Barbie's Forecasts & Faith

I did something this weekend I haven't done in a long time--I competed in a pageant. I had made a personal pact with myself a year ago when I started losing the baby weight: if I lost the weight, I would enter a Mrs. pageant. Keep in mind, the last title I won was Mrs. Mississippi International 2000 (almost 10 years ago, before I had children).

The last couple of weeks leading up to the pageant, the Lord keep telling me to pray for my competition. Pray for my competition? I thought. This goes against everything that is expected in a pageant. The purpose is to beat your competition, not pray for them! When the Holy Spirit wouldn't let me be at peace, I relented and began praying for the other women I would be competing against. I bought each contestant a small gift, wrapped it, and wrote "You are being prayed for" on the tag.

The competition began early in the weekend and I made new friends. As the day wore on, I learned more about each of the Mrs. contestants. One woman had colon surgery ten days ago and still had a line of stitches to prove it on her belly; one contestant was dealing with opening a new business and was stressed to the max; another had just lost a family member. Yes, my competition was fierce but there was a definite reason why I had been prompted to pray for them.

Much to my surprise at the end of the night, I was named Mrs. Magnolia. There were a total of 80 contestants vying for the Jr. Miss, Teen, Miss & Mrs. titles. As I returned home, pulled off the pantyhose and fake eyelashes, I was reminded of Proverbs 31:30, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

When God prompts us to pray for someone, could it be that He has a blessing for us on the other side of that prayer? Perhaps..