Well people, several months ago I came up with this grand idea that I was going to be a model. So this post is all about how that almost happened, didn't happen, & what I learned from the whole thing.
My entire life people have told me I should be a model. Honestly, I've always thought that was a ridiculous thought, because that's for perfect people, isn't it? People who wake up beautiful & can wear sweatpants with a messy bun & look like a princess. But I guess one day I started thinking about it.....
Because one day this summer (June 9th to be exact) I googled modeling agency's, & found one Christian company literally ten minutes from my great aunt's house. It was like it was meant to be, & I actually believed it really was. My parents we're cool with the idea so what did I do? I emailed the agency (note: for privacy reasons I am not putting their title). Only a few days later did I receive a phone call from the sweetest lady to ask a few questions. We talked for awhile, me on the other side of the phone giddy with pure joy at how this was playing out so far. Mom called them back several days later to talk through dates & the weekend they had auditions I just happened to be completely free! Wow. That's all I could say.
A bright pink marker marked July 13th as the day we would leave. I was shocked at how it had happened. This homeschooled, 12-year-old red head from a small delta town was driving to another state for tryouts to be a model. It was happening. Like, for real. Excited & nervous are both understatements.
Sure enough, the day came. We drove over to the town of the auditions, dropped my siblings off with my aunt, & mom & I pulled out of the drive way -- right after googling the address. Because somehow mom had left the paper with all the information on this special night on our kitchen counter. It took us awhile, but we found it .... & it led us to a house in some random neighborhood. Found another one. Started driving. Shoot though, we were going to be late! It was almost 30 minutes away & we were going through 5 o'clock traffic. It was ok though, right? I mean, we'll get there eventually.
Well, "eventually" never came. That address brought us to the empty parking lot of a expectant mothers diagnosis clinic.
For an entire hour, y'all, we drove around trying to find this building. We went into stores to ask people. We called the office, in which no one answered because it's closed down on the day of auditions.
Hungry, tired, & confused, we drove back to my aunts house. My mom was convinced it was her fault; I was convinced it was mine; but in reality, I didn't get to pursue this dream for a reason.
Now I know some of you are going to say this was just a simple mistake & I'm making it more dramatic & advanced than it really is, but I believe my Father had a lesson to teach me through this.
Guess what happened when we got back? I downloaded this app (RightNow Media) & the first series of Bible study videos that popped up on my screen were "Girl Perfect by Jennifer Strickland | confessions of a former runway model". I didn't think too much about it, but this week I watched several of the videos in a row & I'm suddenly glad my little dream didn't work out, even though I was, at the time, disappointed.
Read these:
My entire life people have told me I should be a model. Honestly, I've always thought that was a ridiculous thought, because that's for perfect people, isn't it? People who wake up beautiful & can wear sweatpants with a messy bun & look like a princess. But I guess one day I started thinking about it.....
Because one day this summer (June 9th to be exact) I googled modeling agency's, & found one Christian company literally ten minutes from my great aunt's house. It was like it was meant to be, & I actually believed it really was. My parents we're cool with the idea so what did I do? I emailed the agency (note: for privacy reasons I am not putting their title). Only a few days later did I receive a phone call from the sweetest lady to ask a few questions. We talked for awhile, me on the other side of the phone giddy with pure joy at how this was playing out so far. Mom called them back several days later to talk through dates & the weekend they had auditions I just happened to be completely free! Wow. That's all I could say.
A bright pink marker marked July 13th as the day we would leave. I was shocked at how it had happened. This homeschooled, 12-year-old red head from a small delta town was driving to another state for tryouts to be a model. It was happening. Like, for real. Excited & nervous are both understatements.
Sure enough, the day came. We drove over to the town of the auditions, dropped my siblings off with my aunt, & mom & I pulled out of the drive way -- right after googling the address. Because somehow mom had left the paper with all the information on this special night on our kitchen counter. It took us awhile, but we found it .... & it led us to a house in some random neighborhood. Found another one. Started driving. Shoot though, we were going to be late! It was almost 30 minutes away & we were going through 5 o'clock traffic. It was ok though, right? I mean, we'll get there eventually.
Well, "eventually" never came. That address brought us to the empty parking lot of a expectant mothers diagnosis clinic.
For an entire hour, y'all, we drove around trying to find this building. We went into stores to ask people. We called the office, in which no one answered because it's closed down on the day of auditions.
Hungry, tired, & confused, we drove back to my aunts house. My mom was convinced it was her fault; I was convinced it was mine; but in reality, I didn't get to pursue this dream for a reason.
Now I know some of you are going to say this was just a simple mistake & I'm making it more dramatic & advanced than it really is, but I believe my Father had a lesson to teach me through this.
Guess what happened when we got back? I downloaded this app (RightNow Media) & the first series of Bible study videos that popped up on my screen were "Girl Perfect by Jennifer Strickland | confessions of a former runway model". I didn't think too much about it, but this week I watched several of the videos in a row & I'm suddenly glad my little dream didn't work out, even though I was, at the time, disappointed.
Read these:
"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:3-4
"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30
"For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:17
As much as I hate admitting it, I think I was going to try to prove to myself & to the world that I could model. I was gonna do this to be considered "cool" & somewhat "perfect" by the way of the world. That's what we all want, right? But when you think about it, we are told everywhere in the Bible to model Christ & the work He has done in us, but no where in the Bible does it say clothing or jewelry is just as important. I was gonna "put on my perfect" & try to find my worth in what people thought of me...though that would never have worked.
Now this is meant no offense to all the models out there, I just wouldn't have been able to do it. I could not model clothes & strive to get approval from the world while at the same time modeling Christ & strive to get approval from my Father. But the reason I chose the latter is because of the old convicting book of Colossians where we're told:
Now this is meant no offense to all the models out there, I just wouldn't have been able to do it. I could not model clothes & strive to get approval from the world while at the same time modeling Christ & strive to get approval from my Father. But the reason I chose the latter is because of the old convicting book of Colossians where we're told:
"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, & your real life is hidden with Christ in God. & when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory. ...Put on your new nature, & be renewed as you learn to know your creator & become like Him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters...." Colossians 3:1-4; 10-11
The simple mistake made by the lady on the phone who, as it turns out, forgot to even give my mom the address, taught me one of the biggest lessons. I'm not gonna try to be a model for clothing again but instead, try & model Christ's character come every situation.