Once again I find myself humbled by the sweet
thoughts of my children. This week has
been a big deal. Jacey decided this year
to enter the PTA Reflections Art Contest, under the category of choreography. Jacey by nature is sweet, concerned about
those around her, quiet, and she expects a lot out of herself. As grateful as we are for her desire to do
good things and do them well, we are also always reminding her how great she
is, and that that has nothing to do with how well she does on something.
She is not one to like to call attention to herself
in a group, yet always seems to have plenty of friends. Because seeking to be in the limelight is not
in her personality, we love how much she loves dance. When she’s onstage at recitals, she completely
forgets that she is in front of a crowd and enters her own little world. I’ve never heard her say she’s nervous before
a recital, and I love that she has an opportunity to perform and feel confident
in front of others. She does get
nervous, however, if it’s just her dancing by herself in front of someone. Like, really nervous. That’s why it was a big deal that she decided
to enter this contest. She knew that
people would be watching the video of her dancing and did it anyway.
The theme for Reflections this year was “Believe,
Dream, Inspire”. I put together a list
of songs that I thought fit in with the theme and let her choose off the
list. She chose “Beautiful World” by
Justin Cash. (Get it here) We thought it was a great
choice and she got to work.
After she
had her dance figured out we tried to record it every night for a week. Every time we tried, something went wrong. Our video camera wouldn’t work. After we borrowed one we went to the church
to record it in a bigger room and someone was always there. Then the battery died on the camera. The next night someone was sick. She didn’t feel like she did as well as she
could so she wanted to redo it. We
finally ended up with one that she was happy with late last night. We came home, she went to bed, and I sat down
at the computer to burn the DVD. Then I
discovered that our new computer doesn’t have a Fire Wire portL Dan went to his office and tried until
2:00a.m., but couldn’t get it to burn there either. I had to wake poor Jacey up early early in
the morning to redo it on just a few hours of sleep with my regular camera
since it was due today. She was
completely exhausted but was such a good sport.
After she went to school I got to work on the computer again so I could
bring it to her before school was out. I
got it on the computer, saved the movie, but when I went to burn it my computer
wouldn’t recognize any of the dozens of DVDs I tried to burn it on to. I was afraid we were just going to have to
bag it and was dreading telling her when she got home when I reread her Artist
Statement that she had to write to go along with her performance. This is what she wrote:
“Beautiful World” is about how sometimes life isn’t
fair. Sometimes the harder you try, the
harder things get. It seems unfair when
you work so hard for something that comes so easily to others. I’ve been in ballet for 8 years. I love it, but I work hard. There are dancers in my class who haven’t
danced as long but make it look so easy. I'm happy for them, but I also know that by working hard and finding joy in
developing my talents I am becoming the person God wants me to be. Even if things are hard along the way, it
really is a Beautiful World.
What a good girl, right?? I am so grateful for her
example. Luckily, a friend came to the
rescue with a different DVD. After
trying that one several times and a silent prayer it finally worked. As relieved as I am to be done with this
project, the lesson she taught me in the meantime was priceless. Life isn't easy. That was never meant to be the plan and that's ok. But there is always joy to be found:)
