My 14 year old daughter is a talented singer, dancer, actress and comedian/impersonator. The problem is she has had a serious case of stage fright.
Her mother and I have talked regularly with her about overcoming this fear since she was probably about eight. We have tried not to push her but we have encouraged her to use her gifts to bless others. All to no avail. I have quoted Galatians 3.19 to her incessantly over the years. “Rose, “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”” Nothing changed. I have prayed for her without exaggeration almost every day about this for years. Still the same results until last week.
Rose began to take baby steps in the direction of performance a couple of months ago. One day, she came home and informed us that she had tried out for a solo performance with the school choir. I tried not to jump up and down because I didn’t want to freak her out but both her mother and I were ecstatic. She didn’t get the part but that was beside the point. Our number one hope was that she would overcome her fear. Then the following week, she asked me to help her practice a speech she had to give in front of her class. The next day she came home and told me that she had volunteered to go first to deal with her fear and got an A. Her mother and I began to wonder if she was finally going to overcome her fear of performing before a large audience.
About two weeks ago, Rose came home and said, “I am going to write a speech for my 8th grade graduation ceremony. I want to be the speaker. Again, her mother and I tried to stay calm but my wife did better at this than I did. I was beside myself with joy!
Rose asked me to help her write the speech and coach her on it. She wanted to add a killer impersonation of her math teacher who has a strong New York City accent whom she adores but was afraid to. I told her to go for it because it was so funny but also respectful of him. She added it and for good measure, she added one of the school nurse. Rose admits to being a bit of a hypochondriac and has visited the school nurse too often over the last three years.
The big day arrived and Rose found out that four teachers would be the judges for the thirty kids who were trying out. The problem was that one of them was her math teacher. She freaked! The lead judge had read her speech beforehand and told her that he would love it and not to worry. She told me, “Dad, I decided, either go big or go home”.
She did her speech before the judges and afterwards her math teacher came up to her and said, “Rose, if I ever need someone to do a New York accent, I’m calling you.” The next day the winner was to be announced. The head judge walked up to Rose in her class, sat down next her and said, “You won Rose. You’re the speaker!”
Rose wept. So did her mother and I.