The Gift 2020

Today we continued a Christmas tradition that we've done for many years, and we're so glad we could do it.  We went to see Praise in Motion's "The Gift," a ballet production done each year in November.  The first half of the presentation is the Nativity story, while the latter half is about the ministry of Jesus.  As you can see, we were wearing masks inside, as were all the people in attendance.  

This year we had to register ahead of time, rather than just show up, because seating was more limited due to the social distancing requirements.  We saw a slide thanking everyone for wearing masks, and it just said as a header at the top, "The Year We All Wore Masks."  

And that's just it - many years from now we'll look back and say something just like that.  "Oh, that's the year we all wore masks."  And yes, in fact all the dancers were wearing masks on stage throughout the production.  It was somewhat disappointing that they had to do that, but at the same time, at least they were still able to do the production.  

And as always, it was very good.  We've been going long before Madison was even a part of our family, back when this performance as at Brenau, and even once or twice at what used to be called the Georgia Mountain Theater.  Each year we put in a decent sized donation, and every year we see our names up there on the screen as "Angels" for donating a certain amount.  I wish there were more "Angels" though, because this has always been a ministry worth supporting.  The dances are always beautiful, and it's such a wonderful afternoon each time we go.  

As you can see, Nana was with us as well, and she enjoyed it very much.  It was a nice break in the day for all of us in our daily battle to keep her distracted enough to stop her crying.  Her eyes are red, her hands constantly rubbing her forehead as she frets and longs to be with her husband.  We can't help her with that, and we're tasked with trying to keep her mind focused elsewhere, trying to cheer her up every moment of the day.  Madison has been funny in that regard, catching Nana in the midst of tears, and suddenly calling out, "High five!"  Nana stops a moment, snapping out of it, and gives Madison a high five, as if nothing was going on. 

We went to the Cracker Barrel afterwards, and it was a good meal for all of us.  We were able to get right in, and all four of us enjoyed the food we had there, and the time together.  Mom and Nana got to do some shopping afterwards there, and soon enough we were out the door and on the way home.  

We watched "Holly" tonight, revisiting the play that dominated our Christmas season last year.  So many memories there.  The sound on this version wasn't great, but the memories filled in the blanks.  We saw Madison on stage again, delivering her lines.  And me too, of course.  And we all remembered how sick some of us were that day.  That's the running memory right now:  how sick several of the main characters were.  We all think we had that one virus back then, as the timing was probably right for it.  We had no idea at the time.  Still, the production went on very well, and the audience had no idea.  Thank the Lord for all of that.  He blessed us greatly.  How funny it was to see my character so thankful for hand sanitizer in that play.  It was almost like Marv was being prophetic!

Nana went to bed tonight in tears again, and there was nothing we could do to console her.  It's been a lot of strain on the family, but we must keep trying.  We read tonight, a little, and we prayed too.  We got to bed earlier, as tomorrow is church and we want to get up earlier.  We're not sure if Nana will go to church tomorrow, but we'll do our best, and no matter what happens if she's there, we remember that God's Word will not return void.