Cypress Lake United Methodist Church

                                                    By Sharon Marcoux

     Each Thursday morning two dozen Cypress Lake United Methodist Church members and their friends enter the Youth Building to take part in a unique ministry. For the next hour prayer, laughter and praise can be heard along with the sounds of Christian country music. Bonds of friendship are formed and participants leave smiling and feeling healthier. Some stay behind for a word of prayer or to share a story of what God is doing in their lives. This time of fellowship is often followed by hugs among the participants and plans to meet for lunch or coffee. I never dreamed God would use my love for country line dancing to draw others closer to Him and to each other.

     My husband and I moved to Fort Myers seven years ago from Texas where I had been line dancing for many years. I took my first line dance class at the University of Texas in El Paso and was soon assisting the teacher. As I learned hundreds of dances I had no way of knowing that I was being prepared for a special ministry in Florida.

     One day I was helping in the church office when our Parish Nurse, Debi Campbell came up to me and asked if I might be willing to share my gift of dancing in a new class. She shared her vision to get the members of our church moving in a fun way for better health. We spoke to the Pastor and assured him that we would use Christian music and begin and end in prayer. Music that would help us to praise God as we danced would be prayerfully selected. We wanted this to be more than an activity that happened inside a church building. We hoped God would use this class as another welcoming, open door into His church. Our prayer was that this would be both a ministry and a mission for Jesus, our Lord and Savior. After prayer, preparation and many hours of listening to Christian country music I felt we were ready to begin.

     Each week our youth building is filled to overflowing with smiling members and others from our community. Some of our dancers from outside our church have been spotted at Sunday worship services. Our spirits are strengthened as well as our bodies. Songs like “Trailer Hitch” remind us about stewardship and that we can not take any “stuff” with us when we die. It tells us we “can’t find a hearse with a trailer hitch.”  We sing “I don’t care where you dig that hole for that isn’t where my soul will be.” There are other songs of pure worship and praise. The fellowship and friendship in this class are a foretaste of heaven. If you are ever in Fort Myers on a Thursday morning please stop by Cypress Lake United Methodist Church and join us for an hour of power in His Spirit. I will be the one in the red boots smiling and thanking God that He can do great things with what we think are small gifts… if we are willing to offer them to Him.