It’s pageant time for the anti-princess, who’ve I’ve decided is really a closet princess. She loves all the pageant stuff – the dresses, the hair, the makeup, and all the pizzazz. She only competes in one pageant – her school pageant, but it’s a production – a production that rivals any state pageant. There’s music, dancing, prancing and even a bit of parading.

My closet princess doesn’t seem to have the personality of a pageant girl, but she loves this one. She tells me it’s all just fun. And I know she has a blast – you can see it on her face. She laughs on stage, she giggles with her friends, and she dances her heart out. I love the pageant, too. I love just looking at all the dresses from the princess ones with layers on layers of frothy tulle sprinkled with glitter to the fully sequined gowns that sparkle like diamonds under the lights. I love to watch the girls step out and walk across the stage as their name is called – everyone single one of them is beautiful.

As I watch the girls up on that stage, I look at their faces and I see the ones that are just loving the whole process, I see others who are ‘in it to win it’ and others who look as if they would rather be anywhere but on that stage. I think about serving God and how those attitudes truly reflect how we often serve our Lord. We have those times where we would rather be anywhere but here; the times when we are just serving as a competition, and the times when we are serving out of love of our Lord.

As I watch Paige up on stage and I see that smile that lights up her face, I just pray that I’m serving God with that same heart – a heart that just loves the whole process.

I know that I love to see someone who truly loves the Lord and is serving out of that love. It’s that look I saw on my daughter’s face as she danced up on that stage – she was having so much fun (well, except the standing in the high heel shoes) and looking forward to what would come next.

Today I’m just loving this whole process of serving God. I love working with women, writing, and speaking. I’m excited about what the Lord has in store for me and I look to each day with that attitude I saw on the stage – looking forward to what comes next (including standing in high heel shoes).