Glory Revealed

To My Most Amiable Readers;

Blessed am I that the events of the past week can be taken as a wide step outside of the norm. Dustin caused a massive fire in our co-worker's home while saudering a pipe. Same day our truck rolls away with Dustin digging in his heels with a death-grip on the bumper until it smashes into a blackberry bush. Two days later Dustin and I end up with a nasty stomach/intestinal virus that leaves us vomiting all through the night. It was so volatile, I actually have the job this week of disinfecting the ceiling in the bathroom.

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you." 1 Peter 4:13

"..Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

One could argue that all that has passed this week had natural cause/effect relations, explainable logically. I too, would side that way but for the intensity and close proximity of the aforementioned events to today, Saturday. The day we, the women of the Amor Viviente church, have planned for our first cooperative effort, a women's outreach, the goal of which was to bring our unsaved friends and neighbors to hear testimonies of our great God.

We have two new sisters in the Lord today, Saturday.

That's miracle number one. The other preceeded it. Friday I started feeling nauseaus, not an alarming symptom for a pregnant lady, and by ten o'clock at night started throwing up. This continued throughout the night coupled with diarrhea, on into the morning. Dustin joined me in this fashion sometime after midnight. Praise God for two bathrooms. I believe I slept maybe two hours in total.

Awake to Saturday, to children who need me, to a spouse retching in the bathroom, to a bunch of to-do's left on my list for the women's outreach at 3:00. I shut my eyes and pray, "Lord, give me strength, give me joy, let this illness pass from me so that I can be a part of showing Your love and hope to the women who are coming to learn about You today."

Feeling weak and lathargic, I bumble my way through taking care of the children. I admit they watched two movies today as I lay stretched out on my bed. By 1:00 I'm thinking, I'd better not go, I'm white as a sheet, our vehicle is in a blackberry bush and I have so much stuff to bring with me, I'll probably throw up in the taxi...on and on. By 1:30 I start to revive. Kati, one of the women planning this event, arrives and we arrange for a taxi to pick us and our considerable baggage up. I realize I'm conversing normally, sitting up even; something's changing.

On arriving to our church I find I'm filling up with energy, joy, and excitement. My color returns. I fly into the flurry of activity as we women dish up plates and plates of our homemade goodies. By the time our guests arrive I'm good as new; better in fact...with joy and energy and spunk to share. God made me well.

If one would doubt the miraculous element in this, it's well to know that as I write this at 10:22 at night, Dustin is still sick in bed, having recently thrown up again. He looks and sounds terribly sick, and he's not a wimp. Also, any who know me well are familiar with my dependence on good sleep. I slept hardly at all last night, but still at the time of this writing I feel wide awake and ready to go.

Our outreach went well; my rowing friends were there and they were moved by the powerful testimonies shared. Two women answered the Lord's invitation and are saved. More women expressed joy and interest in attending more meetings like this. All received prayer and blessing, fellowship and joy.

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you too participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13

Your Most Devoted,
Sarah

Hi, I'm New Here.

God is Great!

To My Most Amiable Readers,

Greetings from a sunshiny Chile! We're just emerged from five days straight of rain, so we feel quite renewed! Lately we've had such wonderful times as a church family. Today after the service, Nancy graciously extended an invitation to all of us to stay for beans and rice. Working together we made a nice salad and the guys ran out for drinks and bread. Nancy and Juanita whipped together an apple cake. We ate together on the pingpong table and so enjoyed the meal together. We were few but had such a great time together.

Us women of the church are planning an event for women on the 28th of this month. It will be an afternoon of sharing testimonies, Biblical teaching, and on topics relating to women. We are all inviting our acquaintances, neighbors, friends, and co-workers with hopes that they will be moved by God to commit their lives and hearts to Him. We ask your prayers as invitations are extended, that God would draw these women to Him and that they would make time to come. We ask prayer for the husbands of these women, that they would release them to attend, helping care for children left at home. We ask prayer to cover all the little details of hospitality that need to be attended to, and that God would protect us from the Enemy's plans to distract or discourage us. Thank you!

Your Most Devoted,
Sarah

Little Crazy Gingrichs

Aren't they dear?

Yipes!

When onions are frightened.

Back On The Water

Greetings to my Most Amiable Readers!
I just returned from some glorious rowing with my comrade-in-arms Deborah. It was just the two of us today, rowing at sunset and watching the fading light play across the clouds and water. We could see both volcanoes clearly from the canal and enjoyed the peaceful beauty greatly.

I plan on continuing to row until my growing belly makes things too awkward. My endurance seems to be the same, and it feels so great to be outside on the water exercising. My only concern is talk of a new dress code while rowing: spandex. Now....I don't know about you, but "spandex" with "pregnant" is a rather odd/embarrasing/hideous combination for me. Perhaps I'll rebel. Sometimes one needs to.
Hope you enjoy the pictures; Edison sleeping like an angel and Sophia being a little ballerina.
Your Most Devoted,
Sarah

The One Who Can

Road Maps

Would ye learn the road to Laughtertown,

O ye who have lost the way?

Would ye have young heart though your hair be gray?

Go learn from a little child each day.

Go serve his wants and play his play,

And catch the lilt of his laughter gay,

And follow his dancing feet as they stray;

For he knows the road to Laughtertown,

O ye who have lost the way!

-Katherine D. Blake

I held my son's sleeping form as my tears made trails down my face down to his golden hair. Half praying, half crying, I thanked the Lord for my son, for his life. I thanked God for protecting Edison that day, for saving him when we could not.

At lunch we were enjoying egg salad sandwiches and plums, huddled around the small table in the kitchen. Edison suddenly let out a strange cry and burst into tears. We saw the plum he was eating, but not the pit. Oh no, we thought, he swallowed the pit! He was still breathing, so for a moment we didn't know what to do; probably both of us were wondering if a plum seed can go through the body safely.

Then he started gagging, and I administered back blows with him laying facedown along my lap, every now and then sweeping my finger to try to get it out. But to no avail; he continued to cry and gag and cough up lots of fluids. I was encouraged that air was still passing through but my fear was that the seed would lay flat and cut off the air. I prayed continuously it seemed, an un-ending script of "Oh, Jesus, help him, oh Jesus, please!". As we panicly searched a medical book for whether we should give the heimlick to him, he suddenly gagged forcefully and the pit flew up into his mouth. Thank you Lord!

I held him close and rocked him until his sobs ceased, and he immediately took me up on the offer of some yogurt.

There was one time in Costa Rica when Sophia almost squeezed herself outside of a balcony railing thirty feet above a concrete patio. I watched this with horror; I was too far away to stop her, and Dustin had thought she was with me and was nowhere in sight. Fortunately one of our friends standing near saw her and pulled her back. The night that followed I broke down in sobs, thinking of what may have happened to my little girl. Sometimes it's a curse having an active imagination.

So with Edison; my mind raced through what could have happened, that my little boy could have...I couldn't even complete the thought.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a very protective nature about my kids. In a country where it's normal to hold babies on the lap in the car and ignore seatbelts, I'm a staunch carseating, seat-belt-buckling safety warrior. I keep a steel grip on their little hands when walking near busy roads, and I only let trusted friends take care of them. It's not because I'm an intensely worried person; I'm just intensely in love with my children, and if something happened to them that I could have prevented, a large part of my heart would die and shrivel up.

But one of the first things you learn as a parent is that you really don't have control. Even the most diligent parent can find their child playing with the electrical socket for that one minute when they weren't looking. We simply can't protect them from everything.

That hit home while Edison struggled, gagged, and cried. "I can't help him!", I thought, and prayed to the One who could.

So, as I lay there with my son sleeping sweetly, alive and beautiful; I gave my fears and my love and my son to the Lord, knowing that He IS in control, that He sees every moment, even those stolen minutes when I don't.

May we learn to trust more fully Him who watches over us!

You Mean There's Going To Be Another One!?

Still finding it a bit hard to believe that we're going to have another one of these loons around : D. The baby is about the size of a grain of rice right now, but I'm sure it already has the silliness gene we seem to pass on.
We're so thankful to God for the gift of another child. Maybe I'll finally feel like a real "grown-up". Naaaahhh....if you can still spend an entire day playing in the ocean, doing hand-stands and perfecting "dolphin jumps", you can't rightly assume the solemn mantle of "adulthood". Oh well, my kids seem to like me this way ; ). Blessings!


Your Most Devoted, Sarah

Long Lost Sarah

To My Most Amiable Readers,

To those who have wondered what befell the disciplined poster of posts...I have been under a monster cold. And it seriously is a cold that only a monster's huge hulking frame could handle. Monster-sized headaches that don't fit in my head, unruly amounts of mucuos requiring alarming yards of toilet paper, coughs that wrack my body and leave me looking half dead. So, that's my excuse, but I haven't been entirely unproductive...

On the "My Albums" link you can see an album of our latest adventures in Argentina with Dustin's parents. We had such a good time, even though we were all under the weather. I tried to go paragliding (only cost $60 bucks!), but they were all booked up...

...but, it's good I didn't.....

...not in my "condition" anyways.....

hee hee heeeeee

Yes, sometime probably in November the newest little Gingrich will come into the world. We covet your prayers for health for baby and mama.

Your Most Devoted,

Sarah

Sweet Moment

Soledad (Solitude)

To My Most Amiable Readers,

Greetings! My scribblings have been scant of late, so I beg your leave to launch upon a patchwork update....

Last week I took a two day retreat on Isla Tenglo. The retreat was a time for solitude, prayer, and meditation on His word and presence. For a busy mother of two to suddenly have nothing to wash, cook, vacuum, scrub, scold, read to, change diaper of, or dust; this was quite a dramatic change. It was just me, a few books and journals, a candle, a tent, and a sleeping bag. Outside of those luxuries, I had creation: birds, flowers, plants, trees, seashells, the ocean, seaweed, horses, oxen, and wide vistas of snow tipped mountains. I had sunsets and sunrises, birds' calls, and the weightless exhilaration of swimming and being held by the muted underwater world, goggles allowing my eyes to enjoy the plants and shells. I had the healthy exhaustion of hiking and swimming. I had the deep peace of sitting in the woods unmoving. When I read the Word, the verses jumped out at me with new life and meaning. Above all, I felt that I had entered His rest. What a time for closeness with our Father.

And He is not without humor. In the middle of the night I awoke to a loud noise. My head was right below the screen door of the tent, and I turned to see what it could be. The moon was shining bright as day and showed me, inches from my own groggy face, the huge oxen peering down at me, breathing big puffs of air which stirred my hair. It licked the tent and slobber smeared across the netting. It's nose dripped as well. Now, oxen are huge to begin with. They're even huge-er when you look at them from the ground up (and all alone on an island in a tent doesn't help much either). I froze. I waited. Eventually he got bored of bathing my tent in vile fluids and starting munching down the grass around my tent. RRRRrrrrriiiiiiiiiipppp! MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH RRRRRrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiippppp! MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH...and so on. It sounded like each bite cleared half an acre. So I tried to go back to sleep with the "rip-munch" lullaby, but didn't have much success. Then a much more alarming sound broke through the noisy eating. About five horses had gotten startled by something and were crashing through the trees like wild things fleeing a banshee. And I mean crashing; like big branches snapped off as these panic-stricken beasts charged about wildly. Amidst the pounding of the hooves and destruction, I realized they had spooked the two curious oxen grazing by my tent. Immediately my mind read my obituary: "American missionary Sarah Gingrich was killed on Tuesday after being trampled to death by stampeding oxen on an island off of the coast of Chile..."

Fumbling with my matches, I lit my candle. My reasoning was this: If they see my glowing tent as an obstacle, they may just avoid stampeding directly over it. Not one to waste good candle light, I spent my time reading Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ, now and then jerking my head up to attention when the stampeding grew exceptionally close. Eventually man and beast both settled down, and though the first thing I heard on waking was "rip-munch", I held no grudge. I was not trampled...life is good.

If you would like to see recent pictures of our family and doings, click on "My Albums" in my "Links A Plenty" section. Blessings!

Your Most Devoted, Sarah

Summer Fun

To My Most Amiable Readers,
We are in the hot grip of a heat wave here in Puerto Montt, and boy....we're loving it! I don't remember the last time it rained, and that's saying a lot for this rainy region. I've washed everything in the house and watched with joy as the bright sun dried it quickly, freeing up the clothesline for the next load. Now if you're thinking right now that I'm a bit touched in the head for getting giddy about that, then you've never lived without a dryer in a rainy season (which lasts roughly seven months). Here the kids are enjoying some homemade popsicles. We were at Sodimac, the Chilean version of Home Depot, yesterday and Dustin was waiting in line to pay while I tried to find something. Arriving at his side, I spotted these cheap popsicle molds and promptly threw two packs in the cart with a sheepish grin at Dustin. He laughed saying, "I KNEW you were going to buy those! I knew as soon as I saw them!". What can I say? Ever since I was a kid I've loved making popsicles, and I guess I'll never grow out of it. We are excited to receive Dustin's parents tomorrow. They will be staying for a whole month, and we look forward to good times spent with them. Dustin's dad, Dave, will be helping Dustin with the construction of the house on Tenglo, and during their stay we will take some vacation time with them and head either north, east, or south (plans are yet in the works). As most of my readers are in winter right now, I'd just like to share that I have a great tan. Har har har har!

Your Devoted, Sarah

To My Most Amiable Readers;
Greetings from sunshiny Chile! Well, I got real brave one day and made salmon sushi. And braver still, I actually ate it! Hee heee. Sophia liked it a lot! Here's the kids enjoying a snooze on the counter....don't ask me why, we're just weird like that.
After church we went road-tripping up to Puerto Varas where we enjoyed the beach by the lake and picnicked. I also went kayaking with my rowing friends, which was especially fun since we flipped! In bad news....Elizabeth won the kayak race..and she's a ballerina for pete's sake! We rowers were quite scandalized. Here's Sophia enjoying a bungi/trampoline type thingy. Your Most Devoted, Sarah

Skippy at The Halfway House

To My Most Amiable Readers;

Meet Skippy! To truly appreciate him, I must tell you about his miracle mom. His mom, Chacha, an active, bus-chasing, tire-attacking, Chilean street mutt that hangs out at the rowing club, patronized the family of one of the rowing kids (lived under their house). One day they decided to get rid of her. After repeatedly stabbing her with a knife, they threw her in the garbage can. The next day she showed up on their doorstep. They never touched her again.

So, three months ago Chacha had a litter of pups, most of which were given away. Skippy did not get a home. I noticed him at the club because the poor thing would try to nurse from a different mother who had evidently just weaned her own pups. He would nestle in to her when she laid down; his own mom being too preoccupied with terrorizing cars.

He was all skin and bones and very timid. One day, looking at him, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I scooped him up in my arms, to the astonishment of the rowing kids, and declared him either mine or that I'd find him a home. He came home with me, quiet and still on the long bus ride home.

I had to teach him how to eat dog food by getting it wet and mushy and serving it in his water. Gradually as his nutritional needs were met, he began to come alive. He would wag his tail instead of cowering when I came near. He even made it through his first bath with minimal trauma.

Our dog, Sheba, of course loved the company, and they wrestled together late into the night. I wanted to keep him, but knew that our small yard is not enough for two dogs. So, having friends involved in the Animal Protection group; I took Skippy to where they had an event of giving away dogs and educating the public. So hard to give him up. But a lady and her son liked him right away, and after receiving the exhortations on animal care and responsibility, they took Skippy home.
Why do I share all this? I don't know. Dustin would say I'm becoming like Gigi, our beloved friend with a passion for animals. I think it may have another root.

When I was little I loved animals so much. Birds with broken wings, stray kittens, even a bat that I found that was stunned; nothing was below my pity and love. The tears I cried when a broken-winged bird I had been giving convalescent care to finally died. How many shoe-boxes were commandeered to serve as final resting places!

Over the years my love of animals has faded. I can't really pinpoint the reason why; but perhaps it's a symptom of the hardening of heart that sometimes affects us as we age. Perhaps it's the hopelessness that comes from seeing so many sufferings in the world.

But, I think happier people we will be if we never stop jumping in puddles, swinging as high as we can on the swings at the park, stopping to enjoy the spray of a fountain (or jumping in it), actually playing Play-Doh with the kids instead of just doing damage-control, and yes, caring about animals and interacting with them. Because their real or imagined personalities are gifts to us from God; they are our companions in a beautiful, uncomplicated way.

So...that's all then, really. Here's a picture of Edison being his silly, affectionate self. Blessings my friends!

Your Most Devoted, Sarah

A Lesson In The City

Bound and determined to get out and about, Sophia, Edison, and I hurriedly finished our breakfast, and after much scampering about looking for shoes, hats, and keys, we boarded a bus for downtown.

You see, when Dustin is in the mountains for a whole week with the truck, we don't get out much. Maybe that's my fault; it's kind of nerve-wracking shuffling two energetic little children on and off of buses, so I often find it easier just to do walks to the local parks.

But necessity is the mother of courage too, and needing some thread to do some much-needed mending, we set out.

Our first stop was to admire the beautiful Alerce church in the plaza. I pointed out the angels, the carving of Jesus, and the cross on the high steeple. In toddlerese I tried to tie-in what all the symbols meant, while restraining Sophia from terrorizing the pigeons. Onward to the post office where we sent off some thank-yous and cards while Sophia coquettishly waved at each person within eye contact and Edison yelled "CA CA CA CA GA GA LA!" as he stared at a poster featuring a bright mail truck. He's learning the word "car", go figure with a Nascar dad; unfortunately "caca" is the spanish word for, well, poo. I didn't blush too badly.

Roving about to find the elusive yarn store, we came across a man lying face down on the ground. At first glance I thought he was a drunk, passed out on the sidewalk. Looking further I saw that his hand was extended forward, grasping a little cardboard box with a few pesos in it. I was confused at this manner of begging until I saw his legs, or lack of them really. They ended mid-thigh. I don't know if this was the only comfortable position for him or it was more effective in eliciting sympathy, but the scene captured my attention. Around him cheerful, well-dressed professionals, yacking into cell phones or just striding importantly, walked right by him. What a strange world we have.

I gave Sophia some money and together we walked to the man. Sophia put the coins in the box and tried to smile at him, but it was very hard for him to lift up his head. I asked her if she wanted to pray for him, and she did. He looked up then, with a touched expression and a murmered "gracias".

Our outing continued, subdued but steadily joyful. Sophia kept bringing up the "sad man with no legs", and we'd pray for him again. After supper that night, I was holding and drying Sophia from her bath, when she brought him up again: "Mommy, Jesus will help that man with no legs?"
"Yes, Sophia, Jesus will help him."
"And Sophie help him too? And Mommy, and Daddy, and Edison, and Sophie?"

Yes, it's our job. We cannot become calloused to the suffering, the real suffering, of others. Our first step is to stop complaining. Are you reading this on your own computer? You are wealthy. Did you eat today? You are blessed. Do you know Christ as Saviour? You have riches beyond number. We cannot allow the magnitude of suffering is this world to numb us; to keep us locked in complacency. Do what you can; do more than you want to.

Did you know that for $250.00 a child with cleft palate can smile for the first time and live a normal life? (SmileTrain website) Did you know you can support an AIDS orphan in sub-saharan Africa for $12 a month, providing healthcare and schooling? (AIDS orphans website) We can change the world, we're called to.

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
James 2:14-16

Shutterbug Around the House

What did Mommy make this time?? Asian wraps....tuna tossed with spring onions, soy sauce, and wasabi; all embraced by baby spinach and tortillas....ginger sesame noodles....and fresh kiwi, por supuesto! Being always the family photographer, I turned the camera around on me and had some fun. We just got back from "once", which is a late dinner, at our Ecuadoran neighbors house. Sophia joined a massive pillow fight while we sipped down coffee shakes and empanadas. With coffee in my system, there's either laying in bed wide awake or writing disjointed blogs at 1:51 in the morning. I chose the latter, lucky you. Hee hee. Blessings!
Your Most Devoted, Highly Caffeinated,
Sarah

Works In Progress

To My Most Amiable Readers,

Greetings from sunny, for today at least, Chile! We are in the swing of summer and are enjoying the fruits and fresh air. I especially delight that my clothes are drying in one day instead of four or five : ). This has been perfect weather for the flurry of activity on Tenglo Island.

A team of four guys associated with Weaverland Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania are down here helping to construct the house which lies at the rear of the property. Dustin has been absolutely delighted by their willingness to work hard and their knowledge of construction. He also doesn't mind getting to speak English all day long! As I write this, he is contentedly crunching down some of the hard pretzels they brought us.

As for me, I've started a more intense rowing schedule; going three times a week for about two and a half hours in the mornings. I hope to be in good racing form for the Chilean National Rowing Finals in February. I pray that God will use this extra time around my friends at rowing to strengthen and deepen those relationships for the kingdom!

The kids are doing great; I'm really amazed at how fast they grow! A few months ago Edison couldn't walk by himself, now he runs, climbs the playground equipment and goes down the slides alone! Sophia loves to be a "little Mommy" to him, correcting him, feeding him (even though he can do it himself), carrying him, and generally bossing him around. Both kids are terrorized by our lab pup who thinks Edison is a walking chew-toy and that Sophia's screams mean "chase me faster".

So, that's a bit of an update on us, how are you?

Your Most Devoted, Sarah

Hope You Had a Jolly Good One

Dear Friends, Family, and Voyeuristic Blog Browsers,

We sincerely hope you had a great Christmas; full of joy and cheer and memories made.

Blessings!!

Dustin, Sarah, Sophia, Edison, Sheba, and Mittens

Edison's Say

At long last I will make my voice heard! Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more of an uproar; Mommy goes on and on about the ballet, Sophia, and of course...rowing, as if there was anything hard about it. And all the while I'm sure you were thinking; but what of the little prince? Well, let me fill you in. I've come a long way from my early days of slothful indulgence and obesity (see photo). I'm a biped now and prefer cowboy boots and jammies for attire (see other photo). I can now scale my throne (a.k.a. high chair) all by myself through a series of physically demanding contortions and many grunts. I do my part to keep Mommy busy; spilling stuff, playing in the toilet, dumping out everything that is inside of anything, and whatnot. Daddy is very impressed at how I can operate a laptop; whenever I climb up the desk chair and start tapping away, he comes in with such a wide-eyed expression and says a bunch of words that I assume are praise. I'm really into carbs, which makes me a fine Chilean; bread, pasta, crackers, tortillas, and cookies. I'm also an early-riser; I'm up and ready to go at 6:00 which I'm sure my parents love; more quality time together. Though, to expound on that a bit, I hardly recognize them at that fine hour. They're puffy-faced, wild-haired and grumpy for some reason, but fortunately, after Dad has a mug of hot stuff he seems more human. My sister thinks she's a little Mommy; she's always bossing me around and tattling, and even runs commentary during my diaper changes; as if my natural products are THAT gross. I hate baths and scream the whole way through them which is really fun because my voice echoes off the tile walls for good dramatic effect. Beyond all this; my Mommy would insist that I am a sweet little boy who give kisses and darling smiles and hugs, and that I am her precious "little man". I wouldn't say it, but that's what people say, you know.

Be sure to comment, I love attention!

Love, Edison James Gingrich

Girl's Night Out

To My Most Amiable Readers,

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to bring my little girl to her first ballet, The Nutcracker. We got all dressed up in black and white with matching bracelets, and one beaded purse full of "chew-chew gum" and "lips" (lip gloss). Friends helped us find good seats right in the middle and then began the magic.
Sophia was rapt with attention as the dark red curtains parted and the music swelled. Then out of all directions burst forth little ballerinas in butterfly costumes. I've never seen her attention so fixed. Then came bears and then cats with long tails and claws, stretching and prowling all over the stage. And this was just the pre-presentation!
She was especially overcome to see that four of her friends were up there dancing; our coworker's children. Sophia was always the first to start clapping when anyone bowed, and she barely restrained herself from standing on her seat.
One thing did confuse her though; each time she got off her seat it went sailing up into itself. She would look at me accusingly and tell me "No Mommy! Don't do that!". This much amused an elderly lady seated next to her.
Sophia had such a good time, and it was fun for me to see the ballet through her child's eyes and reactions. She was especially astounded with my generosity of "chew-chew gum". Each time it lost flavor I'd give her a "fresh" one. Sometimes you've got to spoil them.
As the performance came to an end, they had a time for passing out awards and graduation certificates to the ballerinas. There had to have been more than seven "Sophias" that were called forth, and each time Sophia would turn to me wide-eyed and asked if she could go up. As we got up to leave a veritable storm cloud fell over my little one's countenance....
"NO MOMMY! I'm not going home! I'm going to go up there! And dancing, ME, Sophia!" Oh how mad she was; she had figured in her mind that she would get a turn too. I tried to explain that you have to take classes first before you can dance in the ballet, but to no avail. On the verge of tears she trudged along behind me. She perked up a bit in the lobby while we waited for Daddy to pick us up. Why? Because I asked her to dance for me.

Your Most Devoted, Sarah