Keeping One's Feet on the Ground

My daughter, Olivia, is a dancer. 

She fell in love with ballet when she was three years old and with the stage when she was four.  There were times in life when circumstances prevented her from training, but nothing but death itself could stop her from dancing. 

Last year, our wee li'l family sacrificed television, eating out, and weekly baking so that Olivia could once again train in ballet.  It had been a couple of years since her last school, but she worked harder than anyone I know would and perhaps could, and she not only regained her footing in her level, she progressed beyond and was promoted ahead of her classmates.  Although she'll be sad to leave them behind at the end of this school year, her heart is flying high and her dreams just got bigger.

My daughter is a dancer.

Last weekend and the one before were spent in San Francisco, auditioning for ballet summer intensive programs of highly esteemed ballet schools across the country.

And we just found out she was accepted to the one upon which she had her heart most set!

For one month this summer, Olivia will dance eight-hours each day, six-days each week, making new friends and expanding her little life's horizons.  She will return to our home ... well, different.  And I'm both excited and very, very sad for it.  Like I said, she has big dancing dreams, dreams that include places that speak little English and require a passport.  She also has only a few years in which to prepare for these dreams, since many dancers begin their professional careers near sixteen or seventeen.  When I consider it, my own heart sinks to the bottom of the sea, digging deep into the sand and refusing to come out again.

So, as we approach this time of transition from childhood to adulthood, how do I help to keep her feet on the ground without dragging her dreams down into the deap blue sea with me? 

Seriously, tell me. 

Did you really think I had the answer?  I don't ... not really, at least. 

Lately, smothered by the excitement of being recognized and selected by a fabulous school, there's been lots and tons of talking ... about God's gifting and her heart's desire; about His power to redeem; about trusting His good pleasure and Him to provide for this summer's program, the next, and forever; about the Christian's place in the dance industry; about guarding one's self and filtering the world through the lens of Truth; about having a heart of compassion for the lost; and about humble supplication:

Lord, help me to lift up my daughter as a sacrifice unto you, desiring the very best for her, while slowly letting go and remembering always that she was first and always yours, created for your pleasure and to do your holy will.  May her finest pleasures be found in your glory, and may she affect lives for eternity with the grace she lends to all she does in your name.  And please, help me to fill her sails while you hold her feet.  Amen.

I'm stuck at the whole humble supplication part ...still.

My daughter is a dancer!