stolen from my friend's xanga

"During the time when I was praying about what God wanted me to do in ministry, my husband and I went away on vacation. On one particular evening, Steve and I went to a beautiful restaurant filled with men and women dressed in their very finest. In one corner of the dining area, a four man orchestra filled the room with beautiful music. Steve and I had taken a few ballroom dance classes and he wanted us to see if we could remember the Fox Trot. But I didn't want to be the only ones on the dance floor with everyone staring at me. So I agreed to go only if more people were dancing and we could hide among the crowd.

Finally, the first couple approached the floor. They looked like professional dancers, moving as one and never missing a beat. This did not encourage me at all. Then couple number one was joined by couple number two, whose steps weren't quite as perfect.

So I agreed to go…in the back where no one could see us try to make those little boxes with our feet. As we were moving as two, I noticed a fourth couple approach the floor. They came with confidence - no hesitation, no timidity. But there was something very special about this couple. The man was in a wheel chair.

He was a middle-aged, slightly balding man with a neatly trimmed beard. On his left hand, he wore a white glove, I guessed to cover a skin disease. Both were dressed in their evening wear, but the most beautiful part of their dress was the radiant smiles that they were both wearing. Their love for each other lit up the room.

As the band played a peppy beat, the wife held her love's healthy right hand and danced with him. He never did rise from the wheel chair that had become his legs, but they didn't seem to care. They came together and separated like expert dancers. He spun her around as she stooped to conform to her husband's seated position. Lovingly, like a little fairy child, she danced around his chair while he laughed.

My heart was so moved by this love story unfolding before my eyes that I had to turn my head and bury my face on Steve's shoulder so no one would see the tears streaming down my cheeks. As I did, I saw that every person in that dining room had tears trickling down their cheeks. Even the musicians had tears in their eyes.

Then the Lord spoke to my heart in a powerful way.

"Sharon I want you to notice who moved this crowd to tears? Was it couple number one, with their perfect steps? Or was it the last couple who not only did not have perfect steps, but had no steps at all? No, my child, it was the display of love, not perfection that had an effect on the people watching. If you obey Me, I will do it for you just as his wife did it for him."