Special Pageant Day!!!

My preacher asked me to write a blog for our church campus that describes the connection of the community and a pageant I recently coordinated.  Here is what I wrote.............

On September 27^th, I got to be a part of something I consider to be somewhat of a movement in this community.  Pretty girls dressed in pretty dressed on a church stage receiving a crown.  Don’t mistake this for a typical beauty pageant, it was anything but typical. It was loaded with volunteers with a passion to serve, it was uniquely planned to represent God’s given beauty, and it was a special pageant for children with special needs and challenges.

When I first heard of this pageant and the opportunity to serve, I couldn’t jump in fast enough.  I am yours to lead, tell me what you need and I will get it done.  The idea of a surging impact that branches into so many areas of need was overwhelming and exciting!  A young member of First West Fairbanks had the heart to serve others and expressed her ideas to her mom.  McKenzie is eight years old with cerebral palsy and wanted to help children with cancer.  Her mom listened and supported her by creating the platform she needed to serve others.  Day by day more church members joined the cast and then the word spread into the community.  Friends and families got excited and even the Junior League asked to be a part.  Sponsors were stepping up and putting their stamp on an effort to make a difference in multiple lives on one single day.

I couldn’t sleep the night before the pageant.  I was anxious, hopeful, over joyed and really a bundle of indiscernible emotions.  The church gym filled with spectators.  Some there to support the children, some the families or the volunteers, and then some simply there just to support the cause. 

We saw a little girl grace the stage with a pink ribbon in hand.  She jumped, twirled, spinned and guided the audience’s eyes to follow the ribbon to the beat of the music.  She was an image of pure joy and I barely noticed her prosthetic leg.  Finished, she ran off the stage and met her dad who handed her a bouquet of flowers with tears in his eyes.  I had tears in my eyes too.  I had never met this family, but I cried with proud joy with them.

This is what I think is so important.  You see we are all part of this community, Small in some ways, big in others.  It takes each of us intertwined in support to thrive at the highest level.  Someone has helped us along the way with a smile at the very least.  The children occupying the stage are a piece of this community.  The families that receive the funds from this event are part of this community.  WE are part of this community.  And because this community stood together, a little girl with a big idea was able to hand the Louisiana Cancer Foundation a big check just like she dreamed.