PINIMAGESeveral months ago, Abby tried out for her middle school play, The Little Mermaid. She had her heart set on the part of Ariel and hoped she would get it. With her recent interest in singing and music, I thought she just might land the roll.
She came home from school the day the parts were posted and never brought it up. I finally asked, “Abby, so how did the auditions go? Did you get the part?”
Resignedly, she said, “No, mom. I didn’t even get a speaking part. I’m Chef 3!”
“Chef 3?!?!”
I’ll have to admit, in my mind I was objecting all over the place. “Seriously? Boy, they got it wrong! Non-speaking role? How can that be any fun?”
I kept my thoughts to myself and just said, “Abby, I’m sure you’ll do a great job as ‘Chef 3’! I know you had your heart set on more but just do your best at the role you were assigned.”
Still after our conversation, I was bummed for her. I knew there would be many, many practices. Although I realize all the roles are important, I wondered how enjoyable it would be for her to wait through each practice just for her scene to come up.
About 2 weeks later, I noticed Abby was home early on a Tuesday. Tuesday was rehearsal day, so Abby should’ve come home on the activity bus. We were cleaning up before dinner and I said, “Abby, didn’t you have practice today?” She answered, “I don’t know. I don’t think so.” I replied, “Well, what do you mean?” She said, “Well, I’m thinking about dropping out of the play.”
“What?!”
“Well, I actually already did.”
“What do you mean? Did you tell your teacher you were dropping out?”
“No, I just stopped going to practice.”
This conversation was going south quickly!
Quitting? Not even telling her drama teacher?!
I reacted without even thinking, “Abby, we don’t quit things. Just because you don’t like your present situation doesn’t mean you quit. Your teacher is counting on you. Does she even know you’ve decided not to be in the play? Did she reassign your part?”
It was clear Abby thought she had put this whole ordeal behind her…that she had “handled it”. The fact that we were discussing it made her upset.
(Anyone who’s reading this with a middle school girl can imagine the drama that ensued.)
I’ll be honest, I understood why she quit the play. Knowing myself, I would’ve been miserable sitting around waiting for my scene while others were acting out more significant roles. But those feelings didn’t override the understanding that we need to teach our children the value of “sticking with it.”
I needed time to clear my head. I told her we would talk again when my husband, Mark, got home. While I prepared dinner I thought, “What do we do? It’s been almost two weeks. Surely they would have found a replacement by now.”
I began to pray and verses from God’s Word began coming to my mind.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Did I want to train Abby to quit things?
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Abby’s teacher knew Abby is a Christian. What would Jesus do?
Ecclesiastes 9:10a Whatever you do, do well.
In my heart, I knew God wanted her to fulfill her duty, to be a person of integrity - even at the age of 12.
When Mark came home, I filled him in. He was disappointed that Abby had just quit without explanation to us or her drama teacher. We knew the way we handled the situation would leave an indelible mark on Abby. We needed to act wisely. Thankfully, God is in full supply of wisdom. He answered my prayer and gave us a plan.
We called Abby in and said, “Abby, God wants us to be true to our word. He wants us to be reliable. You are an ambassador of Christ. Not just your words, but your life reflects Him. Your teacher is counting on you. Quitting without notice disrespects her. It may be too late to get your part back, but you’re going to try. You are going to find your teacher tomorrow at school and apologize for not thinking of her in your decision. You’re also going to ask if your part is still available. If it is, you’re taking it back.”
Now, there are plenty of times when we’ve had heated discussions with Abby. I expected her protest strongly…to pull out all the stops. She did protest, but it seemed that the time we took to figure out what to do was also a time for her to think about things.
The next morning, I wondered if she’d go through with it. I wondered if she would find her teacher and apologize. We told Abby we would check to see if she followed through.
After school, Abby arrived home and told us about her conversation with her drama teacher. She said the part was still hers and that she did apologize for not thinking about her teachers feelings.
I have to tell you, there seemed to be a burden lifted for Abby. She wasn’t angry that she was “stuck doing the play”. It was more like she was relieved that what she had done wrong was made right.
That was about 2 months ago. The play is in just a few weeks. Practices have picked up and now take up more afternoons each week then they did at first. Abby doesn’t complain about the play at all. In fact, one of the other students had to drop out for a reason I don’t know but Abby was assigned her role also. I love how God works.
So, the point of my blog today is Following through.
Through out the whole ordeal with Abby, I was tempted to just say, “Hey, she shouldn’t have done that. It’s not good to allow her to quit things. But I’ll just tell her that next time she is not allowed to quit. I can just let it slide this time.” I didn’t like having to put my foot down. But I knew the importance of follow through.
It’s the same for Abby. She’s learning the importance of follow through. Even at times when circumstances don’t go her way, she gave her word, so it’s important to follow through.
We all were reminded of a valuable lesson through this ordeal. I think about my own life. Are there times I’ve neglected to follow through? Have I left loose ends? Has someone been counting on me and I’ve dropped the ball?
Maybe today you’re thinking of a situation where you promised something with your words or actions and have yet to follow through. It DOES matter. It IS important. I encourage you, perhaps it’s not too late to make it right. It’s not too late to follow through.
