Tab sat with some friends, and Katriel stayed home with Nan.
We barely got there in time, and yet we got there at the perfect moment. It was JUST as they opened the doors for the HIS Radio More Than Music Partners (monthly donors) to go in just five minutes before the main opening. We slid right in the door and grabbed seats we liked. About 25 minutes later friends found us and joined us. Kevin and Shannon moved here about a year before we did, but they live about 40 minutes west of us. I haven’t seen Shannon since LAST Winter Jam.
Many artists. It was a wonderful night of worship.
Wouldn’t you know, our American Heritage Girls Operation Christmas Child box backing party AND Tab’s CCHA Fall Project Night fell on the same date.
Daddy went with the other girls and I went with Tab.
Tab’s drama class shared a short play about the Ballerina of Auschwitz.
She now has a 6 week break from co-op!
It was over a year ago Johanna found out she was cast as Eulalie Shinn for the Home School Christian Theater Club production of the Music Man.
Then – blah – blah – blah – Zoom – Mask – toilet paper – time to go back.
Or something like that.
We had fun with the 1920’s hair.
She had fun being the campy mayor’s wife.
We LOVED being around our friends. Our people. Our like-minded peers.
(whom we are moving away from? – ouch.)
SO SPECIAL.
She had to wear a mask, but these kids were more than able to emote.
There was MUCH less parental involvement this time, and that kind of worked at this stage of life.
We also had a FANTASTABULOUS time at the after show party Sunday.
And we cried all the way home.
Johanna had the opportunity to participate in a stage production of Frozen Jr.
Now, when I first saw the email in March with the big kids in the Finney show, FCWC on the horizon, and my responsibilities for standardized testing looming over me, my finger went directly into “Swipe that Email Away” mode and just as I started the swipe that would have eliminated One More Thing on my calendar, I hesitated, imagining how much Johanna would enjoy doing a show.
And here we are. It’s showtime.
The practices were just just once a week. It was a long 2.5 hours each Thursday up to Webster and back, but manageable as only a 11-week commitment.
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Some seasons, we find ourselves in the valleys of life; we walk through hard places and experience painful refining.
Other times we are wholly on top of the mountain, just basking in all that is good and joy-filled and life-giving.
On Friday afternoon, it suddenly dawned on me as I dropped off my boys at the Charles Finney School that I was having a mountain-top weekend.
For starters, Marie, Tabitha and Johanna were performing in the church’s production, “Who Can He Be?” This is the same production our church did in 2012 and 2013. I was able to participate in 2012, and John participated in 2013. Marie and Tabitha were also in both of those shows, albeit as markedly younger performers. This time around, both are part of the adult ensemble and had much larger roles.
The boys and I were able to go to the dress rehearsal on Wednesday, March 21st, and I was able to watch a second time on Thursday, March 22nd.
I was blown away by the musical. Though I had been in it in 2012, I had never watched the entire production from start to finish. My sister, Kelly, also played the woman at the well.
My joy would have been complete if that was where it ended.
Oh boy – that’s only half the story.
Since December, Stewart and Nigel have been practicing at the Charles Finney School to be part of their production, “Acts – A City Rising,” a modern retelling of the book of Acts.
Stewart was cast as Saul of Tarsus/Paul, and Nigel was cast as Isaac, a zealous defender of God and persecutor of Christians.
As I dropped them off for their cast call on Friday and hurried home to get the girls ready for their performance and over to the church it dawned on me how this is the kind of joy-filled weekend I had to hang on to. Remembering just how abundantly we were blessed for this weekend should constantly remind me of how God loves us. My kids – my HOMESCHOOLED kids – get to be part of fabulous, Godly stage productions. How cool is that?
I could blow up the internet with images of the boys’ production. They put in almost 100 hours of rehearsal. Stewart met with Mr. Carl Wager many, many times as Mr. Wager helped him advance his singing abilities. I had no idea the treat I was in for as my son sang triumphantly as he conveyed Saul/Paul’s life.
As the boys and I left the production Friday evening, they asked if I had cried at the end. I confessed I had not and they were disappointed. Truth-be-told, I think I was in shock. I believe it wasn’t until after the third production that I truly grasped the full story; until that point I think I was just absorbing, “Those are my handsome boys! There are my handsome boys!”
I feel like I know the apostles so much better after this show. And I am in awe even more of how much God loves us and how He grew the church. I can barely express how moved I was by this musical. What is more, I can barely express how generous God is.
