As some of you have heard I had applied to compete in the Miss USA South Dakota 2010 pageant.
Not to say I have, yet again, completely placed this on the shelf, but rather punched the "hold" button... again... And yeah, I do realize that I said I wouldn't... But please bear with me.
Sometime last fall I had this nudge to start an annual young-woman's support group for our geographic area. This was before my grandparents fiftieth, the house fire, my aunt's passing, my older sisters hospitalization and the all around upside down turning of my entire life as I know it... I still don't think I have completely turned "right side up," as of yet... In fact, I'm fairly certain I'm doomed to remain "half way up," but won't ever recover to a fully vertical position - lol.
All that being said, I've taken my turn, numerous times, of "jumping off the deep end" within the last twelve months. Everything from going to Georgia last minute to campaign for an acquaintance to getting a job forty-five minutes from home, to applying to compete in a beauty pageant, to talking with my grandmother about possibly going to New York when my cousin and sister graduate from school... to... *breathe...* the list goes on!
But I think I'm ready to hit the "I'm not only off my rocker, but have flung myself from it" "like button" on Facebook...
Of course, like most stories, the beginning starts "once upon a time," but I really don't have the time, and I'm sure you don't either, to hear as far back as "once upon a time," and quite frankly, I don't want to spend that much time on a machine this evening :)
So I'll start with this Summer...
While in Georgia, in the van an hour longer than we thought, lost amidst turbo-city-traffic, crammed into the car (luggage and all) we (the young adult campaign-volunteers) decided to ask one another the "get real comfortable and close, share your deepest darkest within the next five minutes because we are GOING to like each other" questions.
One of those questions was, "what (do you believe) God has called you to do with your life (/ what are you most passionate about in life?)"
My answer is a hands-down "women's ministry. " Done, next.
At the end of each "mini interview" we follow the TeenPact Mock Legislation format and state, "I am now open for questions..." Where you are either attacked with a flurry of "goofiness" and laughter, or you are asked one or two more serious questions that get stuck in your brain and absolutely refuse to leave (ever?!?!?!?!)
One such question was asked when I had finished my "get to know facts about me for three minutes" interview.
"How are you living what God has called you to do
"when you grow up"
in life right now?"
Ha ha!! Miss/Mr Smarty Pants, eh! Well, fine then.. Be aggravating, irritating and ask the hard question! Just don't expect a reasonable answer, because, girl/ boy, I'm running' away from what I think God wants me to do next because I don't have a clue how to do it!
I do have to admit that my reply was quite lame. Okay, really highly very and extremely lame. So lame in fact, that I didn't really want any one to ask me any thing ever again about anything related to the topic.
See, us humans have a tendency to ignore those settle promptings from God to start something. We make excuses, "I'm already living a life of high standards," "if I raise the bar of my personal standards any more I'll be living something in the 'legalism department..." "I don't have time!" "I don't know how..." "Some one else with more experience will do it." "I don't have time to do that right now." "My life is too busy." "I simply cannot afford it."
My excuses were more around the areas of "high standard living" and "finances (or lack there of)" departments.
It all started with pageantry, and tea parties, and dressing up, and being feminine, and fashion, and shoes, and embracing the call of mother hood (if God has laid that on your life-calling), and pursuing a life of purity. It all fits together. It all goes together. It's a sort of circular reasoning.
The state that I live in offers, really in quite honesty, nothing for young women in this regard, except for our fantastic annual Purity Ball, hosted by the National Abstinence Clearing House. This Purity Ball promotes purity to the young women of our community. It's a wonderful event, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I went! But it lasts for only a few hours, one evening, one time a year (if economy allows).
The area I'm in is highly rural, and resources for young women about as few and far between as humanity is.
At one time in history, there was a quaint tea house in our down-town district, but because of economy had to fold. I think this may have been the only tea house in the entire state!
Up until this fall, I had hosted a tea, of one sort or another, between Christmas and Valentines day, for young women. We talked about all sorts of things! Anything from fashion to our deepest dreams and longings filled our conversation. All who attended were well fed on multiple different levels, by the time we began filing out of the building.
Why didn't I host this tea this year? Too much transition! Too much change! Too much shifting....
But now there is another shifting, a deeper one. A changing, a beckoning deep within to dig out that dream that I had a year ago of putting together an annual event for young women to connect with like-minded young women, to learn and grow as ladies of this generation, Princesses of the King of Kings. A dream to resource young women with more, with relationships, with books, with web sites, CD's, speaker notes, pictures... Anything that helps them to reach for The Goal: Christ... To keep their eyes solely on Jesus! To Encourage and inspire; to, together pursue what God has for us as His girls...
................... More to come on what exactly I'll be doing ;) ...
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