State of Mind

Today Katy and I are off to Daytona Beach for Florida's State Choral Adjudication. Riverview HS is sending 3 choirs, 8 ensembles, 6 soloists, and 2 student directors to this final level of competition.




Last evening we (The Munger Family) hosted the honors chamber choir for our annual spaghetti dinner as final preparation for this week. It's a great night to kick back and relax, squeeze in a last rehearsal, and then do some "living room" performances. There are about 30 of us.



It was a great time, setting the tone for a fun few days ahead of us. And yes, the patio was the perfect addition this year!

See you in a few days...

Links in the Chain

The subject of the sovereignty of God has been consuming me over the past several months. This is a truth that I know exists, just as I know gravity does. I'm not a scientist, (not in a million years!!), but my knowledge comes from experience. God's sovereignty in the lives of people, events, world affairs... co-exists with our ability to choose...whatever that choice may happen to be. There's a lot of times I don't understand it.

Many things have happened in the past week that address this struggle I've been trying to overcome. It is as if God is using important people in my life to affirm the acceptance of this truth and its consequences. Most aren't aware, but when linked together, as it intersects into my moment in time and experience, it is in my face. As if God is saying to me, Shari, do you get it? And if you get it, do you accept it as from My hand for your own good?

I've been studying the life of Joseph in a bible study over the past few weeks. I've come to the conclusion that no person in that story had their life turn out the way they expected it to be. Joseph still accepted the unexpected as part of God's plan--not just for himself, but for the beginning of the nation of Israel. He had perspective. I want that kind of outlook.

My cousin and his wife welcomed a new baby into their family one week ago. I saw them recently, a month away from delivering, and prayed for their family daily as the expectancy of childbirth loomed. Every day a prayer for acceptance of God's sovereignty being worked out in their lives. It's easier to pray it in someone else's life than my own.

The day after Aden's birth, as I'm cleaning house, the lyrics to a song pop out at me. The singer is Nichole Nordeman, "ironically enough" a friend of the very cousin I've been praying for! On her most recent cd she wrote a song entitled "Miles" about this very issue of acceptance of God's sovereignty. Not just acceptance, but how God enters into our pain when the experiences are not what we want...and how He enters into our joy with answered prayer...and how both are equally from His hand.

To wrap it all up, during the sermon on Sunday, parts of the text of Romans 8:18-27 were discussed. The context was our deepest longings...the Apostle Paul equates it with anticipation of birth...and the Spirt's role in our prayer life when it's just beyond words.

All of these experiences seemed to piggy back on each other for me over this past weekend.

I hope I'm growing.

I do see the links.

National Junior Honor Society

This is not the post promised a couple days ago, (it is still coming), but for a moment wanted to be a proud parent...so please indulge! :)


Last evening at McIntosh Middle School, our youngest daughter, Laura, was inducted into the NJHS. She joins her two older sisters, Katy and Emma, with this honor. Thought I'd share some pictures from yesterday's activities.As you can see, the "baby" is indeed growing up!




On a side note...we missed you, Em!

A Chain-Linked Life

I have experienced an outpouring of random exchanges that seem to have become connected this past week. I'll expand on them more in the days to come, but for now I have this thought:

Our lives are all entwined. If you are computer literate, you may think of "network". In sociology, the word may be "community". I think Senator Clinton would use "village". Whatever word chosen doesn't really matter. I could draw a link of one person to another, and somewhere you are there, and somewhere else there I am. That's kind of been what these moments have been for me this past week.

I'm just now seeing the chain. I'll share more details later...

Gpa would've laughed

I read this light news article this morning and immediately thought of my grandparents, Carl and Barbara.

I had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii twice with them, once at the age of 7 and then again at 12. I think G'ma would've been fascinated by the species, wanted to know more, etc...

Gpa would've laughed, in that chuckle I hear so vividly in my mind, at the name this poor fish must endure.

How To Project

For the past 4 days my husband has been working on a "weekend project". You know, the kind that typically takes much longer than a weekend! We decided to add a paver patio off the back of our house so we can expand our living space to the outside.


It was at this point that I thought a vegetable garden might be a better plan. Levelling is quite the job. I think Garland spent a day and a half moving dirt from one spot to another. It's very important that the grade be "just so", otherwise there'll be other problems later!


After 50+ bags of sand, we placed the 6x6 and 6x9 inch cobblestone pavers down in our chosen pattern. (we actually went around our neighborhood and copied the one we liked the best! this was when i felt validated, because while my husband's mechanical intelligence is off the charts as opposed to mine being in the basement, when it came to "seeing" the pattern, i grasped that part immediately!)


By the end of Sunday, we were sanding in the pavers! We will be doing that part over the next few days, compacting them down once more, and then placing our patio furniture and landscaping.



I have discovered the following from this "how to" weekend:

1. The foundation really is important.
2. I'm more out of shape than I thought.
3. 18x12 is definitely a big enough patio!
4. Mine and Garland's strengths and weaknesses balance us out...we're a great team!

What's your favorite house project you've done with someone?

A Passionate Celebration

We enjoy the beauty of a shared vine with our neighbors. It winds itself through our common fence and blooms during this time of year. Jose has given us this rare tropical flower.

It is called Passion of Jesus Christ.

We have done nothing to earn this gift.
It is grafted into our yard.
As a result, we have more beauty to enjoy.

Today we celebrate the life of Christ lived passionately on earth, and His powerful resurrection.

I have done nothing to earn this gift.
I am grafted into Christ.
As a result, I live a more abundant life.

Thank you, God, for using Jose and your creation to show us You.

Reflection For a Day of Passion

O Crux

O Cross, more radiant than the stars,
Celebrated throughout the earth,
Beloved of the people.

Holier than all things
Which alone was found worthy
To bear the light of the world:

Blessed Tree, Blessed Nails
Blest the weight you bore:

Save the flock which today is gathered to praise you.

-Knut Nystedt

For more Passion Day thoughts, consider these from my family:
Aunt Ginnie
Cousin Nathan

Movie and Music

For the pop music portion of RHS's Spring Concert, we are saluting music in the movies...and so I ask this question:

What is your favorite song from the movies?

Reflections for Lent

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom