Festival!

Every year Stan takes his 7th and 8th grade bands to Waycross, GA where they perform three selections for three judges. They're given scores based on how they did, and his hope is always that the kids will give their best performance on the stage and that the judges will provide helpful feedback and that it will be a positive experience for the kids. It is his big culminating event for the year, and although we all wish it didn't have to cause so much stress, there is a certain amount of unavoidable stress that goes along with these performances. It's a significant build up that precedes the concerts, and we all breathe a big sigh of relief when they're over. We want to be quick to give our Heavenly Father great praise and thanks for carrying us through this last week. It was tough, and we know he was lifting us up and holding us through it all. On Thursday Stan's 7th grade group performed and I thought they did very, very well. Stan knew and I knew that their intonation had room for improvement, but technically and musically, we thought they did very well. They received an Excellent rating, or a II (I is the highest you can receive). The judges gave them straight B's on every single area being critiqued. Again, Stan didn't necessarily expect a Superior or a I rating with them, but it was surprising to not receive one single A throughout any of the judging pages. Seemed wrong to me. Then on Friday he took his 8th grade band, and they played really well, but when they came off the stage Stan said to me, "Well, that wasn't their best performance." I thought they did really well, but I could hear a spot or two that was not exactly perfect, and after his experience the day before, I was really concerned about the judges' response. After they sightread, and all the kids were loaded onto the buses, I waited while he went to get the judges envelopes with the results, and as he walked to the car where we were waiting, I could tell as he got closer that tears were welling up in his eyes, and I just started praying, "Oh please Lord, let this be good news, and not bad!" He didn't say anything but just simply pulled out sheet after sheet after sheet that had almost all A's and I's at the top of every page! I just screamed and hugged and kissed him and said, "Praise God!" As a wife, there is such joy that comes from seeing your husband's extremely hard work acknowledged and rewarded. So, we do give great thanks and praise to Jesus for being with us this week. We know that many of you were praying for Stan, and we can't thank you enough. Here are some pictures from Friday. Sorry there aren't more of the band.