This has been a week of reflection.   Anytime we lose a loved one from this life it is natural to start thinking about our own lives and how we are doing.  With the passing of Lisa Stoddard I really started thinking about the kind of person I am.  I have said this numerous times and I will say it again, Lisa was the kind of teacher and person that made everyone she came into contact with feel like they were her favorite.  As a dance teacher she taught my girls confidence, love, mad improving skills, and how to enjoy the art of dance.   After attending her viewing, funeral, and The Dance Club spring concert over the last 4 days I took some time to reflect on everything I observed.  The first thing I noticed was her family and their incredible strength.   All four of her children stood strong during every event.  While tears had been apparent on their faces,

Rachel, Crystal, Hannah, Kayla, Alexia after Lisa's viewing

they wore smiles.  They could smile because they knew they had an amazing mother that loved them and raised them well.  They could smile because they have an awesome dad that is standing strong and loves them.  Most importantly they could smile because they know that someday they will be reunited with their dear mother and wife.  As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) we believe that Jesus Christ died for us so that we can be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father as eternal families.  He suffered for all of our sins so we could have the Atonement.  The Atonement allows us to repent for our mistakes and live and work as families on this earth so we can be eternal families in the hereafter.  What a comfort that is to know we will be with our loved ones for eternity.  The knowledge of this doctrine is what can help families to love, support and never give up on one another.

Dancers from The Dance Club at Lisa's funeral

I know to some dance may not seem that important or that it shouldn't have the attention it receives.  However, when I looked around the chapel at the funeral, the entire place was full wall to wall and standing room only.  Lisa had an opportunity through dance, to positively affect the lives of all these people. People she taught at BYU, The Dance Club, UVU, ALA and any other places I am unaware of came to pay tribute to Lisa.   We were able to honor Lisa through dance with an improv number at The Dance Club spring concert on Tuesday, May 6th 2014.  Current senior company girls and past senior company girls performed an improv number with Lisa's oldest daughter TaeLor that tugged at the heart strings of everyone in attendance.  What an awesome tribute to a lady so deserving.

Hannah and Addi after the concert

            I think about everyone that my girls have been blessed to be around because of dance.  I think about the experiences they have had because of dance.  I think about what they have learned because of dance.  If I had it to do all over again I would.  It isn't always easy and there are definitely challenges but when I stop to reflect about everything, I think it must be worth it.  This is such a great analogy for our lives.  I have eluded before in other posts that this has been an extremely challenging year for me and my family.  We are definitely being tested right now.  I don't know that I am handling things all that well but what I do know is that I have had the love and support of family and friends.  I know that when I am faced with reflecting on a loved one like Lisa and her family I stop to take inventory of my life and behavior and try to learn from others how to be strong.  I have what my mother always calls, either "brave days" or "non-brave days".  I seem to be having more "non-brave days" than "brave" ones.  I am still working on changing my attitude about my challenges right now and this is where the analogy comes in.
            These dancers are constantly going to class and rehearsal where they learn how to be better dancers.  They are tested with technique, new dances, competitions, relationships, different teaching styles, different styles of dance and a laundry list of many other challenges.  Sometimes their skills improve and things seem to be going well.  Other times they hit a plateau and things don't seem to come so easy to them.  Sometimes they win competitions and many times they don't.  Sometimes they seem to be loving everything they are learning and other

Addi and Carly after the concert

times they struggle and don't like it as much.  In our lives we are faced with learning about relationships, education, work, jobs, charity, survival, family, etc..... Sometimes we will be tested and fail and other times we will be successful in our challenges.  The dancers keep going because they know in the end it is all worth it.  They know that beyond all the challenges they are learning something and it will have a profound influence in their lives forever.  In our lives we have to remember it is all worth it because in the end, if we endure with faith,  we have a beautiful reward waiting for us.  We can have eternal families.
           I haven't been doing so great with the faith part of handling my challenges.  In my entire life I don't ever remember struggling with faith like I am now.  I do however know that I am not giving up and I will always jump back into the dance studio of life and keep trying to improve.
Remember we are all in this together.