a HOPEful violin

Paige's middle name is HOPE. Have I ever written of that here? The name comes from Matt's lone baptism on his mission. A large Nigerian man, named Hope. When it came to naming our children, I wanted to use something meaningful from Matt's mission. Reflecting back, I don't think we could have come up with a more fitting match to Paige's upbeat personality.

An example of the HOPE I find through her: When downloading my recent Ipod pictures, I find this picture.

With purpose, she has a board book mounted to her chin and a baby toy in performance position. "What do you think I am doing, Mom?" she questioned. Watching a few stroke with her colorful "bow," I could tell that in fact she was "playing the violin." A board book violin!

After giving her some creativity points, I realized that it reminded me a bit like when a pity-partying-soul provokes their listener to move their fingers in exaggeratingly small motions. Playing a violin meant for a flea. In a "really, you're life is not that hard" sarcastic way.

I had one of those pity-party days a few days ago. A rough day. I could have easily rambled off a lengthy list of wrongs that had come my way. But, by the time Matt finally stumbled into the house after working past 11:15 PM, I was glancing at the picture of Paige and her "violin." Seeing her with that makeshift instrument, I couldn't help but see her "No, you're life isn't that bad. Look my way. There is HOPE if you slow down and watch my awesome violin solo. I'm playing on your behalf!" reminder.

That's a quirky, HOPEful reminder I'll take!