Thankful Thursdays ~ Here I Am Lord, Use Me ~ Encore

On this Thankful Thursday I am honored, humbled and thrilled all at the same time!   As of Sunday I will be appointed the new Chaplain for the Miss Oklahoma Pageant.   Here  is the post I wrote after serving as Chaplain last June.  I hope you enjoy it and it blesses you! 

 I am reminded of a wonderful spiritual experience I had a couple of months ago.

I was with some of the brightest and most beautiful women in the state of Oklahoma. Yes,  I mean beautiful, smart, lovely, Christian women.   They were vying for the title of  Miss Oklahoma.

So you might be thinking to yourself,  how could this have been a spiritual experience?  Well, dear friend of mine is the Chaplain for the Miss Oklahoma pageant. She emailed me and asked if I would fill in for her because she was having health issues. Fill in? Yes! Of course I said.  I don’t think I could hit the send button fast enough.

Wow, it was certainly fun to see how far fashion, beauty and makeup have come.  We thought we were advanced back in the day when I competed, but oh no. It is nothing like today. I will share some of those tips and amazing beauty inventions next Tuesday on the LBD’s Guide to a FabYOUlous You!

But for this Thankful Thursday, I just wanted to share how God is so great about fulfilling the desires of our heart.  For about a year I was doing some pageant coaching while we were back in Oklahoma.  I loved working with the girls, but for me, I knew I wanted to be training young women spiritually most of all.  So after I attended Miss Oklahoma last year I knew I no longer wanted to coach the girls.

This came as a shock to many.  From a financial standpoint it probably looked pretty stupid to some as well.  But my heart was for ministry and helping the girls grow in Christ.  I wanted to share with them most of how to receive an eternal crown in heaven, not just one on earth. I prayed long and hard about what to do and began praying about what to call what I wanted to do.

One year later I stood at Miss Oklahoma as the Chaplain to lead the girls spiritually through their week of competition.  I stood in the Chapel at Oral Roberts University, which seats about 3,600 people.  I was surrounded by contestants, mothers, fathers, directors, hair stylists, former contestants and current reigning queens and Oklahoma’s two Miss America’s.  I mean when I say it was awesome, I mean it was awesome!  Even my fairy godmother was there.  God was so good! He was preparing the way for me all the time and I did not even know it.

As I shared what my friends later called my Sunday morning sermon, I could barely contain myself.  I felt I was smack dab in the middle of God’s will for my life – boldly declaring, teaching, and leading women to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
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It was also a quite humbling experience as well.  I was reminded of my own flawed life and Satan was working hard on me the weeks prior.  He whispered in my ear that I was a sinner and what did I have to share really?  I got walking pneumonia – 7 days beforehand. I had not been sick all year.  Satan will throw anything at you to try to destroy your life, your will, your dream and your purpose!

My friend and I knew it was spiritual warfare.  As we usually say, if you do not believe in spiritual warfare, well your just plain crazy!  That is Georgia lingo!  I walked through it all.

So on this Thankful Thursday I am reminded not to stay doing something you do not feel called to do!  Find your purpose and calling and then ask God to fulfill it in you.  And God fulfilled mine. Each night for the rest of the week I had the precious opportunity to go backstage and share a brief message and then pray with the girls and all their chaperones.

I was flying for weeks afterwards.  It was such a precious moment in time for me and a confirmation that yes, this is my heart’s desire and my calling.

Pure Empowerment was birthed.  I prayed and asked friends to pray and that was it! Pure Empowerment for young women.

Sweet friends, don’t be tethered to a life you don’t want.  Even if it looks right to others, it has to be right for you. If I had let the looks and disapproval of others affect my choice to stop pageant coaching, then I might be doing what others like. But I would not be doing what God wanted me to do. I would not be available for God to use me for His purpose.

If there are strings in your life that are keeping you tied to a life you don’t want, then ask yourself whether there are some strings that need to be untied.

Be blessed and encouraged abundantly as you remember to say “Lord, here I am. Use me!”