A God-Confidence

Confidence in God. That was my specific prayer for my daughter, Holly, this week.  And boy oh boy, did God answer my prayer.
You see, Holly was going to be competing in Calendar Girl, a pageant at her school that is a fundraiser for the PCHS Athletic Booster Club. She hasn’t been in a pageant since she was a little girl. So as much as she probably should have practiced walking and speaking in front of a crowd answering a question on stage that she would only discover the question about twenty minutes before speaking, Holly (as Holly does) did her own thing.
She did practice walking a couple of times, and she looked like a natural. We did discuss possible questions, and she did come up with some answers.  But, Holly didn’t want to talk too much about the pageant because she was afraid that she would psych herself out.  So knowing how little Holly had rehearsed with me (she may have done a lot of practicing in her room alone), I prayed a lot for God to give her a confidence that can only come from Him.
I wrote down Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” on a paper with other words of encouragement for her to look at throughout the week.
The Thursday evening before the Saturday event, Holly went to bed complaining about her throat being sore. She made it to two periods at school on Friday, and then came home not feeling well.  She rested, slept, gargled, took meds, and rested more throughout that day.
Saturday morning arrived and I just let her sleep as long as she wanted to. About 8:50am she wondered downstairs and debated about going to her Saturday morning class that one of her teachers offer.  I (yes, a teacher) encouraged her to stay home and be well (a mommy).
That afternoon, together with a couple of her precious friends (Carson Leigh and Rachel), I prayed over and for Holly. I prayed about how “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ). I prayed for her to be filled with a calmness and confidence that can only come from Him, and to just have fun in this experience.
The time had come for Calendar Girl to begin. Holly told me later that she was shaking like a leaf on a tree behind the curtain and wondered how she looked during her walk on stage.  Shaking?  Well, it was totally not evident.  Holly walked with grace and poise.  God guided her.

Holly was chosen to be in the Top 20. This meant question time.  While she was back stage preparing for her answer, I continued praying for God to speak to her and through her, and to give her a God-confidence.  I prayed for confidence in her walk and her communicating her answer to the judges and crowd.
Well, the question was read to the audience and I knew that we had practiced practically that same question. I knew she was ready.  The question was “What has been your favorite high school memory so far?”  During our rehearsal time at home, Holly come up with the answer about “Friday Night Lights”, football season, all grades coming together to show their school spirit for one team, yada yada yada.
When my little girl took the microphone to speak, I was like “Who is this composed, confident, and eloquent young lady?” Her voice was sophisticated, smooth (she has a tendency to talk fast and mumble), and her answer was a totally God-thing!
She said something to the effect of, “Tonight has been the most memorable for me, because months ago I wouldn’t have had the confidence to enter this contest, and getting in the Top 20 proves to me how far I’ve come.”
Confidence! What I had been specifically praying for ALL week, God executed through Holly confirmation that He is in control as always, and that He did give her a God-confidence. Not only a God-confidence in her appearance, but in the words He put in Holly’s mind and heart.
As you can tell from the photographs, she got on the calendar! I was so ridiculously proud of her.  Right away I thank God for answering my prayer on filling her with confidence.
Even if Holly wouldn’t have gotten a month in the calendar, this momma would have been holding her head up high, and I believe that Holly would have too because she did display God-confidence. Becoming Miss September is just icing of the cake.
Writing about confidence is nothing new for me. (click here)
I pray that as you go about your week that you will find confidence in whatever you do, and know that it is coming from God.

I pray God’s abundant love and blessings for y’all.