A Time to Dance

By Sherilyn Farnes

The author lives in Utah, USA.

Trust that there are good things to come.

Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye to a good thing. At the close of a wedding reception recently, my young niece and I danced and twirled in the mostly empty room as the reception came to a close. All too soon it was time to go. Pouting for a few seconds, my seven-year-old niece put her shoes back on and we twirled one last time. I don’t remember who suggested it, but whether she came up with the idea or simply agreed to it, her eyes brightened as she said, “Let’s dance our way out.” And so we did.

I kept thinking of this moment, realizing what struck me about it. She trusted that this wasn’t the last night in her life that she would ever dance. She trusted that there were other good things to come, and she could leave this one evening behind. And though a fun night of dancing doesn’t compare to much larger endings, I realized that perhaps I have something to learn from her. Perhaps I could try to adapt that motto when I have to say goodbye to something I love, when I feel prompted to put on my shoes and move on. Can I say with her, “Let’s dance our way out,” and trust that I too have someone walking by my side when He wants me to move on?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained, “Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the ‘high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11).”¹ Like my niece, I can trust that even as one beloved season in my life comes to an end, other good seasons will follow in time—for that is the nature of life:

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. …

“A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

“… A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6–7).

And yes, I would say to my niece, even Ecclesiastes agrees that one of these times is “a time to dance” (verse 4).