It’s About the Journey, AND the Destination!
- By. Linda Mason
- It All Has to Begin Somewhere Believe it or not, this entire adventure started from a call on my life to minister through the art of liturgical dance and the special place in my heart for children. Through my blog and this website, I want to share my personal experiences to inspire others and stir the creative juices within someone else, giving them the inspiration to pursue
their passions regardless of perceived impossible odds. Know that my journey is far from over and even now at the age of 64 and retired, I know that what God has begun in me, He is able to complete — and He can do the same for you if you don’t give up. I didn’t say don’t take a break, but you just can’t give up!
I’ll be posting new parts of my story regularly, and each segment will include what I’ve learned, how I’ve assisted others, or what I took away from the experiences. Supportive thoughts, comments, suggestions, and feedback are appreciated. Thank you for sharing some of your precious and priceless time with me and joining me on my adventure. Be blessed.
I remember when it dawned on me. It was August 13th, 2006, and I was praying just before the service where I would present my initial sermon through liturgical dance interpretation at Emmanuel
Restoration Church. It was my licensing sermon, and as far as I know, it was the first of its kind. To be able to present my initial sermon in the form of dance was God speaking directly to me and through me. I didn’t know it then, but God was preparing me in an extra special way for the journey I was to embark on, leading me to my ultimate dream of becoming a best-selling author. I know the two things seem completely unrelated, but as you probably already know, God works in mysterious ways. God also spoke to my pastors, Glenn and Nona Mason, encouraging them to embrace this kind of “unusual” service for the licensing of a minister, and to invite it to be presented in their church. This event catapulted me into a new place with God where I don’t believe I could have ventured as far, as deep, and as quickly by any other means.
I was a member of “Chosen,” the praise dance ministry within the church, however I believed the Lord wanted me to go deeper – much deeper. Sometimes we fail to realize that the deeper in God we go, the greater our challenges will become; not to break us, but to develop and mature us.
Before my licensure, I had already made connections in the greater community through praise dance through opportunities to present dances both personally and along with other individuals. The word of my gift of dance ministry had been shared, and I’d even started offering trainings for others who were interested in learning more about the depth of spirituality within liturgical dance. As I continued to study more about the heart of God concerning the power that can be released through anointed dance ministry, I was lead to form a nonprofit organization, Spirit of Praise Liturgical Outreach Ministry. Through this ministry, I would share the Word of God through dance but also take it a step further by extending into the community with a three-fold mission goal:
- To connect with “out of town” families of (diagnosed) terminally ill children, offering funding for temporary housing as well as hope through prayer and performing arts.
- To connect with single parent first time home buyers with funding for down payments or closing cost expenses.
- To provide cash scholarships to youth ages 16-25 years old, who were the children or dependents of deceased veterans, who were pursuing educational opportunities in the Performing Arts
As life and circumstance would have it, I had to close the studio and officially discontinue the non-profit organization, but those opportunities were simply the ground in which the seed for my Spirit of Truth Storybook Series was nurtured and fed. When my nonprofit closed its doors in 2010, the seed for a storybook series had already been written on paper. Originally, proceeds from the sale of the books was supposed to benefit the non-profit organization. Every title, every character, every story, and every activity would be written to touch the hearts of children around the world.
