the promised story

allie came home from church two sundays ago explaining how the five year olds were going to be singing on Easter Sunday. lance and i were thrilled because none of our kids have ever done anything like this... so it was going to be a sisco family first. at the time of said announcement she could not remember the title of the song or any of the words, but by tuesday the Hosanna song was being sung continuously. she would sing, "hosanna, hosanna, you are the king of all kings." i would smile and cheer her on as she practiced. she would beam with pride. by wednesday she started thinking about what she should wear. on friday i received an email from our church stating that elementary kids would be dismissed after the singing. on saturday i made sure the camera batteries were charged up. sunday morning was hectic enough with it being easter, but we wanted to make sure allie was ready. lance showed her carrie underwood's performance from Good friday (if you haven't seen it... it will bring you to tears! watch it here) and i made sure her hair was pulled out of her face for photo opportunities!

we got to church and sent riley to the toddler room. Griffin hadn't had his shots and caleb wanted to watch his big sis sing so we headed to church with three kids five and under... not an easy task. lance and i did our best to focus on praising the LORD in between burping griffin and correcting the older two. i was also battling the following inward thoughts: why is this singing scheduled on such a big sunday... i want uninterrupted time with God... mandy, stop being so selfish, my mothering can honor the lord as much as singing to him.... no, i can't hold you - i'm worshiping here! ugh, when are they going to let her sing so we can be done with this ( i know, it isn't pretty... i'm just keeping it REAL)

after about five songs and allie asking 12 times when it was going to be her turn, the pastor got up and began praying. this is what he usually does just before his sermon so i glanced up at lance. he was looking at me with the same confused expression. did we miss it? what's happening? are they not singing? the prayer ended and we were instructed to sit... WHAT? allie promptly began tugging on my dress and wondering why she wasn't going up to the stage. i quickly shuffled the kids out of the sanctuary baffled by what had just occurred.

come to find out - the sunday before some one had made a comment during singing time in sunday school. something to the effect of, "you guys sound so good... maybe sometime you can sing in big church." we never once thought to doubt her because she is usually right on the money in what she relays to us. oh, my... typical sisco moment. a VERY eventful Easter morning!