I was blessed to be their director...a lot of hours invested, a little frustration at times, many light-bulb moments when I knew they "had" it!

And boy, oh boy, did they ever HAVE IT last evening!  Every one of them rose to the occasion and delighted everyone in our filled church sanctuary.

The absolute stars of the show were Anna, as zany and sassy Nurse Philpott, and Lydia, the wise and professional Dr. Newheart.  

Anna and Lydia are both 7th graders and have shown themselves fantastic actresses in our last 2 musicals.  So when I decided on this musical I had these two in mind for the lead parts.  But when I put out the sign-up sheet, neither of them signed up...I waited a couple of weeks and then decided to ask them to pray about being in it.  Both of them agreed...despite their demanding athletic and school schedules...and they both totally rocked their roles!  So very proud of them!

Of course, I was also super-proud of my grandchildren!  Truth be told, I'm not sure I'd have started this 3 years ago had it not been for my desire to give them an opportunity to use their talents for ministry.  

Eleven-year-old grandson Karter and his friend Matt were hilarious as interns Dr. Fric and Dr. Frac....

Kaden (9 1/2 years old) was great as Disorderly #1, with his sidekicks Parker (in wheelchair) and Alex (in back).  These 3 had the most difficult solos of all, 3 rap verses, which they nailed and the audience understandably loved their crazy characters!

My 7-year-old twin granddaughters Kelsey (in middle) and Kassie (right) were Pink Ladies along with Sophie.  They won over the audience immediately with their darling old-lady costumes.

Playing the sick patients:  Camden, Kynlie, Joe, twins Elliot and Gracyn (after all these weeks of practice I still have trouble telling them apart!), T, Willow, Grace, Addie, and Lavender.

Our foster-granddaughter T is always a big question mark...while she's absolutely adorable, she can also be a bit unpredictable and unruly, but I was extra proud of her!  She stayed on stage and sang her little heart out!!!

With so many littles, I consider it a major victory that there were no meltdowns or significant misbehavior during the 45-minute musical.  They were all just amazingly good!

These 4 "patients," Christine, Makenna, Sam, and Rory, had oodles of lines to memorize and solos to sing.  Again...I couldn't be prouder of how wonderful they did!

Giving God ALL the glory and I pray that someone in our audience was touched to the core by the message that Jesus is the reason for Christmas and each of us has a hole in our hearts that only He can fill.

I'm still smiling this morning...what a GREAT night of ministry by the youngest ministers in our church!

The precious cast of...

...Dr. Newheart's Christmas Cure.