Today I’m grateful for the “I did it!” smile.

11.6.2022

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I’m very fortunate to help lead the children’s choir at my church. I’ve been doing it for several years now and I love, love, love it. I love the kids’ excitement and their eagerness to share their talents. I love the way that they sound when their voices blend together. I love how their song becomes a real expression of faith. I love the joy that exudes from them as they belt out their lyrics. I love it all.

The kids lead music at Mass once a month, and today was their day to sing. Our group has kids from Kindergarten up to 7th grade and they each bring a unique sound to the group. One thing that strikes me about this group of kids is their amazing confidence. I am in awe of It every single time I sing with them.

This week we had a bunch of solo parts. Some of the soloists just had small cantor parts and some had more substantial verses to sing. One by one though, they’d step up to the microphone, watch for me to cue them in, take a deep breath and sing. Some were a little nervous and some were not nervous at all. But nerves or no nerves, not a single one hesitated. Not a single one doubted themselves. And not a single one shied away from the microphone. They just took a breath and sang.

I’ve always been in tune to their confidence, but today I noticed something very specific. After each kid would step back from the microphone after singing a solo part, their face would light up with a sweet little smile, as if to say “I did it! That felt great! And I’m proud of myself!” It happened with every single kid. The same smile.

One of my favorite parts of directing the children’s choir is that I get to have a front row seat to all the beauty and joy that the kids create when they’re singing. And today I was thankful to be right there to catch that little smile from kid after kid. I’m going to tuck those smiles into my memory so I can use them as inspiration the next time I’m faced with an opportunity to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I hope I can be as confident as these kids – to step right up, take a deep breath, do the dang thing, and make myself proud.