Scripture and a Shapshot - High Upon A Rock

The LORD is my light and my salvation―

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life―

of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing I ask from the LORD,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD

and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies who surround me;

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the LORD.

~Psalm 27:1, 4-6~

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WQ - Competition

I chose to explore this theme at the beginning of April because I knew I would have just come off a weekend at a Sweet Adelines Regional Competition. Our first thoughts about competition usually involve sports, but there are many other areas - including music - in which participants compete for a prize or some coveted award or status. Competition can be healthy or harmful, depending largely on attitudes and ethics. While we might feel like competition should be avoided in favor of cooperation, the drive to do well and to win is strong and can certainly be used for good!

Life is a competition not with others, but with ourselves. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair a mistake; each day to surpass ourselves. ~David B. Haight 

Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly. Taste the relish to be found in competition - in having put forth the best within you. ~Henry J. Kaiser

This has been my experience competing with a chorus. Of course the goal is to win the championship, but to do that we must plan and practice and work towards being the best we can be. We make our performance the best we've got, and that, in itself, is a victory already. That's what we're responsible for - our own performance - and we hope and believe that the scores we're awarded will reflect that. 

Scioto Valley Chorus got that win this past weekend. But I heard stories of other choruses and quartets that competed and didn't wind up in first place, and still won. They improved their score from previous years, or competed despite setbacks, or met their own goal in some way. I feel like it's easy for me to say that because I was in the championship chorus, but I saw it firsthand and I know it's true. One of the things that I love about Sweet Adelines is the mutual support and good sportsmanship of all the choruses. Everyone wants to win, but from what I've seen, everyone is also genuinely rooting for everyone else to do their very best. 

There are victories of the soul and spirit.  Sometimes, even if you lose, you win. ~Elie Wiesel

I kinda see everyone as competition. I'm a very competitive person. But I think that's good. Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool. ~Janet Jackson

(I know this post looks different from my usual, and that's because I'm on vacation and have very limited internet access. If you're linking your post, thank you, and I'll visit as soon as I'm able!)

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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive. 

Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me. 

And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking. 

~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2025 Themes

January 8 - Planning Ahead/Setting Goals

January 22 - Winter Sleep

February 5 - Love Inspires Us

February 19 - Staying Balanced

March 5 - First Impressions

 March 19 - Looking After Yourself

April 2 - Competition

April 16 - Spring Colours

April 30 - Morning Routines

May 14 - Memorable Vacations

May 28 - Telling Your Stories

June 11 - Summer Fun

June 25 - Patriotism

July 9 - Hobbies

July 23 - Being Adventurous

August 6 - Spirituality

August 20 - Writing Letters

September 3 - Chocolate

September 17 - Making and Keeping Promises

October 1 - Autumn/Another Spring

October 15 - Daily Bread

October 29 - Night Skies/Stargazing

November 12 - Good Manners

November 26 - Celebrating Holidays

December 10 - Winter Wonderland

December 24 - Holiday Memories

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 ©2006-2025 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Share Four Somethings - March 2025

Taking a little time to look back on March and come up with at least four somethings to share! Each month we're each invited to share things in these categories: Some Things I Loved, Some Things I Learned, Some Things That Went Well, and Some Thing I Let Go Of. I usually like to include a little bit of a bonus: Some Things I  Read and a little of What's Coming Up Soon. 

Some Things I Loved:

We kicked off the month in a great way, with a visit from Landon and Meaghan and Aubrey, and we attended the Stadium Series hockey game! So much fun on a cold, cold day!

We loved spending time with Harrison and Angela and Veronica too - particularly the day we spent at The Works in Newark.

We went to a TobyMac and Crowder concert - a couple of our favorite Christian artists - and the show was amazing!

It was an honor having friends and family come out to the send-off show for Scioto Valley Chorus last Monday night. Then this weekend Scioto Valley Chorus had an incredible time at the Regional Competition . . . and we are the Regional Champions!!!

Some Things I Learned:

I like history and take an interest in all kinds of random historical facts, so it was cool to learn some history about astronomy while at The Works. They have a planetarium and the presentation we saw was focused on how astronomy and the human fascination with the sky and the stars developed through time. 

It was a lot of fun to get more familiar with the Sweet Adelines world and how all the things work. This was my first Regional Competition, despite having been to International in late 2023. This competition was so much fun and while I certainly don't consider myself a veteran, I had a much better idea of what to expect so I spent very little time worried that I would get lost or mess something up somehow.

Some Things That Went Well:

At risk of focusing on only one event, our Regional Competition went VERY well! We all felt relaxed and great about our performance, and we finished with the scores, trophy, and medals that proved that the judges also thought we did well!

Some Things I Let Go Of:

Looks like I'll be letting go of a fair number of dollars, as we will wind up paying taxes again. Ugh. 

*********************

Some Things I Read:

Finished and reviewed these since my last SFS:

Frauds On Favourite by PJ Fitzsimmons

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

Here are the books I'm currently reading:

A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber

The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews

Good Energy by Casey Means

All of my reading news is at Just A Second if you're interested.

What's Coming Up Soon?

As soon as I get home from Covington, I'll be doing laundry and repacking for my trip to Manitoba. Probably around twenty-hours turnaround time. I'll be able to visit four of my aunts, an uncle, a cousin, my brother and sister-in-law, my niece; and of course my parents. Oh, and I'm very thankful for my sister-in-law and her husband offering me a place to crash and a ride to and from the airport. 

Share something in the comments, or share four somethings with the rest of us in the link party!

This post will be linked at My Joyful Life in the Share Four Somethings link party.

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 ©2006-2025 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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Scripture and a Snapshot - The LORD is My Refuge

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

If you say, "The LORD is my refuge,"

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation."

~Psalm 91:1-2, 9-12, 14-16~

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Springing Into the Hodgepodge

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  Spring has officially sprung (in the northern hemisphere anyway) . . . did she roll in more like a lion or more like a lamb in your neck of the woods? What needs more of your attention in terms of a good spring clean this year - your house or your garden/yard?

 

Probably like a lamb as the weather didn't do anything dramatic on the first day of spring. It was colder than I would have liked! Oddly, although I don't really have a yard or garden, that's what I'll answer needs a good spring clean. The house is actually in pretty good shape, although there's always decluttering and organizing I should do. But the patio area is very untidy and we've been saying we need to do something about that for about as long as we've lived here. Maybe this spring we will finally get to it.

 

2. What's put a spring in your step lately?

Counting down until Sweet Adelines Regional and then my trip to Manitoba right after that!

 3. When you were a kid, what was the best snack to find in your lunchbox? If you didn't do the lunchbox thing, tell us what was your favorite after school snack.

 I almost never took lunch to eat at school until I was in high school. So I'm trying to remember what we had as after school snacks and I'm drawing a blank. I remember watching TV with my brother when we got home from school, but I honestly don't remember whether we snacked on anything. Probably we had cookies and milk as that was an overall favorite. 

4. In what area of your life are you planting seeds?

 It bugs me when I don't have an answer to the hodgepodge questions, but I am genuinely stumped on this one and will have to say I don't know. There's a good chance I'll think of something well after I publish! Haha. 

5.  Why do you live where you do? Would you consider living somewhere else? Why or why not?

 

 Well . . . the simple answer is we live here, at least in this area, because it's where my husband found a job and it checked the boxes for where we were willing to move. We needed a place that was a short day's drive from both Columbus and central Maryland, and the opportunity that popped up was just outside of Columbus so that worked out pretty nicely. Yes, we'd certainly consider living somewhere else other than the apartment community we're in, and we'd like to shop for a house very soon. And yes, we'd also consider living in a whole different state, but not until we retire. At that point, it might depend somewhat on where our kids are, but we'd like to move to Florida, as retired people do! The reasons for not wanting to move at present are that we're close to our son and his family, and we love our church and activities here, and we have good jobs. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Last week I had a cold just starting, and this week I think I'm finished with it. Still a lingering cough every now and again. The chorus did our send-off show on Monday evening - pretty much a full dress rehearsal but with an audience - and it went very well. My granddaughter was so excited to present me with flowers afterwards! The chorus will be off to Regional on the weekend and then next week I'm headed to Canada for a long-overdue visit to my family!

What's new with you this spring? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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 ©2006-2025 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Everyday Images #58

Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week.

**I will be moving Everyday Images to every other THURSDAY instead of Tuesday, beginning in April.**

March Prompts - Everyday Images #58

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green

numbers

clouds

bird

speckled

at home (monthly)

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green

numbers

clouds

bird - wound up with only a silhouette of a noisy grackle. The birds have been visiting my feeder but it's a tough spot to get good photos of them.

speckled - not a very attractive example of speckling! This was a photo I took of my windshield still spotted with dirty snow and rain.

at home (monthly)

And a few bonus photos:

This is the tree, next to the parking lot at work, where the grackles gather and make quite a racket. This photo makes it look like it is outside a haunted house or something!

We finally visited The Works in Newark one Saturday. I loved some of the pieces in the small art gallery. If I was the kind of person to spend money on art, I'd purchase this one:

I don't think this scale was correctly calibrated. No one was standing on it at the time!

Another hockey game - sadly, a loss for the Blue Jackets. Will they make the playoffs?

My husband was gifted these hilarious socks and actually wore them to church! (He hiked up the pants legs for the photo, to be clear. They are normal length pants.)

We went to see David Crowder and Toby Mac in concert. Wow! They are a couple of my favorites and the show was fantastic. 

I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

**I will be moving Everyday Images to every other THURSDAY instead of Tuesday, beginning in April.**

Everyday Images will continue in 2025, every other Tuesday, and the link-up is open for two weeks. 

March/April Prompts - Everyday Images #59

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travel

handmade

architecture

gather

sparkling

doorway (quarterly)

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 ©2006-2025 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human.  https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation.  We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.