Determined to Dance Podcast cover art

Determined to Dance Podcast

Determined to Dance Podcast

By: Jennifer Hallmark
Listen for free

About this listen

 The world would have us march to its chaotic beat but God invites us to dance in His will and His way. Let’s take a moment to be energized, refreshed, and motivated to face the day, one spin and twirl at a time.©2021-2021 Jennifer Hallmark Art Christianity Literary History & Criticism Spirituality
Episodes
  • S3 Episode 32 Stay Determined to Dance

    S3 Episode 32 Stay Determined to Dance
    Oct 3 2023
    Welcome my friends to season 3 of the Determined to Dance podcast. My prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to persevere daily in our chaotic world. Today’s episode, Stay Determined to Dance, encourages everyone to move out on the dance floor of life. Show Notes: Stay Determined to Dance I need to step back for a moment, back to March of 2021. The year when this podcast began. Its creation has involved study, learning tech stuff, lots and lots of it, and perseverance. Think back with me to the first episode. I said, “I’ll never forget the day that the thought, the God-nudge flooded my mind in that deep, quiet part within. God whispered that I had marched for Him and that was good but now he wanted me to dance with him instead. Dancing, the kind I knew God was talking about, would be very different. I was being asked to join and not take the lead. I wouldn’t know exactly where on the dance floor I might end up. Maybe a quiet corner, or in a group of other dancers, or even in the center of the room, drawing every eye to us. I would follow God’s dance, His lead, His music, and go to the part of the dance floor where He led. At times, I could be asked to sit out a dance and rest.” I didn’t know how true those words would become. God has taught me so much through the creation of the podcast. I have learned to dance better and freer than ever before. Even though many circumstances for me, probably for you too, have been so difficult since March 2021. For me, it’s time to sit out for a while. Not from life or God but from podcasting. About halfway through this season, God impressed on me that it’s time to take a break. Rest. Recharge. I’ve dealt with health issues this year, more than usual, and I need time to recover. Focus on me. So hard for a driven person to do. But God is helping and I’m trying so hard to listen to his voice. Follow his lead. And quit running off on my own. You can enjoy all three seasons of the Determined to Dance podcast on my website. Just check out the label “podcast” on the menu. And share the episodes with your friends. They are short, encouraging, and certain to brighten your day. I’m also so excited to mention that my YA novel, Smoking Flax, will be released in January 2024. I can’t wait to share Reed and Talitha’s story with you. With interesting characters like Mamaw Cora Belle, Poppi, and Aunt Lula to round up the book's cast, how could we not be entertained? Think Southern time-shifting. Yes, that’s a thing I made up but it’s still a thing. DISNEY’S THE KID MEETS BACK TO THE FUTURE. Southern-style. My story takes place in 1984 and 1978. Here’s a little more: Almost nineteen-year-old Reed Anderson wants to belong in a world where he hasn’t always fit. Three days after graduation, he decides to ride a bus back to Louisiana and deal with the events of his thirteenth summer once and for all. Back then, he’d stood up to his abusive Pa, protecting Momma and his sister, taking control of his life. But who was the faded image of the child he saw that day? Aunt Lula predicted his life would shift and change. Something about space-time-continuum and the fourth dimension. He tucks her words in his heart. If he survives the shift, this could be his chance to start over. But the ghost child still haunts his dreams. Even though six years have passed, does he want to confront the lies he’s always believed? Do you want just a little more? Let me share the first scene in the story. (Subject to further edits) Chapter One A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (Isaiah 42:3 KJV) May 27, 1984 I turned Aunt Lula’s Dodge Aspen off the gravel road onto the driveway leading to Golden Marais Baptist Church. The mimosas had grown tall since I’d last been here, the two magnolias missing entirely. The sun peeked above the horizon, but daylight was not my friend. Who knew the words of my crazy aunt would lead to this? Only three days after graduation. Her words still hung in the air. Reed Anderson, you know why you’re here. I repressed the shudder that ran along my spine and surveyed the scene before me. The old rectangular church building stretched to my right, with a shed behind, woods fringed around them. Where was the outhouse? The wood siding of the church needed paint and a shutter hung like a broken arm from one of the four windows which greeted my view. I pushed open the car door and stepped onto the half-dead grass which brushed my jeans and wet my cowboy boots. A boat motor on the Amite River revved close by. I hurried to a door at the side of the building and stopped to read a crooked sign tacked near the doorknob. Services on Sunday and Wednesday. Reverend Rod Guidry. What happened to Reverend Littleton? Guess I should be surprised they kept anyone in this pathetic little town. I tried the door and found it open like I expected it to be. Even now. I pushed my way ...
    Show More Show Less
    8 mins
  • S3 Episode 31 Too Tired to Dance

    S3 Episode 31 Too Tired to Dance
    Sep 26 2023
    Welcome my friends to season 3 of the Determined to Dance podcast. My prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to persevere daily in our chaotic world. Today’s episode, Too Tired to Dance, looks at what to do when we’re exhausted from dancing. Show Notes: Too Tired to Dance Okay. I admit it. I’m too tired to dance. After all, this is episode 31 of the weekly podcast. I’ve edited my novel which will release in January. Working hard on book two of the series. And then there’s church, kids, caring for Mom, and six grandkids under the age of fifteen. I have a house to clean, yard work, had a garden… Oh. My. I’m too tired to foxtrot. Too weary to do the macarena. And much too pooped to even try a tango. What’s a Christian to do when they reach the end of their energy? Jeff Walling shares his thoughts by looking at Elijah. “The prophet was tired—bone tired. With the Almighty’s help, he had brought fire from heaven, ended the drought, and nuked the prophets of Baal—it had been a busy day. He had danced with God until his feet ached and his sides burned. But he had also made Queen Jezebel mad enough to lose the little religion she had. In her anger, she had sworn to see Elijah dead, and Jezebel was not a woman of idle threats. So; he did what any sensible man would do: he went to a quiet place and lay down to die. He was through with dancing, praising, and anything else that took more energy than breathing. ‘Stop the music!’ he pleaded. ‘I can’t dance anymore!’ That’s not exactly what he said, but it’s awfully close: I Kings 19:4: ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” NIV I’m glad God had given examples in the Bible of people who have felt like I feel. David shows lots of emotions in the Psalms. Jeremiah is sorrowful. Mary ponders things in her heart. Paul wrestled with life and his ministry. And I’m tired. Sure, a lot of my problem is my own fault. Not setting boundaries and listening to God, not even asking Him at times if He wants me to engage in another activity. I’m a helper and it’s hard to get off the hamster wheel of drivenness that I’ve fought against my whole life. But God doesn’t leave us without aid. He gives Elijah two reminders in I Kings 19:11-13: “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, after the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper…Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” NIV I’ve never thought of why God showed all the great, mighty forces before the gentle whisper. Walling hints that God is simply reminding Elijah that God is greater than anything. Especially anything that fights against us. whether it’s a true enemy or ourselves. A reminder of God’s greatness. Perfect. The second reminder is of our purpose. We can rest but not lay down to die. We can take a few days or weeks or months to regain strength, but not quit altogether. God has a purpose and plan for each of us and if we’re still on planet earth he’s not done with us yet. I’m going to take more time in the months ahead to rest. To reflect. To enjoy. I hope you do too. Dancing, remember, is not a duty but a joy. We get to whirl and twirl with Father God every day of our time here on earth. And beyond. Let’s pray: Father God, I’ve overdone it again. Haven’t taken time to hear your voice and I’ve overcrowded my life and overwhelmed my soul. Help me to recover. Show me the right way to rest and enjoy You and Your presence. I want to continue to fulfill my purpose on earth and I can’t do that when I’m burned out. I lift my hands to You in praise and in worship. You are good beyond measure. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen. We’ve reached the end of the book, Daring to Dance With God. I hope you’ve enjoyed the book and the insights I’ve shared over these thirty-one episodes. I like how Walling ends the book: “Well, I’ve enjoyed our little chat about dancing but the time for talking is over. The band is tuned up, the dance floor is cleared, and your heavenly partner is waiting. Let the dance continue…and continue...and continue!” Today’s featured author is J.J. LeVan, author of He Meant You to Be You, a Children’s Picture book. God’s amazing care shines over our neurodiverse kids from the beginning of their uncertain days until His love pillows them down at bedtime. This story is “For every child who needs to know they are loved by God, and every parent who wants to affirm their special child.” Learn more at jjlevan.com Passionate about writing, Jesus, and autism, J.J. LeVan released her first children’s book...
    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
  • S3 Episode 30 Is Death a Mystery?

    S3 Episode 30 Is Death a Mystery?
    Sep 19 2023
    Welcome my friends to season 3 of the Determined to Dance podcast. My prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to persevere daily in our chaotic world. Today’s episode, Is Death a Mystery? looks at what God’s Word has to say about death. Show Notes: Is Death a Mystery? Today’s episode brings us to myth number 3 in Jeff Walling’s book, Daring to Dance with God. He says: “Death is a mystery we can never understand.” I have found throughout my life that few people like to discuss death. If you want to clear a room, just make dying, hospitals, and funeral homes the topic for conversation and people will ease their way to the front door. Death is a difficult discussion. Could that be, as Walling points out, because there is such a mystery associated with it? People have seances to try and speak to the dead. They pray for loved ones who have passed away. They try many ways to find out what exactly lies at and behind death’s door. Except they don’t look at what the Creator of the universe says in the Bible. God’s Word is full of scriptures giving us a peek behind death’s door and if you’ve given your life to Jesus and are following closely after Him, you’re going to like what you see. John 3:16 tells us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We are promised eternal life if we believe in Jesus. (NIV) John 11:25-26 confirms this: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’" Jesus said we will never die. (NIV) John 14:1-4 goes a little deeper: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Jesus is preparing a place for us and He will be there. (NIV) Luke 23:43 is reassuring: “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’" This verse in reference to the thief on the cross is very comforting when you wonder if people can get saved when at the point of death. Revelation 21:1-7 shows the end: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” Wow. Everything will be new. Fresh. Clean. And no death, sorrow, crying, or pain. And it’s true. I’m ready for no more death. This past week, our dear sweet puppy we’d had for two months got away from us and took off after a truck. He ran under the wheel, and his life ended. I was so angry at death, stealing such a joyful life away from us. But one day, death will no longer have a say. Life in heaven will be eternal. Are you prepared to meet God today? If you’re not sure, why not stop by my website at https://www.jenniferhallmark.com/home/themostimportantthing/ I share some of my testimony and how to pray a simple prayer for salvation. Let’s pray: Father God, we love You. Thank you that You have a plan in place. That You sent Your Son to die for us and that if we believe and accept Him, our place will be at Your side throughout all eternity. Protect us and our loved ones until the day we meet You face to face. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen. Death doesn’t have to be a mystery. Dig into the Word of God today. Today’s featured author is Betty Thomason Owens, author of Annabelle’s Ruth, Kinsman Redeemer, Book 1. After their husbands perish in a fishing boat accident, Connie Cross determines to follow her mother-in-law, Annabelle, from Southern California to Tennessee. Plunged into living conditions far below previous expectations, the two submit to the kindness of Annabelle’s cousin. But Connie has a secret that could change everything once again. Learn more at ...
    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
No reviews yet