Sing as if no one is listening!

Last night, Samuel, Avery and Amanda had their Church Choir Spring Concert. Everyone did great! Samuel's choir sang 3 songs; Father, I Adore You; Jesus Is Our Friend; and In the Lord, I'll Be Ever Thankful. A few times, I caught Samuel smiling at me during the songs. I could tell he was enjoying himself. For the finale, they combined Samuel's choir and Amanda's choir. They sang 2 songs together. And it just so happened that Samuel was dead center, right in front of the microphones. I saw him looking over at me and he gave me a big grin, as if he was thinking, "How cool is this? I'm right in front of the microphones!"

Can you see Samuel, standing right behind the Choir Director? He's wearing a burgundy shirt. Amanda is to the right of the Director, wearing a navy shirt.

But, I must tell you that Avery was the hit of the night! When her choir went up to sing their 2 songs (Oh, How I Love Jesus and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands), Avery was truly "feeling" the music. Not only did she stand up there and sing her heart out, but she also did an interpretive dance to go along with the songs. Mind you, this was not a planned part of the performance. This was Avery's own addition. She was swaying back and forth, and swinging her hips to the beat. It was all I could do to not laugh because it truly was precious. Every child in her choir did hands movements to He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, but Avery was the only one dancing! She was getting into it! Afterwards, I had several people come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed Avery's enthusiastic performance. But the sweetest comment came from my friend Paula, who told me that while she was watching Avery sing she was thinking to herself that there just couldn't be anything more delightful to see, until she looked over at me and saw the smile on my face. I was so happy and proud that my daughter felt that comfortable in church. And she was enjoying herself so much while making a joyful noise unto the Lord, that she knew that she could be herself and just sing her heart out. It reminded me of the expression, "Always sing as if no one is listening, dance as if no one is watching, and live each day as if it were your last." Yeah! Avery's got it right. I wish we could all feel so comfortable!

Amanda's choir sang 3 songs, and Amanda did a great job. I'm thrilled that she gets to come with us and be a part of this. After all of the choirs performed, everyone in the congregation sang Amazing Grace together, and it filled my heart with joy to see all 3 kids (Amanda, Samuel and Avery) singing the words without the use of a hymnal. They've learned the words in choir...

Other than that, we are getting ready for Spring Break next week. We plan on going camping with 2 other families. Big outdoor fun!!! We're all really looking forward to it.

Oh, and one final thing. Our church's Preschool Minister asked me to be the Assistant Director for the newborns through 2s for Vacation Bible School again this summer. I very graciously accepted.