If you know me at all you will be all too aware that I have a slight, and not at all unhealthy and stalker like obsession with Declan Donnelly! (half of the well known Ant and Dec duo. What? Which one is he? He is the one who stands on the right and has the slightly smaller forehead!)
I don’t quite know when this love, I mean, obsession, began, but I recall from a very early age turning down any engagement that involved a Saturday morning. This time of the week was sacred. It was blocked out the diary as ‘me and Dec time’ (ok there was few others watching him too on SMTV live, but still!)
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be in the audience of these shows. I entered numerous competitions to make that dream a reality. “Ask the bill payers permission before you ring” was never a rule I really listened to and the competition line became number one speed dial on our home phone. As I grew up, or perhaps ‘got older’ is a better term in this instance, the want to meet him grew stronger. As I hit my twenties I decided that phoning into these TV shows was slightly more wrong and I would have to find an alternative route to my destiny. J I applied for tickets online to see them as they moved into shows like Saturday night Take Away and Push the Button. The application process was monotonous as every year I filled out the form and waiting for the response only to receive an email with the subject ‘tickets denied’. In hindsight declaring love for Dec on these forms was perhaps inappropriate.
Two weeks ago however, after a recent application I received an email offering me six tickets to ‘Push the Button’ filming this weekend!!! (Again, for those of you who know me you will understand and sympathise with those that had to live with me at this time).
So, Saturday night was the big night. The girls dolled ourselves up and left for the studios mid afternoon. Getting to the front of the queue was of upmost importance to get the best seats. It was cold and in those killer heels we all wore, pretty painful too. The hours of waiting were spend laughing and giggling imagining the night ahead. The girls jokingly mocked me and became increasingly concerned for my sanity as I grew in excitement at the event about to take place – finally, I would get to see him.
Finally, the gates opened and our audience bands were placed around our wrists. When we saw the numbers on them began at 134, we knew it was a job well done! We were ushered into the studio and the heat. The stewards shepherded us up the stairs of the stands, and further up the stairs we went, and further and further with our faces dropping at each increase in altitude. There we sat at the back of the studio, not enamoured to say the least. The injustice of it was written all over our faces – “this far back, are you kidding me?” Each one of use used our charm, wit and in the end feisty female nature to plead for better seats. Is it wrong that I could have cried? Justice prevailed and we were moved to the middle section a lot nearer the front! Not long now….
The lights went down and the anticipation fell on the audience. The warm up guy stopped and said the time had come, the boys would be here any second. He drew breath and introduced then “Ant and Dec…” rapturous applause and screaming (no, not just me!) standing ovations, and there he was, standing just meters away, more handsome, cheeky and funny than I could have possibly imagined and right in that moment, those years of waiting fell away, this was a date well worth the wait!
As a Christian I can’t help but draw parallels. We are waiting for that glorious moment when we meet Christ. How long have you been waiting? How much money have you spent on books, DVDs, Christian conferences, preparing yourself for that moment? How many prayers have you petitioned to Him, all answered but some with the subject ‘denied’? How many friends have mocked you and told you that you’re crazy? How much injustice have you suffered? How much perseverance have you had to exercise? And yet, when that day comes, we will stand there and there He will be; more beautiful, more radiant, above our imagination and expectation in every single way. The years we have endured will pass away and it will all be worth it.
If I can get so excited and gain so much fulfilment from meeting Declan Donnelly, how much more can I expect when Christ comes home?
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