Angela Thomas - When wallflowers dance: becoming a woman of righteous confidence

ANGELA THOMAS

WHEN WALLFLOWERS
dance
Becoming a Woman of Righteous Confidence

Copyright 2005 by Angela Thomas

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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Scripture quotations noted NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted THE MESSAGE are from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English. Copyright 1993 by Eugene H. Peterson.

Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version . Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Angela, 1962
When wallflowers dance : becoming a woman of righteous confidence / Angela Thomas.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-7852-8352-8 (international)
ISBN 0-7852-6358-6 (hardcover)
1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Self-confidenceReligious aspects Christianity. I. Title.
BV4527.T4688 2005
248.8'43dc22

2005020844

Printed in the United States of America

05 06 07 08 09 5 4 3 2 1

For
Creative Trust

When I was just a wallflower,
you believed I could dance.

I love you all.

contents

There is... a time to dance.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 NKJV

As a professional counselor and life coach, I have encountered so many women over the years who fit the description of the un-woman in chapter one, including Angela. When I first met her several years ago, she was not empowered or confident. She could not make a stand and wasnt ready to champion her life the way God instructs women to in Scripture. The woman you read about in chapter one is the woman who came into my office underneath her circumstances and completely shut down... a wallflower.

Anyone who has seen or heard the remarkable testimony of this beautiful, dynamic, and intuitively wise speaker would never imagine in a million years that she is the same person who could relate to all those un-woman feelings of despair and hopelessness. But Angela is one of those rare modern-day Abigails we read about in 1 Samuel 25. She has sought the Lord, and because of her desire for God, she has overcome.

I have personally watched a miracle take place before my very own eyes. The wallflower is gone, and Angela is dancing. She is a strong voice who speaks from her deep pursuit of God. Because of Christ in her, women across the globe can hear a message of hope and victory through freedom in Christ. This next generation of women is blessed to have a light to illuminate their journeys. And the torch is carried by a woman who is more than a survivor; she is a hero.

I expect that you will have a fresh encounter with God through Angelas words. Take the time to learn from her. I wholeheartedly commend her message. I trust her heart. If there is anyone who can teach you how to dance, its Angela.

Brian Irwin
New Beginnings Coaching & Counseling
Knoxville, Tennessee

wallflower(n)a shy or retiring person who remains unnoticed at social events, especially a woman without a dance partner (informal)

WORD HISTORY: The sweet-smelling flowers of Cheiranthus cheiri came to be called wallflowers because they often grow on old walls, rocks, and quarries. The plant name was first recorded in 1578. It is not known who first made the comparison between these delicate flowers and the unpartnered women sitting along the wall at a dance, but the figurative sense is first found in an 1820 work by Mrs. Campbell Praed entitled County Ball. Although originally used to describe women at dances, the word is now applied to men as well and used in situations remote from a ballroom.

introduction
A Wallflower Gospel

My dear friend,

In my awkward high school years, I was the textbook wallflower in glasses and braces. Not too ugly. A little nerdy. Smart and active. But unknown. Present and observing, but seemingly transparent to others. No votes for homecoming court. No dates. Andespecially painful back thenno one to ask me to dance.

I dont think that people meant not to see me. No one was rude to me or bullied me. Its just that they forgot to call. Forgot that I was funny. Forgot that Id like to be invited to their parties too. In high school, I was very academic and busy with activities, but it felt as though I was in my own little world. My life was separate from others. It seemed other girls were noticed because they were beautiful or athletic or brilliant. I was typically unnoticed, and unnoticed seemed normal to me. So I just muddled through each day, and mostly they were very regular, extremely ordinary, fairly happy wallflower days that turned into wallflower years.

As I became a woman, the physical wallflower attributes began to fade, but the wallflower spirit was never too far away. In every little defeat or big discouragement, Id find myself retreating into | ix the heartache of being unseen and unknown. Eventually, it seemed wallflower was the role I was destined to play in some way through every season in my life. As it turns out, the woman who retreats into the spirit of wallflower eventually becomes an un-woman. Empty. Numb. Barely present. Just breathing and smiling and blending in to stay out of the way.

From my earliest memories, I have known of God and believed in the reality of His existence. But one day, right in the middle of my wallflower years, that truth became mine. I called God my Father and earnestly claimed Jesus as my Savior. As purely as I knew how, I wanted to return Gods love with my life. But mine was a wallflower life, and I assumed it would continue to be that way with God. Mostly unseen and uneventful.

I knew that my name was written in Gods Book of Life. I was assured of heaven and assumed that was as good as it gets. The wallflower woman whos just happy to be in the same room as God and very thankful to spend eternity in His heaven. Maybe if I stayed out of trouble and didnt call too much attention to my life, God would be pleased and Hed listen to my prayers, and that would be a good life to have.

Many of you know that my ordinary little life blew apart in divorce. Wallflowers arent used to causing so much commotion. So I did the very thing Ive always done to avoid pain. Hide. Blend. Smile anyway. Keep everyone out. Especially God.

But our God is a pursuing God. All those years as a believer, but I had never really known that about Him. Interesting that half my life had to go by so that I could get it. God came to find me. Really. He dragged me out of the dark and into the light. He held me close and gave me safety. As I came to know these deeper truths of His desire and passion for me, the most beautiful picture I could paint of His love was the very emotional picture of a wallflower being asked to dance.