The Great Talent Show

Who knows, this might be one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I'm going to give it a try anyhow. Last night our Bible study group had a potluck in honor of our leader's birthday. About half of the group was celebrating either a birthday, an anniversary, or finding out the sex of a not-yet-born baby (boy, by the way), this month or next, so we sang "Happy Birthday" to everyone. However, the party was to honor Paul.
Brad and I have been attending the group for three and a half years. This small, but growing larger, group is like family. We've been with each other through difficult marriages, births of three babies so far, a funeral, a wedding, and the usual rigmarole of life. It's a blessing to be apart of their lives, and I love knowing that I'd be supported through a crisis when faced with one.
So, back to the party, after dinner one of our members sang a beautiful song about falling, but rising again in the strength of Jesus Christ. Then her two-year old daughter sang "Skinny Mirinky Dinky Dink" to Paul. Well, then everyone wanted to do something. Well, everyone under four feet high. Paul's eight year old daughter sang or danced or did the splits. Cynthia, our forty-five year old, shocked everyone with doing the splits too!
We convinced Kaeley to go out and show everyone her hula moves. Well, I should say "move", because she only knows how to hold out her arms and shake her hips at this time. However, she stood in front of Paul and shook her hips. Everyone cheered and clapped. Kaeley came running back to me and Brad with red and watery eyes. Later, in the car, she said, "Do you know why I was crying after doing my dance? Because I was so happy that they were clapping for me. Just like when you're happy at a wedding and you cry." Melted my heart.
More songs and dances by the girls. Then I asked Nathan to sing "Happy Birthday" to Paul. He stood in front of everyone and easily sang, "Happy birday a Paw. Happy birday a Paw." And on and on he went with that verse that when I realized he was still singing I had to help him sing, "Happy birthday to YOU." Everyone clapped and cheered, which took Nathan by surprise. He stood and looked around at all of us with a little smile on his face and then he bowed! Everyone had a fit of laughter, which made him stand there with even a bigger smile on his face. Since I didn't have a long hook I had to carry him off "stage". Another song by the girls.
Then Nathan stood up to sing "Eensy Weensy Spider". He sang and he sang and he sang. Then he started singing "Twinkle Twinkle". He took a breath and someone else did a little performance. When we had finished applauding we realized that Nathan was still singing! Paul drew it all to a close by giving an update on the group's plan for summer. Whenever he took a breath you could hear that Nathan was still singing about that special little star. Everyone said good-bye to one another and Nathan was still singing.
If you're interested in having a side show... I've got a couple.