Brooklyn E. Lindsey - Confessions of a Not-So-Supermodel. Faith, Friends, and Festival Queens

INVERT YOUTH SPECIALTIES

CONFESSIONS of a Not-So-SUPERMODEL
Copyright 2008 by Brooklyn Lindsey

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ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-85136-X

Youth Specialties products, 300 S. Pierce St., El Cajon, CA 92020 are published by Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lindsey, Brooklyn.
Confessions of a not-so-supermodel : faith, friends, and festival queens / Brooklyn Lindsey.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-27753-8
1. Teenage girlsReligious lifeJuvenile literature. 2. Self-perception in adolescenceReligious aspectsChristianityJuvenile literature. I. Title.
BV4551.3.L56 2008
248.833dc22

2007041816

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, Todays New International Version. TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design by SharpSeven Design

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To our daughter, Kirra,
who was with me every moment of this journey.
You are a dream I never could have imagined.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I raise my glass (of hot pink fruit punch)

To the girls of Central Florida and DFW Texas. Youve made me a supermodel.

To my love, Coy, who suffered valiantly through my writing, working, and being pregnant at the same time. Your sharp mind, compassionate heart, and quick humor give me energy and strength.

To Jen, who planned my future with Coy during a youth workers convention. Your friendship and motivation led me here.

To Jay and David, two who believed in this Appalachian heiress.

To Doug, Becca, Karen, and Holly, my invaluable editors.

To Dave and Kelly, for making great lives for us kids. Thanks for encouraging me to participate in The Parade of the Hills.

To Delbert and Natalie, for loving me like one of their own.

To Grandma. Your dreams encouraged mine.

To my siblings. You are amazing. Thanks for loving me.

To the OConnors, for getting me through the rough patches and for making homemade guacamole. Yall are fabulous.

To Christy. I can never repay you for believing in me.

To the WC girls. Your spiritual beauty has left an awesome tattoo on my life.

To Terrell Sanders at MVNU. Your encouragement led me to believe I could write someday.

To our real-life baby doll, Kirra. I finished the first draft of this book three days before you were born, and made revisions while holding you in my arms. Youve helped me understand what it really means to have a dream come true. I hope youll grow to understand and embrace your own royal lineage.

And, finally, to the tiny town of Nelsonville, Ohio, to the organizers of The Parade of the Hills, and to all the queens who travel the OFEA circuit. You are beautiful. May God bless each of you with dreams that lead to true fulfillment.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A DREAM,
A CROWN,
AND A
TWISTED
ANKLE

CONFESSION: WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I THOUGHT THAT IF I SWALLOWED A WATERMELON SEED, IT WOULD TURN INTO A BABY IN MY BELLY AND MAKE ME PREGNANT. I ALSO THOUGHT I MIGHT GROW UP TO BE A SUPERMODEL SOMEDAY. LATER I LEARNED THAT SWALLOWING A WATERMELON SEED IS HARMLESS AND WILL LEAD TO NOTHING MORE THAN SOME MILD INDIGESTION. I ALSO LEARNED THAT A TATTERED AND FRAYED GIRL LIKE ME IS BETTER SUITED FOR RUNWAYS THAT ARE NOT SO GLAMOROUS.

Perhaps youre wondering who the enchanting beauty queen on the previous page is. You knowthe one with the stylish pink dress and the not-so-stylish bandage on her twisted ankle.

Well, thats me.

The photo was taken in the fall of 1996. I was sitting on top of a luxury car as I rode through a small-town festival parade. It was my senior year in high school, and I was a festival queena far cry from the supermodel lifestyle Id once dreamt about. The stylish supermodels of the 90sNikki Taylor, Cindy Crawford, Tyra Bankswere people whose lifestyles I sought after. But somehow, through a weird chain of events, I ended up sitting atop a car as a festival queen.

Its obvious Im no supermodel. Unless you count my dog, no one thinks Im famous. No one has ever followed me around desperately trying to snap a picture of me as I dine at a ritzy restaurant or carry my grocery bags into my house. In fact, when compared side by side, the dreams of my youth and the realities of my life seem as different as Sanjaya Malakar and Carrie Underwood. But Im guessing that if these two American Idol stars wanted to, they could pull off a pretty decent duet, in spite of their obvious differences in style and musical genre.

Its the same for me as I look at the differences between the life Id imagined as a supermodel and the indisputable gift that is my own super-model life. When I became a festival queen and, later on, a youth pastor, one might think I didnt make it, that I wasnt any kind of supermodel at all. But I have become onein a wonderful, different, unexpected Sanjaya-and-Carrie type of way.

I write to you, beautiful young friend, because not so long ago I was a teenager like you, searching for something to give my life meaning and purpose, and wishing for someone to love me. In my journey I found something I think will be worth your time, something that could change the way you look at yourself and the direction of your own dreams.

TRIPPED UP

A few years ago I was on my way home from a National Youth Workers Convention and had some time before my flight. I was wandering around an airport bookstore when I stumbled onto something that would eventually lead me here, writing to you. Now when I say stumbled, I mean it literallyI tripped over my little travel suitcase and went hurtling into a display at the Hudson News Bookstore in the airport in Columbus, Ohio. Not only did I scatter the display and send about ten books to new homes on the floor, but I also ended up on the ground myself, scrambling after the books Id just knocked over. There probably werent many people watching, but I was embarrassedso I picked up one of the books Id landed on and pretended to studiously read the back cover.