Fast forward to today. Autumn has competed and won Beauty Supreme in Jacksonville & Valdosta, and then won Grand Overall Supreme in Jacksonville at Queens of the Crowns. Thank you to Wendy Hand who helped with her hair that day! She won Viewers Choice & Photogenic in Jacksonville at Miss Heart of Christmas & then Miss Heart of Jacksonville. She is also Teen Miss Royal Heart of the South. She won Miss Gainesville Teen American Beauty through the Miss American Beauty system. And, this past weekend she competed as Jacksonville's Perfect Teen at the World's Perfect Pageant in Orlando. Plus she is the reigning Florida Festival Jr. Clay County Queen.
During this time Autumn has definitely been able to cast aside the "negative" that she has been through and let her beautiful interior shine through. Has the bad stuff gone away, no, but she gets on that stage and you see a ray of light emanating from her. She struts her stuff and shows people she is in charge. All the while she is a role model to the little girls.
We have been blessed to meet some pretty amazing people - Wendy Hand & her family, Kristle Helmuth & her family, Amelia Early & her family, Tracey Nolen & her family, April Rankins & her crew, Teraza Hall's daughter Brittany, Wanda Lopez & her bunch, Lisa & Natasha Alvarez, Danielle Tolman, Amber & Savannah Gribbins, Suzi Hosfeld, Alayna, Ja-Lea.....and the list goes on. During that time we have seen kindness & generosity exponentially. And the way the younger girls look up to Autumn, well it makes my heart just sore with pride. The mothers have told me that they want their children to grow up to be like Autumn. WOW! All the "hell" that Satan has put her through, well GOD has brought her through it and made her better for it!
Now where does the "pomp" come in? Well the definition of Pomp is:
pomp (p
mp)
n.
1. Dignified or magnificent display; splendor: the solemn pomp of a military funeral.
2. Vain or ostentatious display. See Synonyms at display.
The majority of what Autumn has been exposed to in the "pageant" world has been dignified. And from the pictures and what she told me there was a very magnificent display at the World's Perfect Pageant. But then there has been some vain and ostentatious display. What I say to that, to prevent people from thinking that all Pageants & all pageant people are pompous and vain is this.....read paragraph 4 again.
Pageantry is fun, beautiful and amazing. It brings confidence & humor. It certainly has brought Autumn & me blessing of friends. And now we have directed one fundraising pageant for Fun In the Son, Teens Encounter Christ where we raised over $500 & we will be directing the 2013 Fight for a Cure Pageant to raise money for the Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes.
I look back over the last year and think wow, where did the time go. And I know this year will go by faster, but in the grand scheme of things, I am glad Autumn has been involved in Pageants and know there is so much more in store for her. There have been modeling opportunities that have arisen b/c of this. She was approached by the owner of Forte Modeling in Orlando & he wants to make her a "Forte Girl!" Plus when she moves to NY, she can continue on in the pageant world if she wants. And then she can be World's Perfect Chef ;0)
Thank you to Jeff & Thomas Zang for being supportive and putting up with absences in our home by Autumn and me. Thank you to our family & friends that have support Autumn both through prayer & monetarily. And thank you to the extensive list of Pageant Family! You all light up the stage and our lives.
Lots of love and rhinestones ;)
