THE DANCE
LAURA KOHOOT

………

One spring evening 10 of my bravest pimply friends, and their parents - all gathered in my parents living room. We borrowed enough plastic chairs from the church to make sure at least the parents had a seat while the rest of us sat on the well trampled beige carpet. Of course there were baked goods and coffee and all the things that make a good evening of evangelism. This also meant - we had to kick off with a prayer. I mean - it would have been weird not to in this town. “Dear heavenly father. We are grateful to be here in this room, with these special people tonight. We wish to please you. We wish to be of service for your kingdom. Bless us and guide our conversation as we discuss planning an event. In your Holy name, AMEN.” It was as awkward as you can imagine. We proceeded to very carefully convince and cajole these parents that no evil thing would happen if we were allowed this event. We had a plan to raise some money. We also wanted a DJ - and a dance. This was a tougher sell. “Why can’t you get together, and have some food and drink, and thank God for the night and that be enough?” Said Mr. Dueck. “There is no need to involve the devil and his Music”. Despite their concerns over the Devil and his music, we were successful in getting enough votes for ‘yes’ that we got our Grade 9 graduation complete with a DJ and the dance. We were 15, successful and so cool!