When we brought Jubilee home, I would have never, ever dreamed this blogpost would be possible. But with tears welling, I can say that it is a reality because of our gracious God and an obedient pastor and his wife who celebrate special needs and lead those around them well!
A couple of months ago our church was having tryouts for the Kidsong Christmas Celebration. I’ve mentioned before that our church celebrates (and I mean celebrates) special needs. When they do performances, those with special needs are right in the mix of it all. The kids (or adults) with special needs are not hidden away or sequestered in the back of the stage or worse yet, have their “own” program – nope! They are right in the middle of everyone and all the fun!
No doubt, Jubilee has noticed that her friends with special needs have had main parts in the celebrations and of course she saw that Elizabeth had a solo last year too. Jubilee has never been a “front and center” type of gal, well, until now. The night of the tryouts she went along with the kids and at tryouts suddenly announced she wanted to tryout as well.
Friends came to me and told me that she had indeed tried out. I almost fell over! When I saw her I questioned her and she replied, “I sing like Elizabeth.” (Wow, my eyes are filled with tears just typing that!) My mouth dropped open when she emphatically told us. I questioned her, “You know you will have to do it in front of everyone?” She firmly nodded ‘yes’. I mentioned that she would have to really practice hard. She again nodded determinedly that she was ready to work hard.
If I didn’t know that our church celebrates special needs I would have panicked at the thought of it all. But I knew they would celebrate our one-in-four-million-girl!
Within no time the email arrived that Jubilee had a solo part, as did Elizabeth and Elijah (his being a speaking part). Oh my gracious, I keep welling with tears as I type. It is all so overwhelmingly incredible to this mama’s heart and I know you special needs mamas understand where I’m coming from. To find a church that doesn’t just “occupy” kids while parents are in service, but instead celebrates each of them in their uniqueness is rare and so powerful to our city of Phoenix. This is the reason we drive 33 miles one way to our church – the incredible culture of embracing special needs, the uncompromising rock-solid Biblical preaching of the inerrant word of God and the sweetest people on earth!!
Anyway, when I announced on Facebook that Jubilee had been given a solo part in our church’s Christmas program the love poured out! We’ve known since she came home – Jubilee has a fan club around the world!! Everyone was celebrating our sweet girl!
The next time I saw one of our children’s pastor Doug (who is also a friend) I enthusiastically called across the parking lot, “Did you see on Facebook when I announced that Jubilee had tried out and been given a solo part? That post has over 650 likes! She’s got a fan club around the world!!” He responded, “I DID!! We are trying to see if we can live stream it!” Whoooaaaa. I was ecstatic! First, that means that Emma can watch (it’s 430 am for her) when I told her she laughed, “I got up to watch the princess marry in the middle of the night, I’m not going to miss this!” This also means Jubilee’s fan club around the world can watch!
So friends, you are officially invited to watch live as Jubilee makes her much-celebrated debut. The service will be at 6:30pm Sunday December 3rd (that’s tomorrow!!). Elizabeth will be singing her solo parts and Elijah will also be speaking. Keep a look-out for Ruby and Birdie who are part of the choir!
Watch the service live here: HIGHLANDS KIDSONG CHRISTMAS
If you are local, please feel free to come watch it in person (details below). I know my eyes will be dripping as our precious girl gives it her all!
The Dress Rehearsal Last Night
Click this: HIGHLANDS KIDSONG CHRISTMAS
If you don’t have a church, are unsure of what you even think of the faithful God I write about almost daily, or just need some encouragement, check out our online services each Sunday morning. Use the same link about. Our services livestream at 9am and 10:40am, MST.
Come join us at Highlands Church
9050 E Pinnacle Peak Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
How Exciting! Big cheers from the UK for Jubilee and all the precious ones taking part.
Sandy in the UK
Thank you Sandy! It was amazing!
Had tears in my eyes watching all your precious treasures. Thanks for inviting us to watch.
Jubilee, great job on your first solo!!
You all did a wonderful job!
Merry Christmas to you all.
Didn’t she do just splendid?? She worked so hard! We are so grateful for the team effort for all. Thank you for watching – makes my heart happy!
Oh, my goodness! Jubilee, you did amazingly! Loved your smile! Elizabeth…you have a gift!! Make sure you use it, it’s a blessing. Elijah, you did great and I can’t believe how handsome you are! Miss Birdie, you sparkled in that beautiful dress…and I loved how you rang the bells and especially how you got into “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” And Ruby, you are a girl after my own heart…barefoot and comfy! Such a joy to “be there” with you guys!
Hugs from Miss Nancy in Connecticut!
Awww friend!! I love that you were watching!! Birdie’s favorite thing was her dress as she would swish it back and forth. Made us giggle. And Ruby did shake her bells some and then thought it was kinda’ fun to drop them on her footrest and then pick them up again. Up and down, up and down – which in effect, *did* ring the bells! Ha! Thank you for your kind words. xoxo
Jubilee, Elizabeth, Elijah, Ruby and Birdie…I saw, I smiled…they did GREAT!! Loved Birdie’s little dance! So sweet you shared with all of us!
Thank you Julie! It was really a sweet time! So tickled you were able to “be there” with us!
Just watched it here in Ch*na! (It started Monday morning at 9:30 – thank goodness for VPN which only cut off once briefly during the performance!) Fantastic job by Jubilee, Elizabeth, Elijah, Ruby, and Birdie. They must have spent a lot of time memorizing their parts. What a wonderful experience for them!
Awwww, I love that you were watching in Jubilee’s homeland! I can’t wait to tell the kids! Bless you friend!
We truly enjoyed the program. The kids did an amazing job!
Thank you Kelley!! We had a blast watching too. It was just good, sweet fun!
Darn, I wish I had seen this before! Congrats to those wonderful kids!!
It’s not too late!! It was recorded and archived. People have been watching the archived online!! Same link I think. It was really a sweet program and although I am a tad biased, they did wonderful!
Amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Terry! It’s so fun that you “were with us”.
She did a BEAUTIFUL job!! Her smile made me grin ear to ear!!!
Didn’t she do amazing? We were so proud of her. She was like, “no big deal”. haha.
It was such a joy to watch your treasures shine!! I’m so happy we got to share in your wonderful program!!
Jubilee, Ruby, Elijah, Elizabeth and Birdie… great job!!
Love,
Grace
Oh my gosh… what a wonderful program!!
Jubilee’s smile, however, as she stands there waiting to sing really says it all! All of your kids did a great job. You have some talented young people!
Just watched it today! Tears of joy as I watched precious Jubilee honor the Lord with the gift of her voice! She is a delight! Love to Jubilee and ALL your treasures who shared their talents and blessed us.
<3Liz Baird
Beautiful, in so many ways. Thank you for sharing with us.