Irrational Fears and Victorious Outcomes...

I have an irrational fear of speaking in front of people. It's not debilitating or anything, just extremely uncomfortable. I liken it to Chris' 'fear' of flying...he feels really uncomfortable and nervous until the moment we take off, and then he's fine. Same with me...I fret and worry until I start talking, and then run with it! Yesterday I had just such one experience...

I was asked to speak at the weekly elementary assembly. Now, you might think "what's to fear...they're all little!" I kept trying to tell myself that, but then I'd just keep going back to how QUICKLY these little souls get BORED! You can feel a collective restlessness come over the room as soon as a speaker has overworn their attention spans...first the ECP/KG, then first, and finally 5th. By the time the 5th graders lose it, the little kiddies are all but bouncing up and down in their seats and running down the aisles!

Needless to say, I was feeling the pressure.

I decided to do a "magic show" sandwiched with a two-part story. The story was about a time that I was less than honest about my contribution to a "rule-breaking session" with my brother. Then came the magic show, which...

was AWESOME!

Here's how it went (imagine each performed with my DRAMATIC FLAIR!)

Act 1: Thumb and pointer finger magically create intertwined rings behind my head (courtesy of my Uncle Doug...WITH accompanying vocals)

APPLAUSE!!!
(encouraged by my 5th grade assistant with a sign that said "applause")

Act 2: One finger "jumps" off my right hand onto my left hand (much less cool than it sounds...also with accompanying vocals!)

APPLAUSE!!!

Act 3: The "Disappearing Man". Our friend Steve Luukkonen stands on the "stage"...on the count of three rolled off while three elementary boys jumped in front of where he was (really, they just jumped). The effect was truly mysterious...and maybe not in the good way?!

APPLAUSE!!!

Act 4: "Voice Detection" - I used my AMAZING magical powers to detect which voice was the manly 5th grade teacher...WITHOUT LOOKING! (mind you, the only other option I gave myself was a 5-year-old ECP girl, but it shouldn't diminish your impression of me!)

APPLAUSE!!!

Act 5: I made my scarf disappear! The fact that it only disappeared (through the air) into the first row of 2nd graders didn't phase the audience in the least. :)

WILD APPLAUSE!!!

It transformed into a lesson about how the things we do wrong and then try to hide are actually quite obvious to God, even if not to the people around us. I then encouraged the students to choose to "fess up" when they're tempted to blame someone else...and then come tell me about it. I already had three "fessers" yesterday!

Ultimately, I just feel really thankful that I wasn't assigned to middle school. I feel like the "magic show" would have been less of a "hit"... :)