In his [her] heart a man [woman] plans his course, but the Lord determines his [her] steps. Proverbs 16:9
[]Italics mine

When I was a child, I only had one dream for my future; it was to be an actress. This is all I wanted. I would go to UCLA, then pursue an acting career. That was it. I had no real back-up plans. I didn't think I needed any. I had no other desire. Only theater. Only acting. I entered Chico State (Not UCLA) as a Speech and Drama major. It did not take me long to discover that compared to other actors, I had no talent. The only lead role I had ever played was Helen Keller in a Junior High production of "A Miracle Worker". I had also done alot of children's theater, the foundation for my passion, but there, too, I only recieved bit roles. In high school, I could have had the role of Toto in "The Wizard of Oz" but I simply could not bark in front of the seniors.(I was a freshman) I ended up creating the set and costumes for the Jitterbugs. Incredibly, years and years later, at a production of the same show a couple hundred miles away from my high school, I saw an exact replica of "my" scene. Even more bizarre was the fact that the director was someone I had grown up with and gone to high school with. I felt honored that she had remembered and reproduced my scene. Yet even with all this experience behind me, I was unable to compete with actresses at the college level. They were amazing. One girl memorized an entire script to take over a MALE lead role two days before opening night. These women left me awestruck. They were the reason that I changed my major. At the time, I did not realize that there are leads, supporting roles, character roles and chorus/extras. Different people are good at different types of roles. I was and am an excellent character actress. That was my place in the theater. But I allowed other people to decide my fate based on a skewed perception of myself. As a person with no other real focus, I jumped around in different majors before I finally settled on Health Education. Just to get out of college after 6 1/2 years. But the theater still draws me like a magnet; I love the sights, the sounds and the smell of greasepaint. I love the minutes before the curtain opens when everyone stands, bursting with energy behind the side curtains. I love the theater. My wife does not understand this passion. Perhaps some of you do.
I am not sure my mistaken belief that I could not act was an accident. I don't believe there are any "accidents" in the House of God. I believe that God had me look at other options. Acting can be a very tough business. It is also very self-focused, something that would be a great temptation to me. I think God wanted me to look outside myself to the other people; the ones I expected to be in the audience. But He left a door open; He has always opened the door wide to drama ministries. This year, I will (hopefully!) be directing a original Christmas musical. Yes, my world is bigger than the small stage I set out to conquer because of the Lord's Direction.



[This message was edited by Blyth on September 27, 2004 at 07:25 PM.]

Blyth thanks for sharing that with us. Our oldest girl seems totally smitten by the theatre as well. Every summer for the past six years she and her sister go to a theatre camp for kids. The youngest just loves the hanging out with the other kids. But the oldest (and her best friend) are totally in love with the theatre. I hope it's a love that remains with them for the rest of their life.

1 Cor 13:13 (NLT)
"and the greatest of these is love."