about to bust

At our school we have Fine Arts presentations. Every child does a recitation. Kindergarten does theirs all together. Wednesday was grades K-5 and yesterday was 6-12. This was Jacob's first time on his own and he did great. It is such a great experience because they learn all kinds of public speaking skills. We want them to learn to be comfortable with speaking in public. So we start young. Hopefully, they get better and better. In grades 6-12, it's a competition and the top two of each class recite again at a Fine Arts festival on the 13th. Well, my Katelyn got first place in her class. It was a powerful recitation called "The Vision"...about what it looks like to live passionately for Christ. I was sobbing by the end of it! There weren't too many dry eyes at the end of it. The video probably won't do it justice but God was with her. She knew it and felt it as she spoke. She was trying to hold back the tears by the end. She has practiced it over and over, getting ready, but she told me that she has never felt they way she did when she was reciting yesterday. God be praised. I was praying that she would be able to speak passionately from her heart. This poem was given to her by my dear friend, Joanne Foggy, on her sixteenth birthday. She read it to Kate the day of her birthday luncheon and Kate was greatly impacted by it. Thanks Katelyn, for sharing your gifts for God's glory! I love you with all my heart! I pray that God would help you to live out the vision and love people into the kingdom of God.