Yesterday I went caroling with my cross stitching buddy from church and some other people from my church. Carol (my cross stitching buddy) was over at my house a week ago last Monday and she so desperately wanted me to go caroling, which is a yearly activity my church does. I himmed and hawed as she pleaded until finally I gave in and said yes, absolutely I would go. Ugh.
Sunday came yesterday and I was not looking forward to going out caroling because my voice is not what it used to be (as well as my breathing) and I was nervous about the people even though they all know me and pray for me every Sunday. So it was nonsense that I was nervous, but I still was. The time came for Carol to pick me up and she was right on time.
We pulled up to the church parking lot to meet with everyone and my jaw dropped. There were SO MANY PEOPLE THERE!!! In years past, they have always come to my house to sing and we have always been able to fit all of them in my house but there must have been at LEAST 30 people in the group this year. Great, my nervousness just got worse. But when I got out of the car and headed toward the mass of people I heard everyone say, "OH, it's Sarah!!" and "Sarah's here!!" That made me feel less nervous and happy that they were all so excited to see me there. But I still hung close to Carol. And as time went on I felt more and more at ease.
Maybe the second (?) person we went to go carol to is a member of our church and an older lady and she lives in a retirement home. Her name is Geneva and we have a very special bond so I was excited to see her and boy was she excited to see me!! She gave me a big hug when I saw her (holding up the line that was trying to file into her small room) and I stood next to her when we sang and I looked at her often seeing she was also looking at me. It made my heart swell to make her so happy. See, Geneva and I know each other first of all from when people from the church would come over and sit with me and help me if I needed something when I first came home from the hospital. She was one of those people who came over and we always had a wonderful time together talking about all sorts of topics, but one in particular that we enjoyed together was that of politics. She's a sharp lady and up to date on what was going on in the world so I really enjoyed my talks with her. So we formed a special bond. And it was so wonderful to bring holiday cheer to her and make her happy just by seeing me. It made me happy just to see her.
At the end of caroling we went to another member of the church's home where her and her husband had food and drinks ready for us. By this time, I was feeling OK and not really nervous anymore. I sat in a chair and had several different people come to sit by me and talk to me. It was so nice. It was ultimately a wonderful time and I think I might do it again next year :) Thanks, Carol, for pushing me to do this.
1 comment:
Sarah I am so glad that you had someone push you to get out of your comfort zone. If we never get out of our comfort zone we never grown. What would have happened if you would have never went out on stage the first time. You would have never been a performer. I hope you have a Very Merry Christmas.
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