Sometimes I wonder if I were meant to be a star; an actor, singer, musician or just someone famous.  Why do I say this you might be wondering? Well, there have been times I was treated like a celebrity.  Now, I am not trying to brag or anything, believe me, but I am going to tell you about a couple of times when I was surprised, humbled, and elated all at the same time; not to mention embarrassed.

It was my second year in 8th grade, and I made it to All County Chorus.  I was attending Woodlawn Middle School, a place I loathed, and we were rehearsing at Eastern Alamance High School which was just a short walk for us Woodlawn Eaglets.  So, I was wearing an 80’s dark pink shirt with a flap on it, and underneath that I had one of those old baseball shirts which was white with aqua colored sleeves.  We were rehearsing and everything was going as it should in the tenor section.  Did I mention there were girls there?  Lots and lots of cute girls from other middle schools were there to sing as well, and I must say I did my share of flirting.

It was during a break in rehearsal, and the chorus teachers were on stage discussing something, and I had to urinate.  So, I walked up the steps to get to the stage and walked across it to where my teacher was; I asked her if I could go to the bathroom, and she said yes.  As I walked back across the stage, all the girls started clapping, and I could feel my face blush as I pulled up the flap on my 80’s shirt to cover my face; it was so embarrassing and unexpected.  I still can not comprehend why they clapped to this day, but after it happened, I had a hard time concentrating on singing.  I thought,
“Maybe I have a chance to date one of these cute girls, but I doubt it”.

I do not think those cute girls realized how low my self-esteem was after being bullied since school started, or the fact that I was not that popular; how could they know?  Maybe it was simply God’s way of saying I love you!  Maybe the girls liked my shirt; I do not know, but let me tell you what became relevant: my ego!  Before this occurrence I had no ego, but from that point on my outlook on the school year changed dramatically.  It is funny, as that is the only thing I remember about All County Chorus that year; everything else is vague.

The next time it happened was at summer school after my sophomore year in high school.  I drove a Red colored 1977 Pontiac Sun Bird to summer school with a friend named Gary, and back in those days I was usually late every where I went, so of course, we arrived late to summer school.  Gary and I walked into a basketball gym full of high school students, and all of a sudden the girls erupt with clapping and cheers.  Gary and I looked at one another in shock and amazement, smiled and sat down, as the speaker resumed his speech that Gary and me interrupted.  I reckon God was reaching out to me once again.

Well, I did not get a date in middle school after the first incident with the girls, but it was probably unrealistic anyway because I did not exactly have a driver license.  At summer school I did meet this cute blonde girl, and we dated for a month or two.  My parents even let me bring her to the lake with us, but I have to say she was a little needy and an avid smoker, and back then I was not ready for a girl like that.

I will say at that point I did have an ego: I had a summer tan, cool clothes, and I did not care about much, except for girls and partying.  Even in summer school my grades were awful.  I remember the teacher would be calling our names, and we had to tell him what we scored on the test we had just taken; mine was usually the lowest in the class.  I would wear button up shirts that were barely buttoned to summer school; it was so bad the teacher told me to button up my shirt one day when he heard one of my bad test scores.

Now that you know of these incidents in my life, and knowing I was into singing and acting, I can not help but wonder if I missed my calling.  Understand if you believe in callings as I do, perhaps you also believe that God gives us chances to answer other calls for plans He may have for us.  In fact, I would go as far to say God calls us to do many things in the interest of His kingdom as long as it coincides with the Bible.  I do not mean you can not have a career outside the church of your choosing, but I mean being the church yourself regardless of what career you may hold.

I do sometimes wonder what might have been had I been courageous enough many years ago to pursue my dreams, but at that time I was not following Jesus; however, I will say I am happy with the choices I made because I am happy right now in this moment.  I have a beautiful wife, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my stomach; I also have some strange and wonderful memories to boot, and I would trade them for the memories I am making now in a heartbeat.

Call me Lord, and with your help I will answer.  Amen.

Take care and God bless!

Chris