Wise Guys

Carter (center) hams it up with fellow wisemen Clayton (left) and Jeromy.

We've referred to our dear son as a wise guy before but today, for 55 minutes, he was a wiseman -- thanks to the Sunday School Christmas Program.

About 3 years ago we started sharing the story of Jesus' birth through the eyes of a different character each year -- partly to educate the "audience" and partly to keep them from getting bored with the exact same program year after year! We've heard from the shepherds and Joseph, and this year it was the wisemen (otherwise known as the fourth-grade class).

Carter had a few speaking parts today and despite one false start, he spoke with confidence and expression. Despite the fact he was dreading this program for the past few days, on the way he home he said, "That didn't seem very long at all!"

I think he was gauging it by the 2-hour dress rehearsal we had on Friday night. We never really had one non-stop run-through of the program. I often wonder how it all comes together but magically it does. Most of the time, the audience has no idea if there's a goof. Only those close to the project know a line was missed or timing was off. As far as the audience is concerned, it was wonderful.

When you think about it, that's the way it is with a lot of things in life.

At work, my "audience" of readers sees a wonderful publication -- they don't know the errors we caught before press time, the computer crashes we suffered or any other headache we endured. They say thanks for a great product ... and we should just say "You're welcome."

In my personal life, if I've baked or crafted something, my "audience" will marvel at my creativity -- they really don't need to hear me complain about what went wrong, point out my mistakes, how I should have chosen better colors or better ingredients, or criticize my abilities. When they say thanks for sharing ... I should just say "You're welcome."

No need to be a wise guy, eh?