As a mom, I just hate it when my kids’ dreams don’t come true. Not, of course, that I want ALL their dreams to come true (ie, I have no desire see my son’s dream of become a NASCAR driver come true. Thanks, but can anyone say FIERY DEATH?) I do, however, buy into the hope that they’ll be happy, have satisfying careers, fall in love, have amazing children of their own.
And I’m willing for them to work at loans too. Like this summer, when my daughter took a job washing dishes so she could earn enough money to take driver’s ed.
But if I could, I would orchestrate it the things they work hard for, they’d succeed at. And in my daughter’s life, that’s theater.
Every year, our amazing theater does a musical for the fall season. Every year it gets a little more technical, and this year, they’re doing Annie. It’s an all kids production, so the adult roles are played by kids. Ie, my son David (age 16) is Daddy Warbucks. (he can’t WAIT to shave his head bald. I told him that he has to abstain until AFTER we get our Christmas pictures taken). My daughter desperately wanted the part of Ms. Hannigan. She has a Hannigan personality and I thought she’d be perfect. She even got to play the part at a fundraising event this summer. I thought she nailed it.
However, when the parts went up, another talented young lady had landed Hannigan. Sarah got Lilly. Another great part (Rooster’s girlfriend), she gets to be a little ditzy tramp. I think she’ll do a bang-up job.
Sarah was bitterly disappointed. She had already embraced the Hannigan role in her mind. I saw the pain on her face and just wanted to take it on myself. I wished she could see the potential I saw in the role she’d been given – and the blessing of even getting a role (over 60 kids auditioned). But she doesn’t have my view of her, her beauty, her talent, her charisma. She doesn’t see what I see.
I think about that sometimes, with God. That although we desperately want something else, he knows the richness of the opportunity He’s handed us. And knows that while others might be a great fit for the role we think we should have, in fact, we have the potential of doing a spectacular job with what we’ve been handed, if we’ll just stop being disappointed, and start training for the right role.
can play every role I want to. But I can stop wishing for other roles and dive into the one I’ve been given, today.
Maybe someday she’ll play Hannigan. But she’ll have this season to learn Lilly, and make it shine.
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