think you know what an ALIVE dance practice is like?

if any of you is intimidated by a dance practice -
thinking "oh hey, that looks fun...but i'm not good and they'll probably judge me"
um.......... you would be wrong.
you would be amazed at how people pick up dance...
and everyone has fun...
and its even fun to see people think moves are so easy...
until they try them.
:)
but its ok...
because there are usually 4 other people who thought the same thing.

for instance?  if you think your abs might not be strong enough - its ok.
you are always able to practice on your own...
alone...
and come back looking like a rockstar.

and we always start with prayer - that you won't get hurt.
so don't worry about that.

it might get a little hot...
and we don't have windows that open...
BUT we do have some LEGIT mirrors on the wall,
and a sound system.
and some day we'll have a huge fan.

its truly a bonding experience...
everyone is doing something that is probably out of their comfort zone in some way.
but its fun.
if you're ever going to stretch yourself?  might as well have fun doing it...
and i think that i have laughed the MOST at some of these practices.
its all very chill.
and everyone does eventually learn it.

and at the end?
it all comes together somehow...
and its so fun.
its worship.
its gifts being used.
its God getting glory.

and its so fun to watch...  :)

so if there is anyone out there who has ever thought
"i would probably really love to try to dance and it would be so fun......but i'm scared because i'm not good and everyone else is"
stop thinking that.
and if you are a guy and thinking "dancing is lame and just jumping around and for girls"
you are wrong.
i may have thought that too -
but my mind has been opened.
and i see that there is so much more that can be done beyond my scope of creativity for dance.
so trust me.
and come to a practice.
you will not regret it.
well...you might a little ;)
but you will have fun.

- observations from a spectator

ps...we are learning a dance (a mash up of a whole bunch of different kinds) every thursday for the next few weeks at 7.
so......come check it out ;)

-ALIVE

quick update

currently at Caribou...

new idea in process...

if you're reading this - pray that it comes together FAST :)

i'm just reminded over and over again why i don't plan things...

haha

i planned this time around...i did...

and then 2 days before God gives me a different idea.

so despite the planning - here i am.  at caribou.  working on a new thing.  

team.

:)

but - i guess, how else will we know its Him?

i just want to share a video...

its on facebook so i can't actually upload it to here - 

but follow this link and hopefully it will work.

its of MOST of the Kickoff dance the team performed...

it makes me smile.

so fun.

and whats new with ALIVE, you ask?

well - 

we learned that sardines is really fun...but not in a huge dark basement with only 10 people.

psychiatrist is fun...but not always easy.

calendar of upcoming thursdays is IN PROGRESS...

i promise.

so if you are interested in learning some painting, drawing, dancing, etc...

stay tuned.

thats all i got for now :)

have a blessed night!

-ALIVE

Kickoff 2011!

Kickoff 2011...success!

a great night of music, food, fire, dance, volleyball, chillin...lots of fun.

and............a mashup dance.

6 members of this amazing ministry spent HOURS over the past 3 weeks learning a dance.

a long dance...to a variety of different songs.

and even though it seemed crazy and overwhelming (and i can't even pretend to completely sympathize because i learned about 30 seconds of the dance...and i was on vacation for a couple of the practices)

they practiced and they worked at it and gave it all to God and they totally ROCKED it.

it was choreographed, taught to the group, part of it taught to some extremely talented adult leaders ;), learned and performed in just a few weeks...

(i just attended a leadership conference and one of the speakers talked on being willing to work for God's miracles...i just blogged on it - you can read more here!

oh, the beauty of working for God ;)

its always an adventure and He can do things we can't.

i just want to say thanks to the team for spending so much time on it!

i love seeing your hearts for ministry :)

and special thanks to all the Adult Leaders who came out and braved the Footloose dance.

you were amazing! :) (and i'm not just saying that cuz i was one of them...;) )

i will hopefully have a video of the performance (even the ending that i wasn't allowed to see until we were in front of everyone - test of my trust and my control issues...haha - pass!)  

but until then...you can watch what happens when i'm on vacation and not at practice...

video...

i'm just glad they have fun :)

if there is anyone reading this who is creative or wants to use some of their creative gifts - art, painting, drawing, acting, dancing, whatever - join us!

we'll be posting some upcoming events...like art classes, dance classes, upcoming performances- and we would LOVE to have you join us by performing or writing dramas or whatever you feel called to do.

but please - contact us!

be blessed!

-ALIVE

UPDATE...

welcome back!  

:)

i didnt intentionally wait a month to come back to this - but it worked out that way.

kind of a fail.

ANYWAYS - 

no worries...

i'll update you.

so last you heard -
we performed at Revolution,
we had auditions for The Project: Testimony (its name, by the way)
and i was off to miami.

update -
still working on getting the video from Revolution dance (hopefully soon!!!)
we chose parts for Testimony...
and spent the last few weeks working on it.
praying about the timing and trying to work it all out -
and in the past week,
EVERYTHING changed.
so now -
we have a slightly different team,
a little more than slightly different story,
and we're still working on it.
team.
God is faithful.  and He is just really giving us peace about moving forward and He is totally taking control of it.
its a little intense, its different than what we've done in the past...
but He's doing it.
haha

and miami - i could write for a very long time about Miami.
but i wont
it was one of the most challenging trips i have ever been on...
in the sense that we CONSTANTLY had to be figuring out what comes next.
we would plan...and the plan would change.  so we'd redo the plan.  and it would change.
and that cycle went on - literally the entire week.
and somehow - it worked.  God did it.
it was hard, its hard to constantly surrender your ideas and plans...
but the biggest thing i learned through it all - is that if we're truly willing to surrender our ideas and listen to what GOD wants to do and give Him all the glory -
He will absolutley, 100% take it and show up in BIG ways.
very very cool.
so it was tough, but it was a huge blessing.
and God is so faithful!
i didnt plan on going on the trip...but at the last second God gave me the go-ahead.
and i wasnt SUPER excited about doing a VBS and working with kids...
but we got there and found out there was a bunch of youth that was a part of the VBS.
(i happen to enjoy youth :) )
and so i, along with some others, took charge of that.
and we ended up letting them choose between drama, art, sports or music "classes" for the week.
so i not only got to work with youth, but i also got to teach drama!
it was so fun!
jordan even got to step out of her comfort zone and teach a dance class ;)

and choreograph a dance...then teach it...then perform it.
all in one day.

and i got some of the team together to do a drama w/paint they learned in about an hour.

and some of them even did some dramas on literally a 2 minute notice.

gotta love ministry!
:)
but God did it all.
awesome stuff.
i love being a part of seeing God's creativity.

and i'm really excited to see how Testimony turns out.
for now all we can do is pray, keep writing and keep practicing.

and that's what happens in a month of ALIVE.

-ALIVE

No More - Video!

ok friends....thanks to the amazing clay erickson who spent the evening of MegaWednesday filming the event and spent the last week or so being annoyed by me for this video...;) - if you missed the No More drama, you can now see it!!!



- ALIVE

Yesterday, Today and Forever :)

oh so fun :) last night we had dance class. intense dance class. haha...

and sarah, erika and i joined in this time. so glad we did. it was so fun.

have you heard the song Yesterday, Today and Forever by Ryan Stevenson? if not - please take a moment to listen to it...and i bet you a million dollars you cant listen to it and not dance even a little bit.

its just such a HAPPY song! God never changes! and He is calling us to Him.

and i just LOVE the picture of just trying to reach His heart with all we have - our worship.

anyways...so Austin has been working on choreographing a dance to this song and asked if we could take some time on a thursday night and learn it. so we said sure - that would be fun.

so last night we started by reading Psalm 19...

i highly recommend reading it...i am listening to Francis Chan's Crazy Love, and in it he talks about this passage. the psalm says that God's handiwork declares His glory. Francis points out that God created the world. His handiwork is His creation...His art. God's art declares His glory. and it was like God was saying - "i made you creative. i want you to have a passion for allowing me to make art through you..."

He is creating through the gifts that He has given His children. His art is declaring His glory. so when we allow Him to create through us - its His art. and as we allow Him to move us and create through us - His glory is declared!!!

God is strongly suggesting that we creative types spend our time being creative and creating with Him - the most creative being that has been or ever will be...that is our ministry. that is our calling. no, please God dont make me do what i love in order to serve you! :) i mean seriously? what a crazy blessing! what are we waiting for??? He is just getting me so excited about intentionally letting Him loose in my life and just following- whereever He leads. oh man...so good.

the last half of the night we spent with our hearts racing, not breathing, and stumbling over our feet...haha...BUT eventually, after some work and instruction - we learned part of the dance! and it was so fun to learn (even for the "non-dancers") and just worship while doing it. loved it. and it looks so cool! we made some of the ppl who mastered it and made it look cool do it while we recorded it so i am going to post the video here - you can get a glimpse of what we worked on :)

not sure what we'll use it for or when - but God will use it when He wants to...

so thanks team for being good sports :) and thanks austin for creating the dance!

have a BLESSED weekend...

-ALIVE

The Fall

choreographed by Austin Eckstrom.

danced to the song Trogdor by Cellofourte.

this dance took a lot of time and effort on the choreographer's part AND the dancers' part. but it was so worth it. the team really stepped up and worked so hard on this. they learned it and it turned out amazing. so did the masks...all painted by austin, emmanuil, and sam n. they did such an awesome job with them...

and all together it creates a cool picture of how easily we can get pulled into something looks so good and exciting at first...but then quickly gets out of control...and by the time we realize, it seems almost impossible to get out.

but what we don't always realize is that Jesus is always there. He never leaves...no matter how many times we push Him away. and He is the only one who can truly save us from the things that trap us and overwhelm us.

how amazing is that??? He knows how much we need Him, so He never leaves. He keeps loving us, keeps watching out for us...and all He wants is for us to turn to Him and love Him back...with everything in us. and how crazy is it to think that its even something we have to think about??? unconditional, perfect, holy love.......or the world that promises only to entertain us for the moment and nothing more. but we do struggle to surrender fully - myself completely included.

my prayer is that we can see all of it for what it really is and see that God is every bit as good and perfect as He says He is...and He is the only one who ever will be enough forever.

and in turn, learn to love Him the way He deserves...

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Psalm 91:7-11

freedom

stuck in Satan's chains and afraid of what comes next - when she sees Jesus, the girl cries out for help...and is freed from the chains...
dance choreographed and danced by ashley hart to the song freedom by runkidrun