I had wanted to use this book even before I found out that Penny would be performing in a modern-version of a musical based on the book. So, it worked out well that the year I planned on reading the book, her home school enrichment group director just happened to pick, Pilgrim, for the musical to perform. And this past school year the kids in HSE ( Home School Etc.) have been working hard on things from acting, to singing, dancing, building sets, learning to run lights and sound, sewing costumes, etc., etc. to prepare for the big production. I must say that all of their hard work really paid off. As the director said, "You all rose to a level of excellence." But, it wasn't just their amazing performance that really impressed me. I was more moved by their excellent attitudes. After HOURS of grueling rehearsals, when I'd go to pick Penny up, I couldn't believe how the kids were never complaining. They were full of smiles, complimenting others on a job well-done and thanking Mrs. Traum for all of her hard work and patience with the kids. And the other thing that struck me was the conviction of the kids in getting the message of the play out to the audience. This was not just a story to entertain the crowd. It sent out a message of redemption through the cross of Christ as pilgrims travel the journey of life on their journey to reach the Celestial City.
Having just said, "See you later!" to Father just seven weeks ago, the scenes where pilgrims passed on from this life and reached the King waiting for them in the Celestial City was very moving.
Jay and I both cried at least three times throughout the musical. And I watched it twice, so that meant I was moved to tears at least six times. There were also moments of great laughter and dramatic scenes of adventure. Penny's main role was that of dancing. So, it was hard for me to catch photos of her moving about, since I had to keep my camera on theater mode, (due to no flash photography), which means that any small movement becomes a blur. But, I'll still post some, as any silly mom must do, so that you get the idea of how active the wonderful dances were.
That was before she became sick. But, fortunately, she somehow managed to keep smiling even at the two performances on Friday, even though we had some real exciting drama at our house after the Thursday night performance. After we got home, at almost 10 p.m. I went in the say, "Good-Night," to Penny and I thought it odd that her fan when out right after I turned it on. She said it had been going off-and-on the night before. Then when we sat down on her bed she suddenly said, "Mom, what's that noise?" She pointed to the electrical outlet next to her bed and then I heard it, too. There was a strange crackling noise. Penny then got down on the floor and looked at it and said, "Mom, there are sparks in there!" We couldn't get a hold of our electrician that night, so we called 9-1-1 and had the fire department come over and check it out. They finally figured out which breaker to turn off, as they are all mis-labeled and said that we needed to keep it off until the electrician could fix it. They could detect heat behind the wall, but not a fire, yet. So, the next day, between performances, I had Penny take a nap in our bedroom, while the electrician fixed all of the electrical outlets in her bedroom. She hadn't slept well that Thursday night, so she was exhausted on Friday. The electrician showed us the outlet that was sparking and you could see how one wire was melting and the screws had turned black. A few other outlets also had black screws from getting hot. It was all due to old, aluminum wiring, which was not the greatest, but they used back in the late 60's to early 70's, due to a shortage of copper wiring, during the Vietnam War. The good news was that we discovered that our basement has all copper wiring, but the bad news is that the upstairs is all that aluminum wiring and will all need to be replaced. After all of that excitement on Friday, Penny woke up late on Saturday morning to discover that she had come down with a bad cold. But, after loading her up on Zinc, vitamins, and medicine she headed back for her last performance of Pilgrim. After all, that was the one that Jay and Grandma had been planning on attending, all along. You can tell, from the group pictures that she wasn't feeling good. She was mostly looking down and couldn't put a smile on her face.
That last one was of an Irish step dance. I was really impressed with how far the kids came with their dance moves. Most started out as total non-dancers until they reached this ability to look like they really were Irish step dancers.
I was glad to get a few pictures of Penny smiling in the Friday night performance.
But, once she started acting/dancing, she just managed to push through it and force a smile, even if she felt miserable. When she called me during the intermission and at the end, I couldn't even recognize her voice, because of the cold.
Needless to say, we altered our plans after all of that unexpected excitement. We decided to just sleep in. I didn't realize how tired I had become. I actually slept for 10 hours straight, being awakened by the alarm clock at 9 a.m., which is almost IMPOSSIBLE to believe for this morning person! We went to the late service with Grandma and then out to eat at Denny's, so that Penny could get some good hot, chicken noodle soup. And after Grandma left, I actually fell asleep AGAIN while I was reading a book in bed! This is almost unthinkable for me, a person who prides herself on never wanting nor needing naps and after 10 hours of sleep! I guess all of the 4-hour rehearsals and four performances actually wore me out, too, more than I had thought.
Well, while the road is sometimes tiring with unexpected bumps and turns along the path, it's good to know that our good and kind King is with us all along the way. And He will see us through until the end!
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