Years ago, for a splash of pizazz, I added a black chalkboard paint border close to the ceiling in our Kentucky kitchen. On this border encircling our hub of family activity, my husband suggested that we write each family member’s name, birthdate, and favorite Bible verse. That night at the dinner table we asked our three daughters to each consider their verse of choice. Without hesitation our youngest (a pig-tailed preschooler at the time) piped right up and exclaimed, “That’s easy! I want Zechariah 9:16, “Like jewels in a crown they will sparkle in His land!” Wow! Her enthusiasm and beaming smile matched her favorite verse!

Don’t you love to see God’s girls shining? Well, the “land” of Louisville sparkles brightly each February as daughters from across our city gather with their dads for a royal “ball” at Louisville Slugger Field! As our local Fellowship of Christian Athletes team hosts our Annual Diamond Dance, the ballroom fills with Dads and Daughters getting their “Shine On!” Thanks to the prayers, promotion, and volunteers from 20 area churches, the sell-out crowd enjoys special Valentine-themed décor, door greeters, formal coat check, professional photography area, Team Building Activities (like a photo Scavenger Hunt), Meet and Greet area with female collegiate athletes from University of Louisville and Bellarmine University PLUS an all-star line-up of both free-style and instructed dancing! Yes, the evening is glorious! God’s presence is present. The Father’s love is shared. From intentional “conversation heart chats” to dancing as couples down the middle of a “soul train,” this dazzling night sparks greater love for dads and daughters.

A Night of SHIGH-LIGHTS

Each year, Diamond Dance is a night of shighlights! Shighlights is an “original” phrase my youngest invented as a small child. When asked what color of hair she had, Tress would respond. “I have brown hair with blonde shighlights! Well, I think shighlights is the perfect word to describe the “shining highlights” of the Diamond Dance over the years. Read some of these “shigh-lights”:

  • “This dance rates in my top 10 of coolest things I have done in my life. (And I have traveled all over the world). It is a night I will not forget and neither will my daughter. She never stopped smiling all evening and she had a super time.” ~Rex
  • “It was an amazing night focused on just dads and daughters in a Christian environment that was certainly glorifying to God. At a typical Daddy-Daughter dance at their schools, they are always easily distracted by all their friends but this made it truly about what this type of event is supposed to be about. Thank you so much to all that made this possible.” ~Elmore
  • “Spending the time with my daughter. I bought flowers, washed my car, bought a new suit, took her to dinner, opened doors, and at the last two songs she clung to me like I was the only man alive. Every moment was worth it for those two songs.” ~Jay
  • “It made me wish I had done something of this nature every year prior. It was a game changer. If you did this two times a year…we would go.” ~ McCoon
  • “Priceless. Our daughters said it was the best father-daughter dance they have been to- and they go to one every year!” ~ White
  • “When we took pictures at the house before leaving for the dance we both just stood next to each other with pleasant smiles. But by the end of the night we got some more pics with our arms around each other, heads touching and big smiles. And we’re starting to do “Date Night with Daddy” on a regular basis again. Thanks! See y’all again next year!” ~WRF

SHINING beyond the Diamond Dance

One daughter who attended a Diamond Dance asked as they were leaving, “Daddy, does it HAVE to be over?” The answer? Not necessarily. Weeks later, the wrist corsages will be drying on bulletin boards, fancy dresses will have been traded for school clothes, shiny shoes for tennis shoes, dinner with dad for brown bag lunches and hamburger helper. And yet our prayer for this evening is that each daughter would experience the Heavenly Father’s view of her God-given glory. Our ministry team prays that each daughter who attends would embrace living…

“with an unveiled face brightly reflecting (shining) the glory of the Lord, being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit!”  (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The dance will end, but God desires our shining to continue.

The Heart of Womanhood ministry team desires that our next generation of daughters will keep shining beyond any Diamond Dance experience. Our hope is that they will keep shining even when the fancy becomes plain. Even when the twinkly lights are turned to dark. Even when their youthfulness becomes old age. Nights like the Diamond Dance are intended to remind and reframe the hearts of this next generation of girls so they will daily reflect His light…like a diamond!

“Letting their lights shine so the world may see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Philippians 2:13-16 polishes this same gem of truth.

“For it is God who works in you…to fulfill his good purpose…so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you HOLD firmly to THE WORD of life.”

Like the words to the childhood song, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky,” God wants to fill the darkness of this world with His diamond daughters! As the over 750 dads and daughters left the Diamond Dance, each family was given a Home Team Gift Bag filled with treats that further encourage their dad-daughter relationship: A book by Kent Evans with Manhood Journey Don’t Bench Yourself  for dads, A True Girl Devotional for the daughters, a picture frame for their professional photographs, and Cracker Jacks wrapped with a Louisville Bats Dad Daughter Date Night coming this spring…etc. Although the focus of our dance places the spotlight on the dad-daughter relationship, the heartbeat of our ministry is drawing the hearts of moms and daughters closer to Jesus and each other. The final phrase of the Philippians passage above reveals the setting of each shining diamond. The verse illuminates the fact that “you will shine like stars…as you HOLD firmly to THE WORD of life!”

SHINING comes from GOD’S WORD~ 

The heart of the Heart of Womanhood ministry is to draw Moms and Daughters closer to Jesus and each other through the intergenerational study of THE WORD! We believe that our next generation will “shine like stars” as today’s mom and daughters step up to the plate to hold firmly to The Father’s WORD! Our Bible Studies are designed to fuel these important female family relationships with interactive and creative “read through” resources for one-on-one or small “heart group” study.  

SHINING comes from HOLDING firmly

A final facet of shining brightly that gleams brightly from Philippians 2 is seen as Paul exclaims, “You will shine…as you HOLD firmly to the word of life!” The key to shining comes from HOLDING! An important concept for ballroom dancing is the term: HOLD. In ballroom dancing, whether it is closed-hold, shadow-hold, double-hold, or extended-hold positions, staying in “HOLD” allows the couple to remain firmly united so that they move as ONE across the dance floor! Jesus has invited YOU to be His dance partner in this life.

If you and your daughters (like me and my daughters) have two left feet when it comes to dancing, have no fear. Brilliant dancing is all about Who is in the lead. As we stay in “HOLD” with Christ, He will beautifully lead us as wives and workers, as moms and daughters, to shine like diamonds! Yes. The Diamond Dance is over for this year. But as we remain in HOLD with Jesus as our divine lead, every day can be a Diamond Dance!