Sharing hope...

This time of year is always busy for us...but this week seemed to bring with it about a month's worth of events and errands. Tonight was no exception. Abby continued with her week-long audition process for the high school color guard team, following play practice for her leading role in Beauty and the Beast. Mindy had a performance for her Lyceum class project, Meeting of the Minds (more on that later). Jon and I had originally planned to attend the Steven Curtis Chapman concert, but a last-minute plea from Shaohannah's Hope for volunteers (and a little parental guilt for leaving Mindy's performance unattended) spurred a decision to divide and conquer...we scrapped the concert plans. He took Mickey with him to see Mindy's masterful Meeting of the Minds...are you digging the alliteration? Anyway. That left me and Caroline on the volunteer crew for Shaohannah's Hope.

Traffic was crazy...you would have thought heading into downtown at rush-hour would have been a tad easier than it was. We arrived just in time to get an assigned area to work. Caroline was her usual charming self. As we were being briefed on our pre-intermission duties by none other than the legendary Geoff Moore, she insisted on loudly questioning the whereabouts of Mr. Chapman. Oh, yes, she knows quite well who he is and what he sings. She just could not figure out why someone else was standing on the stage. It was all I could do to stifle her inquiries.

We spent a bit of time at the table closest to the main doors before the show. I ran into a few people I knew. We visited the potty. I fielded 472 requests from Caroline to visit the snack bar. Finally, the show started, and we stole away to the balcony to catch a glimpse of the elusive Mr. Chapman. Here is where I was the one stifling my own laughs. My girl was nothing less than hilarious. She kept standing on my lap, leaning forward and waving in the air, hollering hello, as if SCC were there for no other purpose than to sing just for her. As each song began, she would ask when he was going to sing Cinderella.

No shoes...classy, eh? I'll have to scan in

the two pictures she snagged from
these sponsorship brochures that

she swore were Kylie and Caleb.

But the funniest part was when he was giving his intro for the song, Cinderella. Don't get me wrong. It is truly the most beautifully told bittersweet story to hear. He wrote that song as a reminder that our little ones are little for such a short while...and that they are grown and gone in the blink of an eye. Had I not been distracted by my own little one, I probably would have been in a puddle of tears. But as the story wore on, Caroline's patience in waiting for Cinderella wore thin. And I noticed that she began intently studying SCC's every move. I became aware of the fact that SCC was using a lot of hand gestures as he spoke. And my daughter was mocking every one of them. I started giggling, and I thought I might crack a rib trying to stop so as not to appear insensitive. FINALLY, he sang her ultimate ballad, and she danced and twirled through the entire song, right there in the aisle. And blew him a kiss when it was done.

Singing Cinderella...

Out in the lobby, her antics continued. She flirted once again with SCC's road manager, David Trask, who asked her to accompany him at intermission to help hand out brochures. He actually remembered her as the "little fireball" from last winter when we worked one concert and had front row seats for another. This time, I heard her talking to him and asking him if he knew Mr. Chapman. He told her he was very good friends with Mr. Chapman, and she was visibly impressed. I'm telling you...give her another couple of years and she'll have talked her way backstage.

Miss Caroline with David Trask...

Before the night was over, she had made friends with a young bachelor working the Show Hope Golf Classic table. A self-proclaimed facebook addict, he was intent on passing the downtime on his iPhone. And Caroline was intent on competing for his attention. Apparently, she told him to "stop texting and get off your iPhone" and read her a story. When he stopped howling over the fact that a three-year-old had complete comprehension over texting and iPhones, he updated his facebook status to reflect that fact.

Lecturing and befriending "Mr. Ricky"...in that order.

Then she moved on to Nick Lyndon, who works with Shaohannah's Hope and spearheads the Show Hope efforts on tour. At one point, she had him cornered and was shoving a brochure in his hands, demanding he read her a story. I have to say, he's such an efficient, pleasant young man (sheesh, does that make me sound OLD), and he was very good-natured about the whole thing. She just has that way about her...she isn't easily put off and charms her way into almost anything she wants. Just the other day, we were checking out of Kohl's, and I was in a great hurry, as always. We'd managed to miss yet another naptime, and we were in the zone...the one where it could all go wrong in an instant. In her sweetest little voice, Caroline queried, "Momma, may I pease have a piece of gum?" I didn't have any gum and tried to dissuade her as peacefully as possible. Instead of invoking the riotous response I expected, my answer resulted in the most pitiful little expression on her face, followed by, "PEESE, Momma. I weahwy (really) tiyed (tired). The lady in front of me melted in a puddle and started frantically searching her own purse for a piece of gum.

Storytime with Nick...

In all seriousness, I was once again blessed to be of just a teeny bit of service to this awesome organization that does so much on behalf of the orphan. Some days I just want to jump on a plane and make a dent in this world...but then I remember that, for now, my mission field is here, and what matters most to the heart of God is loving my children and teaching them how to share that love with others. So I will happily take every chance I get to Show Hope...to share this blessing in the form of a tiny little Chinese chatterbox.