Showing hope...

You might remember that last fall I went to SCC's "Live in This Moment" concert. You might remember that an SCC concert is the equivalent of a national holiday to me. One thing you might not know is that we left one fairly annoyed teenager in the middle of a day-long marching band contest behind when we went to that concert. EVERY Saturday is a contest day, once the season starts, and missing due to anything other than major surgery (okay, I'm kidding...that's not really allowed either) is NOT allowed. Soooooo....we didn't take any kids and had a date night. In order to be able to live under the same roof as my disgruntled children, however, I promised that I would take them to a concert on his spring tour. Which brings me to this weekend...the first of two concerts within reasonable driving distance...

Mindy and Abby had the front doors covered...

aren't I raising the cutest little groupies?

We've had bids on front row seats for the Shaohannah's Hope concert for the second weekend in March for a while now. For the last few years, SCC has auctioned off front row tickets as a way to raise money for Shaohannah's Hope. I didn't need much incentive to bid on the tickets, but the money going to a cause near and dear to my heart was icing on the cake. The plan was that I would take the kids, and Jon would work the booth for Shaohannah's Hope. Then they added another concert in our area for the first weekend in March (this past weekend), and we decided we would volunteer as a family to give the kids an opportunity to be involved. So after the "Family Fun Festival" and a quick nap for Caroline (and Daddy), we hit the road.

Mickey worked with his Dad on the second floor balcony...

and he had a grand time helping count the money in the change sorters!

Shaohannah's Hope is an organization started by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to assist families pursuing adoption with their financial needs. According to their website, they have helped over 1000 families bring their children home...Caroline is one of those children, and we are eternally thankful. Show Hope is a new campaign started by Shaohannah's Hope to engage Christians in praying for orphans, caring for orphans and fundraising to remove the financial barriers for those wanting to adopt. One way they do this is through "Change for Orphans". Money is collected at each of SCC's concerts, and the money is presented at the end of the night to a family in the adoption process. It's a pretty cool thing to see, and it is a great way to engage people in the personal aspect of adoption. They are able to see firsthand how their giving effects CHANGE and forever changes a child's life.

I thought she might go head first into the big bucket!

All that said, we had the privilege of representing Shaohannah's Hope and happily collected change and passed out flyers. We worked in teams, and Caroline was on mine. She was in a fiesty mood...apparently the day's earlier episode of "Toddler Psychosis" was brought on by two very mean molars making themselves known. She spent most of the evening with her fist jammed in her mouth, a sure sign. Despite her fiestiness, she charmed concertgoers as she passed out flyers at the door and collected change with her own minature bucket. She even managed to catch the eye of SCC's road manager, who went to fetch her a "sticker" and came back with a "Backstage" pass. We didn't GO backstage, but we got a good chuckle out of thinking how she might have actually wrangled that out of him, had she been a little more conversational!

Do you think, perhaps, her teeth are bothering her?

And you gotta love the damage she did to that tattoo on her face...pretty, huh?

It was a late night...we stayed till the end to see them present a family with $4500 for their adoption!!! That is an incredible amount of money to raise in one night...oh, how God shows up!!! Of course, we enjoyed some of the concert, even though it was literally standing room only. The best news?? Well, for me, that is...

WE WON THE AUCTION FOR THE NEXT WEEKEND!

See those heads in the front? That will be us! WOOHOO!!!

Incidentally, this is a picture of Caroline taking her nap

on our bed the next day.

She usually sleeps in her own bed, just fine and dandy, but she pitched a screaming fit at naptime, and we finally got her calmed down enough that she passed out on our bed.

Oh, no, she wasn't tired...

P.S. Show Hope also has a blog, a MySpace page,

and a Facebook page, if you're interested...