As a shy, introverted little girl, scared of her own shadow, Jolynda Lyon grew up feeling as if it wasn’t safe to express her thoughts and feelings for fear of being judged or rejected but then she committed her heart to God and things began to change.
“When I became a Christian, I was able to pour out my thoughts, fears, joys and sorrows to the Lord in prayer,” she recalled.
The ability to express herself through prayer was extremely meaningful but then one afternoon she discovered another form of expression that changed her life forever.
Having just placed her children down for their afternoon nap Jolynda found a quiet place in her home to read her Bible. When she was finished she decided to do a little dusting and turned on some worship music. Instead of dusting, she suddenly found herself expressing the words to the song with various movements she had learned in an adult beginning ballet class.
Jolynda had enrolled in the class simply a means of exercise and while she loved the challenge and artistry of it ballet it wasn’t something that came natural for her. She admits that on many occasions, she would question God as to why she even continued going being that she was terrible at it. Nevertheless she felt a nudging to go and did so each week.
On that afternoon, with the initial intention of dusting furniture, the worship music spoke to Jolynda’s soul in an undeniable way. Using the basic ballet movements she had learned Jolynda let herself go and entered into a deep time of worship like never before. In that moment, she glorified God with her whole body, mind and soul.
“I felt the presence of God like never before,” she recalled. “It wasn’t that my movements were special or beautiful, because they weren’t but I felt like my Heavenly Father was there and He was watching His daughter dance and for some reason He delighted in it.”
Jolynda had never received an outward expression of sheer delight from her earthly father as he was a reserved and non-expressive man by nature which made this unique time of worship all the more intimate and meaningful. Having the ability to express her joy, pain and sorrow in a deeper way, through movement allowed her to feel the healing presence and sure delight of her creator.
“Sensing my Heavenly Fathers delight re-affirmed me and I was hooked,” she said.
Initially Jolynda didn’t tell anyone, other than her husband Stephen, about the experience she had for fear that others would think she was strange. She assumed it was something meaningful she would keep to herself, something special just between her and God. However, as she continued her private worship time through dance her relationship with God grew by leaps and bounds and so did her inner-confidence. Overtime, Jolynda’s desire to help others experience what she was experiencing with God through dance grew stronger than any feelings of fear that may have held her back prior.
Reading an article one day in Charisma magazine about how God was restoring the arts to the church was just the confirmation she needed in knowing that God wanted to use her in some way to bring to light the art of Christian dance — movement with a message that expresses feelings for God while telling others about God.
“I had no idea what it was going to look like, but I knew God had planted the desire in me to share dance with others,” she said. “I told God that I was ready to teach and that I believed he put the desire in my heart, but I had no students and so I prayed.”
Jolynda began a bit of substitute teaching at her daughter’s ballet class when the teacher was out sick and later received a card from one of the parents saying, “Thank you for teaching my daughter a skill that she will one day use in worship.”
When Jolynda contacted the parent the woman told her, “We have been praying for a teacher” in which Jolynda quickly responded “And I have been praying for students.”
Soon, Jolynda took a step of faith and planned to meet with three ladies at her first scheduled dance class held at a local church. She was pleasantly surprised when 10 ladies showed up.
“We didn’t know what the heck we were doing, but we did it with our whole heart,” she noted.
Jolynda taught the 10 ladies basic ballet techniques and before long the group was getting invited to perform at other churches. Eventually word spread and the small classes grew in size and number. Eventually outgrowing the church where they practiced Jolynda felt led to open her own dance studio an in 1989 Jolynda founded the non-profit organization, SONDance Christian Dance School in Manteca.
Now 26 years later Jolynda still senses God’s delight as she and a handful of other professionally trained teachers, instruct students of all ages how to glorify God with their body, mind and soul through the art of dance. What started as an intimate moment between God and a once painfully shy Jolynda has spread into a full blown, powerful ministry using the art of Christian dance to spread the message of faith, hope and love.
As a faith-based pillar of the community, SONdance presents bi-annual, inspirational performances which not only showcase the skills of the now 160 plus dancers but more importantly express devotion for God and love for others.
For tickets to SONdance’s next performance, “Looking Up For Our Every Need” taking place on June 12 and 13 call 209.823.1740 or visit www.sondance.org.
