Royalty

Visiting at our daughter Amy's house a couple of weeks ago, we were immersed in the teenage world of our granddaughters, who kept the house buzzing with their vitality, youth and fun. The current excitement was the nominations for homecoming court at their high school. Hopefuls were to be nominated on Monday by secret ballots in their homerooms.

Rachel, in ninth grade, was sick that day, then was disappointed to find out one had to be present to qualify for nomination! Corrin, a junior, was on tenterhooks to find out if her name had been put forth. Many of her friends assured her she was a shoo-in, but she was biting her fingernails. Every day when she came home from school, the question was, "Did you get nominated?" And every day the answer was the same: "The teacher hasn't told us yet!"

All the other homerooms had disclosed their choices, which decided who would be on the final ballot, and many girls were "campaigning" with internet messages, getting pledges of votes and even giving out candy. When Corrin finally found out she was on the ballot, it was too late to solicit votes. Then yesterday, after two weeks, I got a text from Amy with the message, "Corrin is on Homecoming Court!" Her daughter had texted her the news from school.

I was happy for her, although I felt all along she would be the representative from her class, especially after she had been chosen 1st runner-up in the Miss Woodland competition a few weeks ago. This alone had been a testimony to God's goodness in restoring her beauty and well-being after a summer of recovery from a horrific four-wheeler accident in June.

I think the 16-year-old is held a little bit in awe by her classmates ever since their attention was riveted on her by news of the accident. Many visited her in the hospital and filled her room with balloons, teddy bears and flowers. No doubt their youthful assumption of invulnerability was shaken if something like this could happen to one of their own. Her recovery that has been nothing short of miraculous, and her courage and spunk in her ordeal have not been lost on them.

Corrin reminds me of her mother at that age. She, too, was on homecoming court in high school, as well as first runner-up in the Junior Miss Pageant and, as a senior, named homecoming queen. Corrin has the same high values that set Amy apart and is respected for it among her peers. Thank God for her example! I would not be surprised next year to hear that we have another homecoming queen in the family! After all, as girls and women of God, all my granddaughters are princesses!