This morning I had the blessing of being the chapel speaker for the elementary students at the Christian school where I teach.  Doing a show at 8:30 AM on a Monday isn't conducive to peak juggling dexterity, and it showed a few times.  My hat routine, however, went without a mistake... until the very last trick with a cane.  Why, after all these years , does it still kill me when I do a mediocre performance.

On the illusion end, things were a lot stronger.  I included a new routine which involves 'predicting' a word chosen at random from a book.  And, as usual, my growing head trick got the best audience response.

In the end, of course, it's always about the ministry, no matter how many times I lose sight of that.  Being the season of Lent, I spoke with the kids about the times in our lives when God calls us to give up things for Him.  I used my hat routine to tell the story of the church that would only hire us if we used only hymns in our routines, and I had to give up the way I normally planned our show.  I used the story of the rich young ruler who Jesus told to give up all his wealth if he wanted eternal life.  I used the story of Richard Wormbrand, who spent 14 years in a communist prison in Romania for refusing to compromise the Gospel message.  I prayed with several kids after, and it was a fruitful morning of ministry.  Why is there still a part of me that thinks it would have been a better morning if I had juggled better?