Have you ever had that feeling of humiliation so deep that you thought you were going to get sick – right there? I had that the other night. Our church was having a teen talent showcase night. They had told us about it weeks ago and we bought tickets right away, cialis marked it on our calendar and left the tickets in the car so we made sure we’d have them the day we needed them. When the day came we spent it doing various things, running around, etc. We knew we needed to be at the church at 4PM so our day was planned around that. Now any other time that we are at a church event I am always dressed up. I wear dresses or black pants with a nice shirt and the rest of the leadership and the youth are always in jeans and t-shirts. We had one day where they had told us something was formal and I dressed in a nice dress along with two or three other girls and for the rest it just meant wearing black jeans instead of blue. So this day as we’re getting ready I say to Corey, “You know, every time we go somewhere I’m the overdressed old lady. Tonight is all about the youth, let’s dress ‘youthy’.” So we put on our comfy jeans and t-shirts and head out the door excited to see all our kids show what they can play and sing, etc. As we pull up to the church I notice a guy in a suit. I jokingly say, “Watch everyone else be dressed up,” thinking it an impossibility because they NEVER dress up. And as we get out of the car I see many familiar faces…in very unfamiliar clothes. The guys are all in suits, the girls in really, really nice dresses. “What in the world is going on?” I think and prepare to run back into the car and head home for a change – except it would be at least an hour to return home and come back. Too late, they’ve seen us and we have to go in. I see one of the leaders looking incredibly beautiful and I sheepishly say, “Um, no one told us this was a formal event.” She laughs as she shows us on the ticket where (not too clearly in my own defense) it says “no jeans, no tennis shoes, etc.” How did we miss this very important detail??? As we walk in the church it is all candlelit and it looks as if we’re going to a wedding. EVERYONE is dressed up – even the guy who wears the same shirt every week to church!! They usher us to the third row because they consider us a guest of honor. As I am sinking into my chair, that sick feeling rushing over, a young man comes to talk to Corey to make sure he pronounces our names right when they announce we’re there. My stomach is now completely rolling and I’m sure everyone is saying, “Look how disrespectful the missionaries are wearing jeans!!” Fortunately when they call on us it’s just to stand up and wave. The room is fairly dark so we do a quick wave and smile and hope they’re all looking at our faces! After a few minutes of what must have been an extremely horrified look on my face Corey looked over and said, “There’s nothing we can do about it. We’re here. Let’s enjoy the night and support the kids.” So we did. They were awesome and before long I forgot about how ridiculous we looked in that crowd. The kids one after another through the night crashed in our row to chat and never once made a comment about our clothes. We made a fairly quick exit at the end, saying only the necessary goodbyes, but we survived our most embarrassing moment so far!
On another note, the kids did awesome! I wish I could tell you about each one. One that is very dear to our hearts is Juan David. You’ve seen pictures on other posts if you’ve looked back through some of our older stuff. He’s just the biggest sweetheart and he is the reason Maggie now enjoys going to church. He is a very loving person who takes time for everyone. He leads praise and worship for the kids and often bounces between playing keyboard in “big church” and children’s church. We’re always impressed with his incredible servant’s heart but I learned something new that I hadn’t known. He was sitting next to me and I asked him if he was doing anything else during the show – he had played with a couple of different bands. He told me he was presenting his school of music. At that moment they announced he was coming up with his school and he got really nervous! When it was their turn there were two groups, the first was a pretty beginner group who played “Yes, Lord,” and the second a more advanced group that played a very popular song here. Juan David had taught these kids to play drums, keyboard, bass and guitar. It was incredible. He just turned 16 years old and here he is not only doing a million things for the church but taking time to teach kids how to play so they can one day play for praise and worship and honor God with their talents. I was in awe as I realized this young man was not nervous about messing up himself, but nervous for all of his students that had to perform in front of a crowd. He’s just an incredible kid, and just one of many that pour their lives into the church and ministry at an age when they are expcted to be lazy and directionless.
~Tona