White sheets for snow, Christmas tree skirts for capes, a tent for a cave. The White Witch in a wedding dress, and a three-year-old Aslan in a lion suit.

I was reminiscing last week as I rewatched video recordings of some of the first plays I ever acted in. The oldest recording I have is from 2006, when I was ten years old and played Susan Pevensie in my church’s little production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We were just a bunch of kids who loved Narnia and wanted to put on a play, but that year started something that grew and flourished into something much bigger than we ever expected.

What’s most remarkable to me is how supportive the adults and church leaders were in 2006, and the way they banded together and enabled us to turn our dream into a reality. My 12-year-old sister wrote the script and directed the play, and the actors ranged in age from 3 to 13. So as you can guess, we could never have pulled it off without a LOT of help from our parents and other adults. And there they were, encouraging us, advising us, making costumes, organizing sets, even acting a few roles in the play.

I guess what I want to say is, if your kids have a dream—a dream to learn, to create, to offer something to others—don’t dampen it. Cultivate their dream. Even if it means a lot of work for you to equip and guide them, it’ll be worth it.

In twelve years, our church Christmas drama has grown from this:

into this:

Same stage, by the way.

Thank you, parents and mentors, who made that possible. You loved us and served for us, and I know you could not imagine in 2006 where we would be just twelve years later. Thanks for being brave enough to share and cultivate our dreams.

I have assembled a short montage of clips from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the video is on our Facebook page if you’re curious about this performance from years back. We just used what we had, and while our production wasn’t exactly the highest quality, it sure made a lot of people smile. Hope you get a chuckle from it too!