God's Timing is Perfect

Day 77 of Photo Inspirations -- #TBT -- God's Timing is Perfect
In 1998, my daughter, Staci, was a guest on a TV Show and so was 1996 Miss America, Shawntel Smith.  Staci's monthly newsletter, that month, included an interview with her.  Staci said, "This month, we met with an extraordinary lady whose winning attitude will inspire you to reach for your dreams:  SHAWNTEL SMITH,  Miss America 1996

STACI:  Did you have an ordinary upbringing?

SHAWNTEL:  I see my upbringing as pretty typical.  I grew up in a very small town, and was blessed with a family that went to church, and was strengthened throughout the years by having God as the center of our family.

STACI:  Were you always pretty growing up?

SHAWNTEL:  Well, Staci, I have red hair and freckles, and you are not the most popular person in the class when you have red hair and freckles, and you get teased a lot.  There were times I was very insecure and I felt very awkward.  I still don't consider myself as being pretty, but I think that God is able to show people what's inside of you -- what He has created so that they appear beautiful in other people's eyes, because you are His creation.  I was a typical kid -- awkward at times, and studied hard, worked hard.  I've worked pretty much my whole life.  My Dad had a furniture business, so the whole family pitched in, and helped out.  I did things from cleaning, all the way to selling furniture, marketing and doing the books.  So I grew up with a great work ethic, too!

STACI:  When you were growing up, did you say, "One day I'm going to be Miss America?"

SHAWNTEL:  Oh, no, no!  A lot of people look at Miss America and think that's the end-all, be-all, of a person's life.  They think, if they could become Miss America, then they've pretty much achieved everything.  But there are so many more things I want to achieve.  Of course, being Miss America was a definite stepping stone to get to where I want to be.  I started competing because my father was losing his furniture business.  When you have financial struggles in your family, you have to pull together, and you have to rely on the Lord to get you through it.  But, I wanted to go to college.  I was going to community college at that time, and I had to work for Dad, plus carry the hours at school, and I needed scholarship money.  My grades were great and the ACT was okay, but they weren't good enough to get the scholarship.  I had a girl friend that told me she was going to be in a pageant.  She said, "Shawntel, if you enter this pageant, you'll get $350 right off the bat.  You won't have to place or anything."  So I signed up and competed in the pageant.  I got 2nd runner-up, and got a year's free tuition scholarship.  It served me well.  I kept competing after that.  In fact, I competed for two years, maybe three or four competitions per year, and never won a pageant, but just gained so much scholarshp money and tuition scholarships, that I knew that's where I was supposed to be at that point in my life.  I still hadn't received the vision of becoming Miss Oklahoma or becoming Miss America.

STACI:  What do you say to young people who say, "I don't know what I want to do with my life."

SHAWNTEL:  I say, "Start with the desires of your heart.  You may not know how to get from Point A to Point B.  I told my Mom one night, "Mom, if the Lord would have given me the vision -- given me what I was going to become, and that I would be Miss America, I probably would have just laughed."  It was so far away from what I thought was humanly possible for me to do.  We have to tell kids to start removing the limitations that they've placed on themselves, and what they think they can accomplish, and start listening to God in the little things He tells them to do.  There's a master plan, and one day we will understand it.  But if we don't follow the little things in life that God gives us, we'll never get to that point.

STACI:  So did you face failures?

SHAWNTEL:  Most definitely.  For two years, I didn't win.  I just wanted the scholarship money.  But that third year, I really wanted to do well.  I wanted to win a pageant.  I won a local pageant.  I went to Miss Oklahoma and failed at that.  In fact, I failed three years in a row.  I felt like giving up, not doing it again, and turning my back on the whole thing, but I went on, and in the fourth year, I finally won.

STACI:  Is preparation important in achieving your goals?

SHAWNTEL:  Yes, if you're not willing to put in the work, you're not going to reap the reward.  And the rewards come from hard work.  I tell young people it took me six years to become Miss America.  They're just in awe when I tell them that.  They think success comes instantly.  I share with them, you need three things in life:  1)  FAITH:  you have to believe in yourself.  You must know beyond a shadow of  a doubt you will succed.  Also, you have to have God on your team, and allow Him to work through you, so you can be all you can be.  2)  FOCUS:  Bart Conner told me something valuable when I carried the torch for the Atlanta Games.  He said, "If I had not focused during the time of trying to attain those gold medals for the U.S. Team, I would never have won.  There were times when my body didn't want to go out one more day, and practice and rehearse, and go over the routines.  I did it because I knew my goal.  I knew that if I took my eye off it, it wouldn't be mine."  Same goes for me, if I would have given up, I wouldn't have become Miss America.  3)  FOLLOW THROUGH -- hard work, dedication and perseverence.  You must have all of this to make any dream become reality.

Staci concluded with these words:  "I'm delighted you could hear Shawntel's inspirational story.  Whatever it is you desire in life, whether it's a job promotion, a spouse, a child, financial increase, good health, or to be the next Miss America, it takes never giving up, holding onto your dreams, believing in yourself, and the abilities God placed within you, and believing that "With God, all things are possible!"  Thank you, Shawntel, for giving us such words of inspiration and encouragement!

And I, say, "Thank you, God, for divine set-ups, as the day would come in just a couple of years, that my son, Ryan, saw Shawntel in a Bath & Body Store in Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa, waiting to check out.  He was in line behind her, and said, "Aren't you Shawntel Smith?  I think you know my sister, Staci Wallace!"  And the rest.....is history.....or better yet.....our present and our future.  Shawntel and Ryan were married in December, 2001.  Indeed, God's timing is PERFECT!  Trust in His perfect plan for your life.  Divine encounters take place every day!  Maybe your "dream come true" might be in one of those encounters!