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from the Word that modesty mattered to God. But, this was a sexy dance! How could I do a routine designed to showcase sexuality and still stand with conviction?
    Can I shoot straight with you? Standing with conviction isn’t easy. Going with the flow and bending to the standards of the world around me would have been a much smoother path. I didn’t go on DWTS to crusade for my faith or to take a stand for modesty, but I was determined to be true to who I am. I am a Christian. I am a happily married woman who desires to reserve some parts of my life and my body for my husband. I am someone who wants to showcase Christ in the way that I live and dress. It wasn’t always easy to be true to those parts of my identity on DWTS , but let’s face it, Easy Street doesn’t always take us where we want to be anyway.
    In fact, James 1:2–4 encourages us to consider it a great joy when the road gets rocky, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
    This week of the competition tested my willingness to truly stand with conviction. But that testing led to steadfastness—an unswerving, unflinching, unwavering commitment to live according to God’s Word. My time on DWTS is only a small part of my story. Over and over I learned that this was not a journey about dancing or about being on a television show. This was about learning to live with conviction in all areas of my life. When the cameras were on and when they were off. When the public was behind me and when they weren’t. When I was wearing my celebrity hat and when I was wearing the hats of wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. James was right, while the testing of my faith sometimes felt like a trial, complete with a judge and jury, I loved the opportunity to live what I believed in front of the watching world.
    Making Adjustments
    Early in the week, Mark brought me into the studio to show me the dance he choreographed for us to perform. Every pro choreographs differently. Some choreograph while simultaneously teaching the moves to their celebrity partner. Mark tended to do the choreography on his own and then show me the finished product using another pro partner.
    The dance he choreographed for the rumba was beautiful! True to rumba style, it was a very slow, sensual dance. It clearly told the story of the roller coaster ride that romantic relationships can sometimes be. Performed to A Great Big World’s, “Say Something,” it was a very emotional and beautiful piece. I literally cried when Mark showed me the choreography. I felt like he was telling such a passionate story and I got sucked right into its depths!
    At the very end of the dance, there was a particularly beautiful and poignant move that made me catch my breath after seeing it and gave me a little tingle inside. I wondered if I was just taken from the emotion of the dance, or if there was something more to it. I had videotaped that first dance so that I could rewatch the moves later that night, burning them into my memory. As I was watching the tape at home, I had another pause in my spirit at the end of the dance. I wondered if the maneuver was too sexy or if it would be perceived in a way that didn’t match up with who I am as a wife, a mom, and a woman.
    Do you remember how I told you my convictions are determined? My first litmus test is God’s Word.
    I knew that the Bible commanded me to honor my husband (Eph. 5:33) and to present myself in a way that is respectable and modest (1 Tim. 2:8–10). I wanted to live out those principles because they were clear in God’s Word. But what did that look like, exactly? What did respecting Val look like in the context of a sensual dance on a reality television show? What does modesty mean exactly? Is it just about clothing, or did it extend into the way I carried