In December 1995, Austin was asked to play boy Jesus in our church Christmas musical. Austin's wasn't a speaking part, only a visual during a song where the wisemen and shepherds had finally arrived in Bethlehem to honor Jesus. How excited we were for Austin to have a part in the musical. I play in the orchestra, so I had a front row seat to watch him at rehearsals and he understood well what was expected and most importantly, he understood who he was portraying.
The first big night arrived. My call time was earlier than Austin's, so I went on ahead and Andy would bring him later. Ready to go, Andy buckled Austin into his car seat and off they went to the church. Austin was being very quiet and said he didn't feel good and that he didn't want to be boy Jesus anymore. Have you ever had to bribe your child into doing something? If you say you haven't .... I'm not sure I believe you :-), if you have - you know where this went next. It's the night of and ditching the boy Jesus gig is not an option. Good thing it was Andy with him and not me. I'm not very merciful, patience is not one of my virtues and I'm afraid boy Jesus might have gotten a little attitude adjustment. Andy begins the bribery, sugar pouring from his mouth - nothing but sweetness for our little boy Jesus actor. This was a whatever it takes situation here. Suddenly ... Austin threw up (in the car). Is there anything worse? Well, this might change things just a bit. Maybe he really was sick.
What happened next still, to this day, brings a tear to my eye. Austin was quite familiar with his Bible stories and knew who God was and who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus belonged in Heaven right beside God. In his innocent little mind, he thought that being boy Jesus in the musical meant that he would have to leave us and go to Heaven to be with God and he didn't want to leave his mommy and daddy. He had agonized over being boy Jesus and all that he thought went with it to the point of making himself sick.
We assured Austin that we would never leave him and that he would never have to leave us. Some days I'm ready to send his all-knowing 17 year old self out the door and on to college, but then there are those days that this story comes to mind and I'm reminded how cute and innocent he once was.
Pictures of boy Jesus below ... :-)
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