Savior of the World

Well, despite my slightly bad attitude about the demands of the rehearsal schedule, the Savior of the World production ended up being a really positive experience for Glenn and the boys.  It also ended up being the nice start to the Christmas season that I was hoping it would be. 

Our boys played small parts in the production.  They were angels in the angel choir throughout the whole thing.  Derek had a moment where he was a temple boy during the scene where Zacharias goes to the temple to burn incense.  That was Derek’s favorite scene, and he did a great job.  Evan’s special role was playing the part of the angel of the child John the Baptist, looking down on the scene where Zacharias (who cannot speak) conveys to Elizabeth that she will have a child.  As the lights dim on that scene, a spotlight shone on Evan smiling down upon the scene.  He took that part very seriously and I was really grateful that he felt like he was able to play an important part.

One of my favorite parts was when all the angel children went to witness the birth of Jesus Christ.  It made me think about the faith that children so easily exhibit in the Savior and how special children are to Him.

I knew the crushing time commitment was paying some dividends the night after the first performance.  We were praying as a family, and Evan prayed.  He will sometimes rush through prayers like a typical seven year old, but that night he was so reverent and said, “Heavenly Father, thank thee for sending us Jesus.”  It was so simple but incredibly sincere, and I realized spending hours singing and thinking about the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually has made our kids love and appreciate Him more.  I’m sure that feeling won’t last forever (which is why we have to constantly be trying to draw closer to Christ), but for now I’m glad our boys had that opportunity.  After all, it does take work to strengthen our faith in Christ, and apparently the rehearsals weren’t always easy…

It has been good for our kids to have those songs about Jesus running through their heads (the songs are great, and I now regret sometimes being grumpy about the soundtrack playing constantly in our house).   I thought it was funny when we turned on some Christmas music for the first time the day after Thanksgiving.  Amelia started yelling in her most demanding voice, “No!  I want Come Deliver Us!” which was the song that is sung during the temple scene (click on the link to hear the song).  Derek loved marching around singing that song with all his might. I guess the whole family has grown to love the music.

Can you see Glenn and Derek there on the left?  Evan was missing in action at that moment. 

I’m not quite ready to say that I hope we get to do it again next year (I haven’t recovered yet from the countless hours involved in this), but now that the performances are past, I do kind of miss the special time Glenn and the boys were able to spend together focusing on the real reason for Christmas.