Tiny Dancer

I'm a bit of a stickler for rules, you may have noticed. There is a right and a wrong way for everything. In this, I am very much like my older son. His world has a lot of black and white, and very little grey.

Sadly, sometimes I come down on the wrong side of black and white. Tonight, for example, we went to Brian's band barbecue fundraiser. It was an extremely casual affair, with picnic blankets, hot dogs, tug-o-war, egg-races, ice cream, and lots of sugar-buzzed little kids running around while parents chatted (and secretly wished the event included beer so they could be buzzed as well).

When the band started playing, my foot started wagging along with Emily's.

Those kids are surprisingly good! 

And while they played, a little girl (about six years old) grabbed some streamers that were lying around and began to dance. She sashayed with wild abandon between the audience and the band.

And I Was Irritated.

The show's not about her, I thought.
She's stealing the attention from the band, I thought.
She's just an attention whore, I thought.
She should be dancing behind the audience, I said to Emily.

Righteous indignation was mine. And then I thought:

Wait a minute. There is music playing. A child is dancing. I am grouchy about it. What is wrong with this picture?

I was wrong with this picture! I'm glad she danced. I hope she never stops.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.                                                                                                                       Psalm 149:3

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the tiny dancer,
but this wee girl shows the same joy.