Tears, Sisters and Hope

Have you ever been so connected with a certain group of friends that you don't realize how much you love them, till they have to go away?
The last show of The Velveteen Rabbit was on Saturday, July 28th.  We have three shows, one on Friday night, one Saturday matinee, and one that evening.  Usually, you can tell that the girls are giving even more than usual on that last show...the one that everyone knows will be the last time for them to shine, the last time that all these girls are together and dancing the touching and heartfelt story of a girl that loves a little stuffed rabbit...and because of that love...the rabbit becomes real.
I have come to know these girls at the ballet program as like my sisters...so many of us have known each other for over half our lives or nearly all our lives...and it brings tears to our eyes to watch eight of the older girls this year graduate.  Once you turn 18, you have to graduate.
The sun was setting on this chapter, this period, of our lives.  The heroines of the King, the beautiful dancers that played the main characters...they are done, they are through, and it breaks hearts.
But it is also the dawning of a new time, a new era.  Now, the younger girls that feel as if they should never have the chance to move up and shine to their best ability, their chance to become a main character, those doubts begin to fade as they realize that they, we, are the next generation of heroines.  We can shine for Him, too...we should never lower ourselves, thinking that because a girl may be a better dancer than us, then we are lowly and unimportant.  We are all important, we are all equal.  And because of this unseen bonding that has been molded over all these years...we are sisters.  Sisters in Christ.
There were so many tears and embraces that will always be engraved into my memory on that amazing, Saturday night.  I cried till no more tears would come, and no more sorrow could be pressed out.
The tears will eventually dry, and the bond that has been created between us all will never be broken simply because they are moving on to a better and exciting chapter in their lives.
The examples of the upright, of those that are following Jesus with their hearts and lives, that gives me hope.
It gives us hope.


The dawning of a new generation of heroines...this is only the beginning of the end.