength.” I really like the idea that “they” being the men whose strength is in God have the ability to be seen as coming from strengths. It is like strengths are places and each man comes from a different places before the Lord.

But why did I talk about pointe shoes?

You ask wonderful questions. I come from a place in my life where strengths are not only places, but they are journeys. Working in my pointe shoes took much more than two years of my life, and it took a big role in forming who I am today. There is a place on my body that has gained strength due to a transformational journey God dwelled in.

Places are not stationary, so when we reread the beginning of this scripture “How lovely are your dwelling places O Lord of hosts!” understand that this place does not have to be a building. It does not have to be an inanimate object. It does not have to have deep Biblical history. The place can be you, and you can come from a place of strength within yourself.

Carlene Dick is a sophomore majoring in elementary education at Southwestern College.