Children's Sacrament Program

Today was the children's time to shine at church. Kids aged 3-12 provided nearly all of the music and spoken word during our church services. I especially admired the kids' reverence on the stand and their knowledge of the songs. Some of the older kids even managed to sing a bit of a descant/harmony on a couple of the songs, which is quite impressive.

Alice knew every word to every song and spoke her part boldly and clearly. No surprise :) She was proud of her work and I was so happy for her.

Robert sang more of the songs than I thought he knew. He also spent a good portion of the time picking his nose and wiggling in his seat, but hey, he's only four. When it came time for him to speak his part into the microphone, Alice hopped out of her seat and stood next to him for moral support. Robert's teacher whispered to him what he was supposed to say. Robert just scanned the crowd, back and forth, back and forth, with his mouth open a little. He didn't make a sound. He didn't shrink and run, though, which made me happy. He made eye contact with me. Then he sat down. He hasn't been one for public speaking in any arena, so this outcome wasn't a complete surprise, either.

There are things I love about Robert simply because they're nothing like Alice. He's his own man. As much as I would love for him to be comfortable speaking in front of audiences, there's something inside me that says, "You go, man!" when he chooses to stand there calmly and say nothing. It's the love of a mother, I suppose.

James and I got to sit in the audience with Bobby. I can't remember the last time he sat in the pews with us. James sat on Bobby's lap eating cereal, then leaned back every once in a while to lay across both of our laps and grin. I wondered about how life would be different if he were our only child, or if he had come first.

I love each of my kids so freely, no matter who they are. It's like nothing I've felt before.