Winter is NOT 76 Degrees, or Smiling on Stage

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Hello again from Houston. Early partial load in. Went pretty well, just a few hang ups. I really didn’t have a whole lot to do. Then we took some time to play (mostly because the ballet needed the space, so we had to leave.) Met up with Sarah’s family for barbeque. Fun times. Wandered around Astros’ stadium and took some fun pictures. Wandered around at the aquarium, played games, played in the fountain, petted a horse. Good times. We shot some more pool, which seems to be our new hobby, and laid in the grass.

Man, it was so beautiful! Like 76 degrees, no clouds, green grass- the works. But I’m sorry, winter is not meant to be like this. It’s supposed to be snowy and cold. No shorts. But I did enjoy laying in the sun and getting a little color.

Back to work! Unfortunately, theaters aren’t known for the windows, so we’re all pretty pasty. Still not much to do, just looking at colors; doing my best to prepare to run the show live. Right before the show, we were getting ready to pray and some of the girls were with us. They started playing with my hair like crazy! “It’s so long. Don’t ever cut it.” “And it’s curly!” Very fun. I’m sure they would have sat and played with it all night if they could.

When we prayed, we invited in the few children who were around to join us. Dora prayed for all of us and the show. (And their families in Uganda and their sponsors… wow, do I need to take some praying lessons from these kids!) She used a phrase that I really liked. She said, “God, please be smiling on stage tonight.” Something like that. It was a great picture. Doing what you do where God put you in such a way that He can’t help but smile.

The show went well. I, unfortunately didn’t get to watch much of it because I was concentrating on finding lights to get everyone covered. I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome because there was zero useable frontlight, but still I was glad we didn’t come in in the middle of an orchestra or something- lots of side light was very helpful. The kids did an amazing job; they play so well for large audiences. I wasn’t thrilled with how the lights turned out, but they were adequate. The last song, which is usually is quite big and rock and rollish, wasn’t. There just wasn’t anything I could do with what I had at that point. I did my best to keep somewhere to go to, but by the end there just wasn’t anything. Oh well.

IHOP again tonight. Sarah and I seriously should not be allowed to be together ever because we get laughing and there’s no turning back. We were rolling in the parking lot even! It hurt so bad.

Overall, the day was great, but slightly overshadowed by some news from home. It brought to mind the fragility of life and a bit of reality. We’re all here for very short times. As I celebrate life with these children, there’s a different perspective. Life and death coexisting simultaneously. When one of our kids gets up and says, “I’m grateful to God that I’m alive,” there’s something there. How often to we thank Him for simple things (although very big)? These kids have seen so much death and disease, it’s ridiculous and awful. Even more, it makes me want to do something… more.

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