What an INCREDIBLE Week this has been !! Most of you know My daughter was voted as a Homecoming Queen candidate and it has been a whirlwind of activities and fun! We began most of the festivities last weekend and as time went on there was one thing I began to notice....Most of the questions and responsibilities were being pointed towards my daughter and myself. Hmmm, there are 3 Senior candidiates so why Lord would 1 girl be directed as leader? As it became more and more obvious in good and well, not so good ways, there came a point that my daughter was feeling somewhat overwhelmed & a little under attack. Let me explain a bit and show you how God works in ways we can't even imagine! :)
The day after the nominees were announced all the girls attended a meeting to basically lay down alot (not all by any means LOL) of the ground rules and just general information that they would need to know for the week to come ie: posters needed to be made, interviews for the paper and radio, decorating the royal stage, parade, etc. All the girls including the Junior & Sophomore attendants were there EXCEPT for One Senior nominee and she was @ Volleyball. So Jenna gathered all the information and forms and later that evening she came by our house to pick it all up. We all agreed to work on the posters together so that they would all look the same since this was one of the regulations.
One of the girls could not make it and for some reason (still unknown) decided to blame my daughter saying things that were not nice at all and brought Jenna to tears. We happened to be out to lunch just the two of us and this is when she received the Not So Nice text message. She looked @ me with tears in her eyes and said "Mom, Why Me?" Why is she mad @ me? She was @ that meeting and knew about this plus I am not the only one who could have texted or told her, why is she acting like this is my fault???" I grabbed my girls sweet hand and asked her to look me in the eyes. I said "Honey, instead of asking ~ Why ME I want you to ask Why NOT ME? Because God has given you this opportunity, HE has placed you in a position to shine for HIM! To Glorify HIM! To offer grace and kindness even when others might not show the same. I shared that at this very moment she could either choose to join in with the hatefulness and fuel the ugly flames ~OR~ she could be like Christ and turn the situation completely around. I asked her to ponder that when this was all over would this girl be able to say "WOW, Jenna was so kind to me and smoothed out this situation" or "That Jenna isn't at all what she professes to be, she is just hateful as can be!"
We all have situations that arise like this don't we!? The spirit of MisUnderstanding loves to rear his UGLY head and cause Strife and ruin relationships, friendships, and maybe even a reputation!. When we are in a position to either fuel the flame or simply stomp it out with love, grace, and kindness what do we do? What would Christ ask us to do? The Lord allows us opportunities ~ Do we choose to glorify HIM or do we allow our flesh to feel justified and entitled and choose to act in ways completely contrary to Gods Ways?
1Peter 2:11-12 NLT
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world
P.S. My Daughter was chosen and crowned Homecoming Queen this evening! We are so very proud of her! I will post picks next week!
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30 comments:
YOU Go Jenna! WoW! Loved this story! and Loren you are so awesome! You did a wonderful job in handling this situation. I know you made God Smile:), not only that you showed Jenna a great example of just how God wanted this handled, even tho when "Human emotions" makes us just want to fight back! In fact Loren you helped me to see that I need to re-inforce my attitude in letting God continue to work in our situation and take myself out of the picture! Thank you for the leadership of the spirit and sharing! have a Happy Saturday!
What a beautiful way to answer her and to turn the situation around...that is the best Godly counsel I've ever heard. And she won! God smiled on her sweet spirit. You're both such precious people. So happy for her. I bet your heart is about to burst. :) Love you, my dear wise friend.
What a glorious message of eminating Christ's light instead of giving in to the darkness that surrounds us (or even the darkness of self doubt!)!! Congrats to your daughter! How thrilling for her!
God is so good!Praise His holy name.
I'm sure it will be a very busy and fun weekend for you all :)
Oh Loren how exciting for both you and your daughter. I am soo happy for you all. It sounds like your girl is quite the girl and her light is brightly lit for Him and the rest of the school can see it. I remember these kinds of situations well with Melody. It always seemed that while MANY loved her, there was always one or two who REALLY hated her. I think kind of based only the fact that most loved her. It is a VERY difficult situation to find yourself in. She even had one boy (who she refused to date)stalk her, threaten her to the point she was terrified, and did it all annoyomously (sp?) to add to the terror of it all. The police finally figured out who it was and put a stop to it. She asked herself MANY TIMES it seemed, "Why me?" and my answers were sooo similiar to yours, "Why not?" It is a very hard world they are living in today. Peer pressure to be a part of it all could not be more overwhelming. I love that your daughter has a mama like you that she can truly look to for her advice and guidance. CONGRATULATIONS to your beautiful daughter, and ENJOY every moment of this special time. HUGS, Debbie
Yes, we do! Those situations rear their ugly heads at the worst times, too.
Storming the heavens in prayer with you, my friend. Boy, have I missed you. So much going on here! I love you!
Big hugs,
andrea
One of the things I don't like about the high school competitions for homecoming king/queen etc. is that often it is just a popularity contest, or based on looks and athletic ability.
But, sometimes, a student body can rise above just these criteria and pick a fellow student on the basis of character, genuineness, kindness, dependability, etc. Sounds like the student body did that with Jenna. And she has her character b/c of what you did with her when she was being mistreated - helped her reframe the hurt with a Christian perspective. So many kids don't get that today, which is why they will do ANYTHING to be popular and accepted by the others. Jenna knows who she is; the student body read that and justly picked her to represent them.
Don't even know her but I'm proud of her!!
(Note: we had a daughter chosen as homecoming queen a few years ago under conditions similar to what you describe here. It is so wonderful when at least sometimes the lessons you try to teach pay off, isn't it?! Congratulations to Jenna and the whole family!
You are such a good mama. We always have moments where we can teach our children Biblical truths and how to be more Christ like. Congratulations to Jenna! Can't wait to see pictures.
Congratulations on her win. God is good.
I love your new fall look. It is super duper cute.
What a wise mother you are, Loren. So many mothers, and I mean even Christian mothers, would have responded very differently. Jenna is so blessed in so many ways. I know you are very proud of her but I'll bet she is just as proud of you or maybe even more so.
Thank you for sharing this delightful post.
Blessings,
Charlotte
Oh Loren, how very exciting! I cannot wait to see her photos. You must be one proud mama. But I love the spiritual lesson you taught your daughter in the midst of a challenging situation. Great advice Mom!
Blessings and love,
Debbie
She looked beautiful!! And thank you for sharing this story about her and showing just how beautiful she is on the inside too!!! Most of us forget to be like Christ in those kinds of situations. We let anger and emotion take over. Jenna is a wonderful, young lady and I know you are so proud of her!! :)
Congrats to dear Jenna. I love you.
What an inspirational story of real life and real victory when we step out in faith and trust the Lord to work things out. Your daughter was chosen queen by her peers. She was chosen as a sweet lamb by God the Father. You are blessed to have been entrusted with her care and you are a Godly mother to use your faith in giving her guidance. A great post. God bless, Dr. Bobbi Jo
Congratulations to you both! You for being such an amazing momma and showing her how she could turn the situation around, and her for choosing to raise above, and shine. So happy for you all!
That was a beautiful way of taking something ugly and teaching your child from it...our children are bombarded with the issues of this world! God's wisdom and blessings to you as you raise your precious children!
Hugs, Carolyn ~ Cottage Sunshine
I got really caught up in this message b/c some misunderstanding happened with a good friend of mine last week...we're good but it was soo hard to go through and then I read your last line. Woo hoo...that is soo awesome about your daughter...congrats....looking forward to seeing the pics..☺
So glad you're right there to encourage her when that awful message came in. And what a great godly advice from a godly mother! No matter what attacks, thanks be to God for His sWORD we can use!
Congratulations Jenna and may you shine...for His glory! Be strong in the Lord's mighty power!
What a wonderful post and a great reminder. And congrats to your daughter...can't wait to see the pictures.
You are a wonderful mom. I think we need more moms like you. Congratulation to Jenna.
God Bless,
Ginger
Loren,
What a wonderful Momma you are. Do you know there are many Mom's (YES, sadly, even "Christian" Moms) who would have taken that opportunity to get upset alongside their daughter. You made something ugly into such a beautiful lesson and opportunity to let the love of Christ shine through both you and your daughter. YOU are my homecoming Queen! :)
Love you!
Loren, What a great example of Christ you were and are to your Jenna. And she is allowing herself to become Christlike by following your example. How easy it would have been to have fought fire with fire, but you both instead did what Christ would have done. I am truly blessed!
And to Jenna, I say "congratulations many times over not only for winning, but for the example you put before your peers., enjoy this time of celebration. God is so Great!!
Much love,
Sue
Good Morning Loren Sweetie...
Oh what a beautiful way to help sweet Jenna through this one. You are a beautiful woman and a GORGEOUS Mother. I am so proud of you. You gave me God bumps sweetie.
Congratulations to sweet Jenna. I am so over the top thrilled for her. I can't wait to see the pictures. Post them soon sweetie.
I loved this share today. No matter what, God is always there to defend.
Many hugs sweetie and SO much love, Sherry
What a wonderful example your daughter set and an awesome spiritual legacy you are creating for her and for your whole family. I'm going to share this with my granddaughter! Thank you!
PS Love the autumn decorations and scarecrows too!!! :)
Congratulations to Jenna! What a special week this must have been for your family. Thank you for sharing this great spiritual truth from the week as well. I'll look forward to your pictures. Have a wonderful week!
Bethany
Beautiful, Loren. You're raising a wonderful young lady.
Congratulations. I enjoyed your post. Jelousy is always hard to deal with unless we turn it over to God to handle. Doylene
God is going to use her more than she knows. You are such an awesome mom and you gave her great advice. I am so happy for her. I just knew she was going to bring home the crown...after all she is already a child of the most high king :)
can't wait to see pictures.
Hugs,
MImi
Jenna Looked so beautiful the other night. I was so proud of her when they called her name! I hate that the week was filled with drama for her, but I know she gave God all the Glory thru her actions. She is an amazing young lady.
Love ya!
This was just perfect! I am so glad I stopped by today. The Lord keeps drawing me toward more Christian bloggers. I have followed you for sometime so I am excited to check the SS post today. Congrats to your daughter. I need to see those pics when you post them! Awesome!
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