Ballet smiles

One of my greatest joys in parenthood is watching your child thrive in their God-given talents. These are talents you can force or activities you can try to live vicariously through your children. These are what God has placed inside them for HIS glory and THEIR growth as people. 

When Abigail was just three-years-old she started asking me to take ballet. I'm not sure where this came from, but my friend Patty (a former professional ballerina) likes to joke it came from her being one of the first people in Abigail's life when she was a baby in Turkey and buying her her first tu tu. I actually found the picture (below) of Abigail in a tu-tu that Patty gave her:

I absolutely know that Abigail's love and desire to do ballet does not come from forcing it on her. I am basically the opposite of a ballet mom. I am a jock. People used to tease me about having daughters who were "girly girls" because I have never been one. I was as tom boy as they come. So this is a whole new experience for me.

Abigail loves ballet, and I think she is really good at it too. She has a natural poise and grace that is just fun to see. There is something in her that "gets" ballet. She can be the shyest kid ever. But put her on a ballet stage, and she just emerges from a shell like nothing I have ever seen.

Their class is getting ready to do some performances for local nursing homes. There is one boy in her class -- Gabrielle (pictured below in the black shorts and black shoes. He has long blonde hair.) Anyways, Abigail got chosen to do Gabrielle and her first lift. Abigail was absolutely giddy. She was so proud and excited, and it is coming together very well for just one practice. Gabrielle's mom got these pictures: 

If you'd like to watch the video of their practice recital dance you can do so here. And here is a video of Abigail practicing her dance with Gabriel.