March Madness!!!

Hey everyone! Hope all of you are enjoying the month of April so far. Just letting you all know what I've been up to. First off I just want to say that the month of March was a huge month for me! I was blessed so much with different dance opportunities. My workshop with Alvin Ailey ended and it was amazing! A dream come true!!!!! I remember about 7 years ago when I lived in Texas and I was OBSESSED with Alvin Ailey, I'm sure some of you remember that :) I thought that just to visit the Ailey Dance Center would be a dream come true. I remember the first time I got to go there for a class and they gave me a class card LOL!!! That was my little prized possession. It didn't really hit me until the week before the performance that I realized, "Hey, I'm performing at Alvin Ailey!" I then started inviting people and letting them know. I began to realize how much of a big deal it was to me. Both shows that I was performing at were sold out so none of my friends could come but it was a great event for me and the LORD! I enjoyed the entire day, and got to hang out with some really cool people. That entire weekend was pretty big. It was Easter weekend and I was also acting in Brooklyn Tab's Story of Love production that Friday and Sunday. I had a lot of fruitful conversations with some of the other cast members about living out our dreams and purposes. It is medicine to the soul to speak with others who share the same passions as you do. I encourage you all to find people who will help encourage you in the path God has you on and the purpose He has on your life. It will bless you LOTS!
Speaking of friends, I also met a new friend last month by the name of Justin Reid. I'd seen Justin around at Brooklyn Tab for a while and I knew that he took amazing pictures never in my dreams did I think he would ask me to do a photo shoot with him. I was so happy to agree to do it and we ended up getting some AMAZING pictures, because he's cool like that :) If any of you would like to see these pictures or any of Justin's work check out his page jreidphotography.wordpress.com it's just a few out of 10,000 photos we took that day :) I look forward to doing more with him in the future.
I also got to play a part in helping choreograph for the Compel night service that took place last Friday night. There are certain times when I do things with dance or acting when while I'm doing it I take it all in... it's a little hard to describe in words. I would LOVE to get paid for what I do, and I'm beginning to look into opportunities that would do that, if any of you know anyone PLEASE let me know, but there are moments when I'm dancing or acting I look around and take everything in and there is this amazing feeling that wells up in my heart...even if I never get paid for what I do as an actress or a dancer I feel like I've already gotten a reward for it. Makes sense? We got to dance as an outreach before Compel Night started on Fulton Street and to be honest I was horrible at memorizing the steps for that dance :) but I made it work :) LOL!!!! But there was a time when we went out like the 3rd time to do the same dance number and this overwhelming joy just came over me :) It's kinda like the feeling you get when you were a kid and it's Christmas Eve and you know that toy you've been asking for is under the tree... yeah, that feeling. I was SO excited! And to know that it was to help tell people about Jesus and change lives....WHAT?!?!!?!  I'm so glad you all are here to witness my journey in this endevor. Oh, you can also check out the pics on Justin's page to see a little bit of my growth as a dancer as well. God is SO GOOD and INCREDIBLY faithful!!!!
Until next time :)

Wendy\o/

February

Now I know what you’re thinking; “ Blogging for two months in a row! I CAN’T HANDLE THIS!!!!!!!” Brace yourselves people! I’m slowly making improvements. Eventually I’ll get back to posting as frequently as I used to, one key at a time :) So far things are going pretty well as far as dance goes. In the month of March I'll be dancing in the Kat Wildish Dance Showcase at Alvin Ailey. It'll be the conclusion to the Horton Workshop I've been doing with them since January. The same weekend that performance is going on I'll also be acting in Brooklyn Tabernacle's Easter play "The Story of Love". I saw this play last year and it is so powerful!!! We had our first meeting for the play over the weekend and we just watched it from the year before and my eyes still welled up with tears! I wish everyone could watch it! We (B Tab Dance Team) are working on a few pieces for a service that's going to take place in June, really excited about how it's turning out so far.

I also got to take another workshop last weekend at Alvin Ailey with Les Twins. I don't know if any of you have heard of these guys or have even watched a video of them dancing but these guys are SICK! I love watching them dance!!! They are so passionate in every movement that they do even if it's subtle. If you haven't watched them dance go YouTube them right now! This had to be one of the best dance classes I have taken since I've been here in New York. Their english wasn't fluent but I could understand every point they tried to get apart with their dancing. The class was so hype we ended up going over the allotted time by almost an hour! It didn't even seem like it because we were having such a good time! I'm so glad I took this class I would definitely take their class again if they do another one. 

                                                                         Laurent from Les Twins

  Once again in April, Project Dance will be taking place!!!!! I'm so excited to see what God is going to do this year! Last year God just overwhelmed me the entire weekend. I always knew before coming to New York that that was something I wanted to be apart of in some way and last year being able to participate in it for the first time was such a huge blessing! I just remember God showing me pieces of my future that weekend and being blown away by His Presence. It reminds me of last week as I was walking to the train I was talking to God about all of these classes and workshops, they just seem like little fragments that don't make any sense to me right now. I can't wait to see the full picture come to fruition. All I can do is remain faithful in what I'm doing at the moment, who knows what God has up His sleeves...if He wears sleeves :)

That's pretty much what I've been up to so far. Hope all is well with all of you. Thank you all for keeping me and my family in prayer last month and for the birthday wishes for this one.

Until next time.....

Wendy\o/

BT Christmas and Genesis 28:16

These are some of the pics from the Christmas production. We had so much fun backstage. the last picture was taken by one of the the other girls on the dance team. As you can see we are a lively bunch :) I enjoyed every moment of it! By the time the last show ran I wanted to do 20 more! I LOVED doing it!!!!! It was a joy for me every time! I wish I could do things like that and get paid for it, that would be a dream come true.

After the show I continued to work and the worst part of that (besides it being in December) I had to work Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and Day! It was no fun...I promise you I'm NOT bitter.

I was asked by someone about a post that I placed of fb on Christmas day about Genesis 28:16, allow me to explain myself...

Christmas this year was...different. I worked a double shift the day before and had to open the next day so there wasn't really a way to go out of town to visit friends or family. To be honest it was a very depressing time for me. Going from cloud nine the past 2 weeks to being alone for Christmas was not my idea of a holiday. When I woke up on Christmas I knew I had a choice before me; either I become depressed and angry about my work schedule or I choose to give God glory for His goodness towards me. While worshipping God I began to realize how close God has been to me without me even realizing it. I began to remember coming home whenever I had a long day at work and I would just go in my room and I would feel this presence of peace in my room as if God was there awaiting my arrival. He tucks me in at night and listens to me as I talk to Him until I'm tired, and every morning He comes in my room to wake me up. It reminded me of Psalms 139 says, "when I awake I am still with you." and He never becomes tired of me, like Jesus said He will never cast us away from His presence. All of a sudden in that very moment I began to see God in a whole new and intimate way. I always knew He was very near but that particular morning His presence seemed so real and tangible to me. I had the best Father/Friend/Hangout Partner anyone could ever ask for and didn't even realize it until that moment. And to think that this entire time I was sulking about being alone??? Surely the Lord was in my room, in my presence, with full attention, and I knew it not. How come I didn't see it sooner? Not sure, but from that moment 'til now I don't mind being in my room chillin' with no place to go. I have my hangout Partner with me. Now I know it sounds like I've lost my mind but I'm telling you, God is just as near to you as He showed me that day. And if it still sounds a bit strange to you, ask God to show you how close He is, He'll show you. At just the right time!  

Wendy\o/

2012...Ireland!!!!

Hello everyone! Seems as if more time has passed than I expected in between these posts. I've been pretty busy between work and dance, and it's been a real blessing. So far this year has gotten off to a rough start so this post would be a great reminder to me of God's amazing faithfulness. After the summer program with H+ I had an opportunity to be apart of a music video which was pretty. cool. Then later on in November I got to break out of the country and go to Northern Ireland to see my friends get married.

                                             

First off I just want to say that this trip was NOT planned at all! God totally surprised me with this one! I still can't seem to wrap my head around it. I had an AMAZING time! They spoiled me the entire time I was there! Had a great time with great food and great people. I asked my friend if she was going to throw her bouquet after the wedding like we do in America and she told me that it wasn't apart of the Irish tradition, but she decided to do it anyway since there were a few Americans present. Well, she threw the bouquet and I ended up catching it. Third wedding in a row that I've caught the bouquet, not so sure what that's suppose to mean after the third time :). That Sunday me and one of Tim's (the groom) friend and I went and explored Dublin, and ended up at the Guinness Storehouse. I really wanted to explore London also while I was there but wasn't able to make it happen. I'm saving that for this year. If the LORD wills I will be in London and Germany in August of this year to celebrate and dance at my friend's wedding. I'm so excited! Can't wait!
 In September I began preparing with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Dance Team for the Christmas production. The people on the dance team are some of the coolest and funnest people I've worked with on a dance team. We all compliment each other very well and they are all very encouraging. Being on the team challenged and helped me a lot physically and mentally.  I've come to learn that dancing is more mental than anything. As a dancer you have to let go of anything that keeps you from being focused from capturing the choreography that's being given and you also have to let go of anything that hinders you from freely executing the movement. You also have to be confident in knowing that you know how to execute the movement which is something I've struggled with so many times, knowing that I'm not a professionally trained dancer. This is something I constantly came face to face with throughout the year while doing different dance events or classes. I know God created me the way I am for a reason. It's so obvious, and I can see it myself but my mindset still needs to catch up with what God wants to do in my life. I don't want to limit myself or what God desires to do in my life. He really did a lot of pruning in that area last year not just in dance but in other areas in my life. He's still doing it.  I see the challenge. It's difficult, but I still want to face it head on. I'm grateful that He wired me that way. He knows exactly what we need and how much we can handle, and He'll give us amount of strength we need for each season of our life.
So I'm going to end here and post some pictures from the Christmas production, I know it's gonna be backwards but I think it will work out better. Don't want to post over any pictures :)

Summer Intensive W/ H+ Continued....

So there was a loooong delay in adding those summer photos. I have so much to add to this page. I seem to have some extra time coming up so I will keep you all posted on the rest of 2012 up until now very soon...

Summer Pics....for now

Hopefully more to come in the future! The downloading process was taking too long!

It's Been A Long Time...

Wow, I did not want this much time to past by in between my posts. I reactivated my account on FB and didn't look back! However, I do know that this should continue to remain a priority. Many things have taken place since my last post, the biggest thing being the summer intensive program that I was apart of. Man, they put the INTENSE in INTENSive. I was challenged on every level one could imagine! There were times when I questioned if I even wanted to pursue dance as a career! But I have come to learn (and still learning) that if God has created me for a certain thing He will work everything out. Reminds me of before the program even started I was still debating if I was going to do it or if I could even afford it, it wasn't until the week before the program began that I realized I had no idea how I was going to eat. No joke! My schedule was formed in a way that I had no time to eat unless it was some type of snack I could eat on the go. Then I wondered how eating snacks would help keep me from passing out in class. This would lead me to wonder if I got healthy snacks how much it would cost. Then that would lead me to think about the lack of hours I would be working and if I would then have the funds to pay for any food at all, healthy or non-healthy. The Holy Spirit began to remind me of the book of Exodus (16) when God provided the children of Israel with manna from Heaven and I believe it was quail also.  The verse came to mind of when they gathered the food he who gathered much did not have too much as in having leftovers and he who gathered little didn't have too little. Everyone had just as much as he or she needed. This then reminded me of the author of Proverbs 30 which asked God to not give him too much nor too little but to give him his daily bread. Yes my friends, I am happy to tell all of you that God is true to his word :) Throughout the entire summer I always had portions to eat that sustained my body through every rigorous hour of dance, running, and exercise.
I know this may not seem too important to many but it was a big deal to me! That God would even take care of something as small as what I would eat each day. Over the course of the program I was challenged in my faith. The realized that there was a God but did not believe the whole Jesus thing. That was just too much. My point is why would God spend all this time in creating us just to leave us here on this earth to fend for ourselves. One person stated that faith is only when certain things happen and we can explain why only that some Stronger Force in the universe allowed it to happen. Sad. Why would Someone that took the time to thought out how I would be formed take the time to form me and then just leave me helpless in the world. Not even earthly mothers have the heart to do that unless they are under the influence of something that would taint their thinking.... just something to think about.
I was also challenged to take God out of the box that I had been placing Him in. I'm still needing prayer about a few things concerning this one. It may be simple but there needs to be a lot of Holy Spirit speaking and confirmation. Got to do some dance moves I wasn't used to doing, dancing publicly to music I'm not used to dancing to. Even in all of this the wheels were turning in my head in how could I take what I'm doing and use it for the glory of God. A few things came to mind but there is still a haze of how everything is supposed to look like. We shall see what the future holds. I have been forming new choreo in my head and had a chance to hammer it out in the studio a bit. Hopefully when I get some more opportunities to hit the studio I will be able to post some of the things I've been working on/ what God's been doing in me.
There are so many things I could write about but I'm lacking time so I guess I'll draw things to a close. But if any of you are wondering God has surpassed my expectations of provision! He is so good to me. I'm seeing more than just financial provision but provision of strength as well. I've been a bit tired the past 2 weeks but God has been encouraging me, giving me strength from day to day to work, home, and other dance practices that I have, be it atmosphere or BT dance. Well this is all for now. 'til next time :)

Wendy\o/