Just dance

My husband and I met because of ballroom dance. It's wonderful being married to someone who can dance, but, besides that, we've found a lot of insight into how a marriage works through our dance relationship.

A man leads in ballroom. His lead has to be strong, and firm, but gentle. He needs to communicate clearly with his partner in order to lead.

The woman follows, but isn't without a say in it. She, too, has to have strength in order to be led. If she has "spaghetti arms" there is no lead. Also, if a man is moving a woman into a step that the woman isn't comfortable with, she can give a slight resistance, and the man MUST move out of that step. The man must also maintain a strong footing, so that if one of the more complicated steps the woman is doing throws her off, he is there to catch her. She is spinning, and twisting, and moving around, and he is her solid place.

The role of communication is constant in dance. It's in body holds, it's in where you place your weight, and it's in your balance.

Ah, balance, both partners must be balanced in order for the proper lead and flow to happen.

Most of all, the man, in his lead, has to be constantly choosing steps that are in the best interest of his partner. His job, in dance, is to make her look good. His job is to support her in moving into the right position, and executing her role in the dance well. The reason he leads is so that she can do her job well.

Get the parallels? The man does lead in life, but his intention is to support his wife in her role- motherhood. They must communicate to do this. They must both be strong, and balanced. A priesthood holder must have a strong foundation of testimony. He must be able to put his own desires aside and focus on what is in the best interest of his family.

Leading isn't about dominating the dance. When you watch a dance, who do your eyes draw most to? Normally the women. When women choose to push their husband out of the leading role, they only damage their self and family. When men choose to put their own desires first and practice unrighteous dominion, they lose their ability to lead and support the family.

Board Games

I've always said that my children don't like board games. When our home flooded this summer, the only thing completely destroyed was the last unpacked box- full of board games. I figured it wasn't a big loss. Afterall, we hadn't missed them enough to unpack them. It was a collection of random games full of cartoon characters and too many pieces to keep track of.

When people started asking what we wanted for Christmas, and I had no idea, I remembered our little loss, and pointed them in the direction of board games. One of my boys got a wooden box that contains 12 of the classic games, including chess, checkers, parcheesi, chinese checkers, etc. An amazing thing has happened- they play them.

It's interesting to me that when we toss out the gadgets, the electronics, the silly cartoon characters and the games so boring to parents we won't play them, the kids will play. These are games I can handle sitting through a game, and they stretch my kids' minds. I don't think that moms should always torture themselves through tedious games. It will send the message to kids that grown-ups don't like games, and it will bore the mother to tears. We are to enjoy what we do, not just endure.

Come into my house, and the TV may be on, but most eyes are on the parcheesi game or the checker board. There aren't many TV shows we can sit through as a family, but even my toddler enjoys family game night now.