Last night we took all 4 children (and my huge contracting belly) to see the Ballet Magnificat perform “The Hiding Place” at The Summit Church.  It told the story of Corrie Ten Boom.  We discussed splitting up and leaving one parent home with 3 boys and one of us taking ThePrincess.  But, really, that’s just not how the Parkers do it.  It’s all or nothin’.  And we wanted the boys to experience it, as well.  Consequently, we were completely prepared to spend more time getting ready for the ballet than actually spent at it.  As in, be ready to roll out within 5 minutes of showtime, if it went crazy.  Sadly, the only thing that went crazy was that this gorgeous event was Standing Room Only (one gentleman did offer up his son’s seat to my 2 year old and me), and there was a spot down front for the children to sit on the floor.  Even this would not have sent us home early had BigMan not come down with an unknown allergic rash that we were concerned about.  This ballet was so unbelievable that my three older children “forgot” to sit down for an hour – so riveted were they by the story unfolding on the stage and even the 2 year old sat still on my lap only moving to get a better view of the dancers.  We left at intermission and unlike the usual “leave earlies” we were sad to do so, but really needed to get some Benadryl for our broken-out little guy.  On the way home we tried to delicately discuss, with 3 very small people, the atrocities of the Nazi party, the holocaust, and the Christ-found courage to do something right.  And later in the evening with those little people sleeping, Matt and I discussed being surprised by how emotionally moved we were by the dance, the story, and the music.  I thought maybe it was just pregnancy hormones, but I think, no, it was a sweeping gorgeous lonesome feeling that ran through the entire room.  What a magical captivating evening.