Talent Shows

I was always a bit jealous when our high school put on talent shows. I don't sing and I hadn't had any dance lessons then, I didn't do any instruments and so I was always watching all the fun from the audience.

When I went with my children to the Christian camp called Camp Farthest Out, we were a small group and Wednesdays were always talent night. It was so much fun because we knew everybody. I enjoyed very much watching my friends do their amazing feats.

One of the things we did daily was called creatives. Music was one of these. It so happened that one year, our leader had me help play the little xylophone bells to the tune "Song of Joy" by Beethoven. He decided that we did such a great job, he'd put it in the talent show. So Wed. night, I hit the bells just right and the joy just welled up in me. When the audience clapped, I felt that I had done something spectacular, even though I was just a part.

The next year I remembered how great it was to participate in the talent show instead of just watching. I had had a vivid dream that seemed significant so that night I got up and told the dream. I got a pleasant reaction. A few years later, my daughter and I had taken clogging lessons. This was before Country music was so big and clogging was relatively unknown on the north of Dixie. It's like tap dancing, only to country music and most of the moves aren't as tricky. We decided to do "Cotton Eye Joe" at the CFO show and practiced so that we could be symmetrical, doing the same things on the right and left and meeting in the middle. When we were done, we nodded to each other and I still have chills when I think of the reaction. The place exploded. Maybe it was because Dawn was just a little girl and we had done perfectly, but whatever it was, that was a WOW! We repeated our performance at church at a fundraiser/bake sale and that performance is on tape, though I have never seen it. Dawn was only about 10 and she is 27 now.

The last talent number I did was the most wonderful for me. I had been learning to do worship dancing with ribbons and I asked a friend to join me at CFO, dancing to the beautiful song, "Breath Of God." We wore our long skirts and had sashes and used our ribbons. When I was up there on stage, making a turn and swinging my ribbons, I just got in such a wonderful place that I didn't even notice the audience. It seemed as if angels were dancing with us and God was the receiver of our effort. I don't remember if we got an applause or not. My eldest son was watching and that was a joy for me. People were pleased with what we had done. Even now, I offer it to the Lord. It was for Him.

So now I wonder, have you ever wished to be in a talent show? I learned that there are many different talents. You could write a cute monologue, put on a costume and give a skit. Any writer could do that. And if you still want to do something and you don't write, you could do that old teen standby, lip sinc to a favorite recording. What's old could be new again. Have fun. Nancy