I don't care who you are, watching children perform on stage is stirring.

Last night was Alex's Christmas play; he attends the same church school I went to as a child. The first- and second-graders filed onto the bleachers and divided themselves into three groups: stars, shepherds and sheep. Alex was a shepherd, complete with bath towel and Rob's bathrobe tie wrapped around his head.

Becca stood stiff-legged on my lap, tense with anticipation. The lights, the crowd, the...