A Masterpiece

"The greatest masterpieces 

were once only pigments on a palette."

-Henry Hoskins-

This past weekend, we were privileged to go to the valley and attend the Arizona Allstate Performance.  This was for the Junior High School students who had competed and made Allstate.  Mikayla made it to 6th chair for the cello.  What a wonderful opportunity for her!  She was able to play with an Orchestra that was amazing. 
These kids, young as they were, were the best that I have ever heard.  It was a beautiful evening, and I was so grateful that we were able to go and listen to them perform.  It has taken so much time and effort on her part to be able to participate in this.  The kids had to compete and go to the City of Payson to play.  They received their music a month ago and had to practice it daily so that they would sound well.  They had to be willing to work hard to do what needed to be done. 
Then, after all the preliminary work was finished, they went down to the valley and spent an entire day practicing and following a conductor that they had never worked with before.  It was all a challenge to them. 
I can't tell you how many times I have listened to Kayla play these songs, or how many times she has chosen to go up to her room to work on them instead of reading a book or watching TV.  I can't even begin to explain how frustrated she was with the music, or how she thought she was never going to get it, or how she was afraid they would kick her out because she was terrible. 
But she kept practicing.  She kept trying.  She kept going forward in her studies.  When she went down to the valley, she placed sixth out of all the cellos.  That is quite an honor for a young woman who had never been to Allstate before and who was so afraid of doing badly. 
None of us ever know how things are going to turn out in our lives.  We all make mistakes, occasionally play wrong notes and sometimes feel like complete and total failures.  We are sure that we can't continue or that we have lost all hope. 
If we just keep going forward, one step at a time, one note at a time, one moment at a time, soon will will find our own symphony.  Our own concert.  Our own peace. 

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you;

they're supposed to help you discover who you are."

-Bernice Johnson Reagon