AP: Praise Report!!!! Taiwan/Japan #4

Guess what??????? I am pleased to announce that the hard core faith building days have been completed! (Though sometimes I didn't know if I was going to make it through the anticipation!) Kimberly Zehr, Stanton Smith, and I all acquired 3/4 of our support that we needed by March 12th! Praise God! Dr. Kawase had extended the deadline to Tuesday at noon due to the travel agency's availability and timing. On Monday night both Kimberly and Stan were each about $600 short and we all were praying and hoping. On Tuesday night we all got the incredible news! Even though we rejoice in this amazing gift, we would still appreciate your prayers for the other $1,000 that each team member has to raise.

We have our dance meeting on Friday and our team meeting on Saturday. I will keep you updated!

Thanks!
Ashton :)

JP: Martha Graham

Everyone else has posted about it, why not have dear old dad's take on Clytemnestra. Greek Mythological Tragedy - need I say more? For the first 10 or so minutes I was totally lost. Kind of like a blind man in the Amazon Jungle with a Chinese map. I knew where I was, knew a little about ballet, but hadn't a clue about what they were trying to convey on stage.

That is until I noticed that people kept looking up periodically. Here is where my mom was wrong all those years in telling me not copy people. Because, looking up brought clarity!! Way up high they were giving scene subtitles. The Bible is right. Clarity does come from on high! If the ushers had been more proficient in their ushing duties, they would have given us Martha Graham novices a little heads up on this factoid (get it!?!? "heads up!"), wouldn't you think? With this little gem of wisdom, I was finally somewhat able to get a handle on what was going on. Again, I point out that it was a Greek Mythological Tragedy, therefore we have somewhat of an understanding.

I will have to say that I enjoyed it for the most part especially from our 3rd row, dead center, $45 seats that cost us $0.00. Can you say thank you Lord! I could have even passed for a connoisseur of the performing arts. That is until I got the giggles near the end when the dead king came out wearing gold Herman Munster platform boots that were supposed to give the appearance of him floating above the other characters. Did I mention that King Herman had split his too small, tighty, blackie shorts in a very noticeable location visible only from the front (thank you Aunt Jenn for protecting my precious ballerinas' eyes!)? Don't panic. Fortunately he was wearing tighty, whities underneath. But did King Herman change during intermission? Why, of course not!! Must have run out of all that fabric Ashton said that Martha Graham loved.

So, here is my take on the whole plot. King Herman and his friends went off to fight Troy because Prince Paris of Troy had seduced Helen, Herman's sister-in-law, and taken her to Troy. While Herman was away fighting for 10 years (and no, the liberals were not complaining about the length or cost of the war), it seems Queen Lily and Herman's cousin had a little fling. Not to be out done, King Herman was having a fling of his own with Lucille Ball. After the war, King Herman returned and was murdered by Queen Lily and her lover. When their son and daughter Eddie and Marilyn returned, they were so distraught over their father's death that they killed their mother. Makes sense. We think lover boy bit the dust, too, as they threw the knife at him as he ran off stage. He must not be able to fake dying very well. Good dancer, bad dier. So,there you have the Greek Tragedy Clytemnestra in an nutshell.

Just think, all this could have been averted if they all would have kept to their own yards and someone would have sewn up King Herman's shorts!

AP: Martha Graham

Guess what?????? I got to take a master class from an instructor at the Martha Graham Company and then got to see the Company perform last night! It was incredible. The Company is on tour and one of their stops was Kansas City. Because our studio is the only studio in KC that teaches a strictly Graham based modern (which I absolutely love! You know me.....dancing without shoes is the best!) we asked for a master class to which they agreed. And we only had to pay $10! And then, because we are the only Graham based modern studio, the place they performed at gave us free tickets to a show that normally cost $45 per ticket! My parents, Mallory, and I all got to go. It was really cool. We saw the performance Clytemnestra. It had a weird storyline, all the Greek mythology stuff that Martha Graham was into, but it was really cool to see the movements I do in class on stage. It was really neat.

Martha Graham when she was dancing.

She died sometime in the 90's.

Queen Clytemnestra in the production.

Martha Graham loved pieces of large fabric.

Anther picture of choreography of Martha Graham.....

Again, she loved the fabric....Doesn't it make fabulous lines?

A scene from the production Clytemnestra.

Also in the production.

A company member.

Martha Graham.

A company member.

Martha Graham and her fabric.

One of the company members. Isn't she incredible?

Same company member....in a different position. :)

Part of the production........He was Hades.

Other company members.

I love this position.....it is so flattering.

In the production.

Isn't his tilt incredible???? I wish my legs would do that!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I'll write more later.

KP: Pictures from Night Out

KP Writes:

Mallory already blogged about our big night on the town in Overland Park, Kansas. Here are some pictures to go with her story. Before we went to the theater, we went to the Crown Center downtown Kansas City, MO. We wanted to show the girls the beautiful fountains and the outdoor skating rink. We were able to walk across the indoor sky walks between the Westin and the Hyatt and several office buildings. From them, we could see the elevated view of the lit trees, skate park and fountains. It was much warmer walking above as well.
This weekend was also the Big 12 Tournament for basketball. Of course, we couldn't pass up this photo op. (I am so glad that I have my camera back!!)
As you can see, the older are the wiser. We left our coats on for the pictures, and wore long sleeve sweaters!
"See Ashton, the camera is too focusing!"
"I love you with all my heart. I am so thankful for a sister like you!"

Blessings,
Kristian

AP: Taiwan/Japan Update #3

Hi ALL!!!!

We have a dance rehearsal Friday evening and then a team meeting on Saturday evening but until then I won't really have any new updates. Here are some prayer updates:

• Unity among the dancers and intercessors.
• Open hearts among the Taiwanese/Japanese people.
• Protection (mind, body, spirit) as we travel through the air and inland.
• Openness and humility for the dancers as we encounter a new culture.
• Strength for Mr. Yutaka Kawase, Jenna Kawase, and G’ma Nobuko Kawase—they are the main translators.
• Open, humble, interceding hearts for the nation of Taiwan and Japan. Vision; “downloads” from God on how to pray for this nation.
• Isaiah 61—We desire to see strongholds pulled down and God’s inheritance for people of the nation of Taiwan and Japan. We want to see the captives set free!

• Strength and health as I add additional rehearsals to learn the dances and help create choreography for ministry on the trip.
• That the Lord would increasingly tenderize my heart for the people of Taiwan and Japan as I prepare to go
• That I would grow in my love for Jesus and the Holy Spirit and have increase revelation of the Father's love for me so that I might share with others from a place of overflow
• That I would have the spirit of intercession in increased measure
• That I would have increase in the burden of the Lord in intercession for the people of Taiwan and Japan

Thank you so much for covering this trip in prayer! It means so much!

~Ashton :)

MP: Martha Graham and Visitors :)*

MP writes:

Hello Y'all,

I am finally back to my old self . I can now stand up and do everything . Of course I am still a little energy deprived but I can do everything. It was amazing how well you can get by just taking antibiotics for a few days. Though I might be coming down with something else. :( O well at least I know that my family will take good care of me. Sometimes I feel like someone is throttling me and I sound very garbled.

A couple of days ago Dramatic Truth, our dance studio, received some free tickets to the Martha Graham Performance. All dancers had first dibs on the tickets. Then, because most of the dancers who would normally go were preforming in South Dakota, the tickets were opened up to the parents of the dancers that were going. So all four of us were able to go and had a great time there. This was a nice frugal thing for the dance studio.

The Martha Graham company performed Clytemnestra at Johnson County Community College theater. It was particularly great to me as a dancer for two reasons. One was because we were so close to the stage that we could see even the small contractions of their muscles, and secondly, because when they stood still (and man, at some points some of them stood still for like three minutes) it looked like they were not even breathing.

This show was about the Helen of Troy from Greek mythology. Because there was a curse on the family they were always turning against each other and having them murdered. My teacher Sarah and her husband, Nate, were sitting behind us. At intermission Nate said " When does Jesus come on the stage?" And we all had to refrain from laughing. But Jesus did not show up on this stage as an actor. Haha. They had amazing technique though.

I can honestly say that I really don't like losing an hour of sleep even though I slept in. But it kinda felt like I lost an hour of my life even though I'm going to get it back in a few months. Oh well, it just means that I will sleep like a baby tonight!!!!!!!! Wahoo.
Now that makes me very excited.

Another thing that makes me excited is having visitors. In fact we have two sets of visitors coming in the next month!!! The first set of visitors are Gabby and Annatoria, my cousins, and they are coming in 23 days. Yeah!!!!! Two weeks after them we have our second set and they are our grandparents, my mom's parents. I am also so very excited about them coming too!!!!I don't rue the day that we have visitors at all.

Love always,
Mallory

P.S. if you want to come out here just email my mom and schedule a date!

JP: Simplicity

No one else can love You like I love You Lord
For I was made unique in Your heart
I was made to bring You joy

Now I have a purpose
Now I have a destiny
You made me for Your glory
You made me for Your glory

I don't know why we Americans just can't be satisfied with simplicity. We are always trying to make something bigger, better, and greater than it is. If something seems simplistic or menial, we pooh pooh it and think that it is second rate or low in quality. This holds true in respect to our entertainment, our occupations, our homes, our cars, our vacations, and even how we relate to God. Basically, everything that effects our lifestyles. We can't just accept simple. Our mentality is - "if it is simple, then it isn't the best that it can be." We always have to improve on everything.

For example, at one time or another everyone ponders the question - "What is the meaning of life or what is my purpose?" God answered this question in both the Old and New Testaments. But in our own wisdom, we can't accept His answers because we think - "that's too easy. There's more to it than that."

Let's look at the Old Testament. We have Moses coming down the mountain after hanging out with God for 40 days, and he proceeds to lay out God's plan for relating to His people. He sums it up in one simple sentence in Deuteronomy 6:5- Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Immediately, he lays out the benefits of following this statement and the downfalls of not. That's it?!?! Surely, there's more to it than that! It has to be more intellectually challenging than that in the New Testament. In Matthew 22, Jesus is having a Q&A session with some Sadducees and Pharisees and addresses God's plan after being questioned by a so called expert in God's laws. Matt 22:36-40, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Wait a minute! That's the same answer? There's got to be more to life than just loving the God who created you, right? Surely, He made me for a greater purpose than that. After all, He probably created all these beautiful mountains, lakes, animals, plants, etc to bring Himself joy and other people to love Him. There is something bigger or better that He has in mind for me. If not, then I'll find something I can improve on. Arrogant thinking, huh?

Why is it so simple? Is it because God is simple? No way! Look around. When was the last time our scientists created a flower, animal, human, or anything out of nothing? It's simple because He knows us and loves us. It's not about us, it's about Him. Sometimes, we don't always exemplify the intelligence that He placed inside us or to put it another way, we're not always the brightest bulb on the tree. He's not out to trick us. It's simple because it's simple - pure and simple love for the Lord.

I'm closing with the same excerpt from a song that I opened with. It states the truth of what our purpose is:

No one else can love You like I love You Lord
For I was made unique in Your heart (Ps 139:13-14)
I was made to bring You joy (Is 62:4; Song of Sol 4:9;7:6)

Now I have a purpose (Matt 22:36-40)
Now I have a destiny (1Tim 2:3-4; 2 Thess 2:13)
You made me for Your glory (Is 62:4)
You made me for Your glory (Is 43:7)

Enjoy the video below

FYI - the 3 "old guys" that you see on stage are Allen Hood - President of IHOPU (left front), Daniel Lim - CEO IHOP-KC (far back left), and Wes Hall - Provost of IHOPU (at end)