Daddy, is singing in the choir cool????

My baseball playing son asked me this on the same day that he participated in our church's children's musical.  He sang all the songs and did all of the moves and even had a couple of lines that he had to recite.  He did them all very well and we were so proud of him.  As his father I can say that I was just as proud of him as I would have been if he had hit a home run in his last baseball game.  I wish more fathers would feel the same way.

Reid is 8 years old and only one of 4 boys that participated in the musical yesterday.  Two of the boys belong to our church pianist and the other is in our RA group.  There are more than 4 boys in our church.  We average 25 in RA's on Wednesday nights.  Why did they not participate?  Somewhere along the way they decided that music wasn't cool and that singing in the choir might make them a sissy.  I know this because Reid has told me that some of his friends have told him that.  His interest in music has seemed to diminish this year as he is feeling his first effects of peer pressure.  Now I have no problem if a child decides that performing in front of a crowd is just not for them, but I do have an issue with a parent that tells their son that he will be a sissy for performing in a children's musical.  Why not encourage your son to do whatever he likes?

I will be the first to tell you that I would rather Reid play sports than dress up and sing show tunes, but I will also say that I hope that Reid will always find room for music in his life.  I know that as little boys get older they will generally make a decision about the path that they will follow.  Society seems to steer them down one of only two paths.  Sports or music and arts.  Very seldom do they do both.  I wish that would change.

I considered myself an athlete first.  Ball practice and outdoor events came before singing, but I always made time for the talents that I was given.  My church had a children's choir and was the place where I found my voice.  I sang my first church solo at the age of 5.  I continued to sing and have not stopped singing since.  I even sang in high school often going from ball practice to choir practice and back to ball practice again.  Was I a sissy??  Far from it.  I was an athlete that happened to be able to sing and enjoyed doing both.  Some would say that it takes a bigger man to perform with his voice than with his ball and glove.  I also found out that the older I got, the less that sports really mattered.  People are not impressed that I once went 5 for 5 in a state playoff game, but they sure do ask me to sing a lot!

So Reid, is singing in the choir cool?  Your Dad thinks so.  Matter of fact, I think that anything you enjoy doing is cool as long as you honor God and your family while doing it.  If you want to sing, then sing loud!  If you want to play ball, then play hard!  If you want to do both, then do both! 

I promise that it will be very cool!