The Reluctant Pageant Mom

Ever since our daughter, Laynie, was just a baby, people have told us that we should put her into pageants or modeling. As her blonde curls grew in and her personality started to develop, she would smile and bat her big, blue eyes at strangers in the grocery store and people would stop and exclaim over her.

Now I will be the first one to say that Laynie is a beautiful child, but that could just be the mother in me talking. However, the countless strangers we met who oohed and aahed over her seemed to confirm my opinion. I just wasn't so sure about the modeling/ pageant thing. I mean, I've seen Toddlers and Tiaras. Some of those people are just plain crazy! I was not anxious to join their ranks or plunge my innocent daughter into that world.

That all changed one day with a call from my mom. When I was growing up, Mom was a dressmaker, and a very talented one at that. Recently, she got back into the business and started making pageant dresses. One Saturday in January, Mom called and said she was at a pageant about 10 miles from where we live and asked if Laynie and I wanted to come have lunch with her. When I mentioned it to Laynie, her first question was "Can I be in the pageant?!?!"

Uh oh.

Needless to say, Laynie spent the entire day at the pageant. She loved every minute of it and begged and pleaded to be allowed to compete in one. I was unsure of how I felt about it. We found out about a small, local pageant that was coming up and Mom promised to provide the formal wear and Valentine's Day outfit, if we could pay for the registration fee. I was still not convinced.

For one thing, I was a little skeptical about the whole pageant idea. I didn't want my young, impressionable daughter to think that outward appearance is the only thing that matters. We have worked very hard to teach our children that God is more concerned with a person's character than how they look on the outside. However, I could see that the girls in the pageant were confident, polite, well-spoken and they all seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Secondly, it can be very expensive to participate in pageants. We are fund-raising missionaries who recently took a big pay cut when I went from full-time to part-time to allow us more time to raise money for missions. We don't have a lot of extra room in our budget. So after talking with my husband, we decided to see just how serious Laynie was about this pageant thing. She was told that if she wanted to participate, she would have to earn the money for the registration fee by selling candy. We thought maybe she would forget about it. That was just wishful thinking.

I want you to know, that little girl sold candy bars like her last name was Hershey! She and her friend, Jasmine, set up a table by the mailboxes in our apartment complex. She went door to door with anyone who would go with her. She sent candy bars with her aunt to work. She set out the box of candy whenever we had people visit our house. She is a natural-born salesperson! In fact, we are thinking about putting her in charge of our missions fund-raising! :)

So with all of her hard work to raise the money, there was no way we could say no when it was time to register. We filled out the paperwork, sent in the registration fee, and started to prepare for the big day. The week of the pageant, Laynie rushed through her homework each night so she could practice. She made me pretend to be a judge while she walked across our dining room countless times, all the while practicing keeping eye contact and smiling.

On February 26, the day of the pageant was finally upon us! Laynie was more excited than I've ever seen her. My mom's business partner, Terri, did her hair and makeup. Then, Laynie donned a borrowed, salmon-colored, formal dress and stood in line backstage to wait her turn to walk. During all this time I am praying feverishly. "Lord, please let her do well so that her feelings won't be crushed and her self-esteem ruined!" I should have had more faith in my daughter.

When it was her turn, she walked across that stage like she had been born there! She was confident, poised, and absolutely beautiful! She didn't look the least bit nervous. She smiled and held the judges eyes every step of the way. I have never been more proud of her! In that moment, I saw the wonderful young woman that she is growing up to be. I felt the Lord saying that He is going to use her boldness, self-assurance, and determination to reach the world for Him. And if He chooses to use pageants to nurture those qualities in her, then who am I to argue?

At the end of the day, we were not the only ones who were impressed by Laynie. She won her age division and was crowned "Little Miss Sweetheart 2011"! She was, of course, thrilled and wanted to know when she could be in another pageant. Frankly, I had been afraid of that happening, but after seeing her on that stage, I would be wrong to say no.

One thing Stephen and I have learned during this process of becoming missionaries is that sometimes God uses the most unexpected things to prepare us for His call on our lives. We don't yet know what the Lord has in store for Laynie, but I suspect that it is something big. And if He wants to use pageants to help equip her for the future, then I will gladly become a "pageant mom" and cheer her on to wherever God is leading her.