Choir Performance #3

Choir Performance #3

D’s been having a few bad days. Meaning: high level of arousal, poor self-regulation, difficulty sleeping, poor concentration and very easily distracted.

Right in the middle of it all, came the day of special choir performance, and in the evening of the very same day: kindergarten graduation. The choir performance was not a routine Sunday School choir monthly ministry, because it was to celebrate Parents’ Day at church. So the choir members each held flowers for their Moms and Dads, to be given right after they sing two songs.

Oh la la, what a perfect timing..... @.@

The choir performance went OK. I think it was OK that D deliberately jumped off the platform, his SS teacher had to retrieve him and put him back on stage. He was bored because in between the 2 songs they played a short video clip on the big screen, portraying some of the SS choir kids saying a few words of appreciation for their parents.

But it was OK, I guess... :P

Until it was time to give flowers to the parents.

I had pictured this to be a very touchy moment, where my son would be smiling lovingly and I may sentimentally shed a couple of joyful teardrops from the corner of my eyes, blah blah blah... I even had a pocket tissue handy, just in case. I brought 2 cellphones to take a few pictures and video clips. I remembered considering to ask the girl sitting next to me to help snap some pics of my handsome little boy handing me a red rose, kissing me on the cheek, the pictures would have been EPIC! Then I’d post the precious pictures on FB, BB, whatever media possible.

Well I’m glad I didn’t ask the girl to take our picture.

Coz by the time SS teacher told the choir kids to find their parents, D dashed off the platform, ran with all his might to the corners of the hall :O :O

My former visualisation collapsed.

A few seconds later, D came back, still running, only to pinch my tummy a bit and giggled and dashed off again, with MY flower still in his hand. I could hear people near me giggled. By then other parents were receiving their  flowers along with MY visualisation coming true.

Oh well... And there I was, still standing awkwardly, cellphone camera on stand by, trying to find D with my eye. No sign of him anywhere.

Then with quite a loud thumping, he showed up with the brightest smile, excited from all the running, not coming towards me, but up onto the... podium! X(

Now this was turning out to be rather nightmare-ish. But I still should be thankful because he didn’t try to reach the pulpit and came back down quickly.

And when I was no longer expecting, he came to me (yup, still running) and handed me the flower, then dashed off to join his choir group, someplace where they BELONG.

I noticed that while at first he had 2 flowers, D only had 1 left when he handed it to me. It turned out that he found his Papa sitting at the back (Papa later came all the way from the hospital to be there on Parents’ Day, most probably with the same visualisation as mine hehehe) and handed him one of the flowers before dashing off towards the podium.

So, sorry, no touchy-D-giving-Mommy-a-flower picture to attach here :)

But we love him anyway... for not running on to the pulpit ;)

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.” Psalms 127:3

Choir Performance #2

Bulan April kemarin, grup koor-nya si D mempersembahkan lagu mandarin, lengkap dengan gerakannya. Lagunya enak and so sweet banget. Tapi bikin saya ketar-ketir. Soalnya lagu Indonesia/Inggris aja terseok-seok gitu, gimana lagu mandarin? Pake gerakan pula? Dan gerakannya lumayan rumit pula?

Latihannya sih pake video yang diproyeksi ke layar gede supaya semua anggota koor bisa ikut nyanyi and belajar gerakannya.  Buat latihan di rumah, saya rekam video yang lagi diputer di layar pake HP saya. 

Pas saya cobain gerakannya di rumah, mabox lah saya! Ternyata gerakannya rumit, berulang tapi bervariasi. Waduh saya makin puyeng dah, kalo saya aja kesusahan, gimana si D? Saya juga berpikir keras gimana caranya memotivasi si D buat latihan tanpa bikin dia putus asa duluan. 

Untungnya, papawnya D itu (mantan) dancer dan koreografer loh xixixii.... Duluuuu, zaman belom "maju perut pantat mundur" wkwkwkw.... Trus saya serahkanlah tugas ngapalin gerakan ke papawnya D. Simak deh latihan mereka barengan:

Dengan susah payah memotivasi dan menyemangati si D supaya ga menyerah, akhirnya latihan berakhir dengan si D lumayan bisa ngikutin gerakan. Ga usah perfek2 amatlah, yang penting ga bikin kacau grup koor...
Memang ya kalo anak masih kecil pelayanan, maknyak and babenya otomatis ikut pelayanan juga. Semoga upahnya juga maknyak and babe kecipratan ya ;)

Akhirnya, ini dia video pas mereka tampil:

Awal2 si D mau ikut koor, saya suka terintimidasi sama pikiran-pikiran negatif saya sendiri: Gimana kalo si D bikin kacau ya? Gimana kalo dia ngadat di tengah2 performance ya? Gimana kalo gini gimana kalo gitu... @.@
Sampe2 saya sempet kuatir juga gimana kalo alih-alih jadi berkat, kelakuan dia justru bikin orang jengkel, alias jadi batu sandungan?

Tapi ternyata setelah beberapa minggu ikut koor, dengan segala keunikannya, si D diterima tuh sama orang-orang di sekelilingnya. And I really thank God for this.
Saya terharu sekali pas sekali si D ga bisa ikut latihan, terus ketemu guru koor, guru koornya nanyain kenapa D ga latihan, and D diminta supaya datang latihan minggu berikutnya. Padahal itu kejadiannya abis 1st choir performance-nya yagn rada kacau itu loh :P (baca di sini)

Bukannya saya berprasangka buruk ya, tapi punya anak spesial itu menimbulkan banyaaaakkk kekhawatiran yang susah dijelaskan.
Every little moments yang menegaskan bahwa anak saya dikasihi dan diterima apa adanya tuh begitu berhargaaaa banget and serasa angin syurga buat kami orangtuanya.

Belakangan saya juga diingatin lagi bahwa keberadaan anak saya adalah tepat seperti yang Tuhan udah rencanakan, dan Tuhan tidak pernah salah. Saya perlu tengking jauh-jauh pikiran-pikiran negatif yang suka merasuki saya.
D dengan keistimewaannya BUKAN BATU SANDUNGAN. He was fearfully and wonderfully made by the Mighty Fingers of God himself. The God that makes no mistakes. 

Sebab Engkaulah yang membentuk buah pinggangku, menenun aku dalam kandungan ibuku. 

Aku bersyukur kepadaMu oleh karena kejadianku dahsyat dan ajaib; ajaib apa yang Kaubuat, dan jiwaku benar-benar menyadarinya. 

Tulang-tulangku tidak terlindung bagiMu, ketika aku dijadikan di tempat yang tersembunyi, dan aku direkam di bagian-bagian bumi yang paling bawah; 

MataMu melihat selagi aku bakal anak, dan dalam kitabMu semuanya tertulis hari-hari yang akan dibentuk, sebelum ada satu pun dari padanya.

Mazmur 139:13-16

Sing!

Last December, to welcome christmas and get some “christmasy feeling”, we played a lot of Billy Gilman’s Classic Christmas album in the car. D grew very fond of it (“fond” is such a weak term, it was actually D’s latest obsession, yes with all its pathological features) and he’s been playing it over and over and over and oooover again for about a quarter of a year (in other words: for 3 months). By the end of February, around the same time of my sickness of hearing Billy’s christmas songs –sorry, Billy! It’s not you...- our 14 years old car tape recorder met its end. Our car tape recorder (finally) broke.

By then D had been soooo dependent upon Billy’s christmas songs, that he knew by heart ALL the songs on the album, of which D’s favorites were O Holy Night and Jingle Bell Rock, which he claimed to sing better than Billy himself.  >:O –talk about delusion!

He even knew exactly when to reverse the player to get exactly to the songs he desired, with stunning accuracy.

So guess what happened when he heard that our car tape was broken. He moaned and mourned and wept so heartbreakingly. Honestly, much as I and hubby were relieved that we didn’t have to hear anymore of Billy’s christmas songs, we were nonetheless heartbroken with our beloved son.

Billy Gilman’s Classic Christmas album inspired D of his singing passion. And D decided that he was a talented singer and would become a singer when he grows up. Altogether with becoming a paleontologist, police officer, veterinarian, and specialist doctor.

To begin pursuing his calling, I offered D to join the church Sunday school choir. I was rather reluctant, fearing that he might mess up an established choir group with his quirks. But being a good mom that I am ;D  I took a deep breath and blurted out the offer.

D’s eyes widened as he learnt that Billy too, started off as a choir singer. He immediately and enthusiastically asked to join the church choir.

After just 2 weeks of practices (each consists of 1 hour of practice every Sunday morning before Sunday school/general sermon), the 3^rd Sunday was D’s debut performance of singing with the Sunday school choir for the general sermon. I was definitely more nervous than him, who didn’t seem to fully understand the weight of it.

They rehearsed for one last time right before sermon, this time in the main hall where the sermon would be held. There was just one little problem. OK, maybe two. Or three?

Anyway, the problem was that D had problem focusing his attention on the choir coach/conductor. And it didn’t help that he was placed at the furthest end of his row, right beside a platform which height seemed just right for sitting or leaning on. And he didn’t understand that he had to get on and off of the podium in line, together with his choir fellows. Right after final rehearsal he scurried off the podium, oblivious that all his choir fellows marched in a nice, orderly line to the exit door.

I gave him some last advices before he went to pray with the choir. Then I anxiously waited.

See for yourself how it went (IF the video loads successfully):

In case you couldn’t see the video or it didn’t load nicely, it went well... :D

Well, at least it wasn’t as disastrous as I had feared. But that’s D’s mama talking, maybe to the coach and other choir members it WAS disastrous  >_<

All in all, I’m glad D was there, singing with the choir. Such a privilege to serve our Lord by singing him praises. Despite D’s average singing ability (what a polite term to describe it).  I’m thankful that I’m insane insightful enough to encourage him to join the choir.

His singing doesn’t matter (as long as he doesn’t get worse!), but his soul will learn to serve his Creator, now by singing, in the future maybe by even better ways. Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria.

“From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise.”  

 Matthew 21:16