What do you want your life to say for you?
The writing prompt for the Miss Colorado USA application is "tell us about yourself." Simple as that. Who are you?
I spent a lot of time thinking about my story and who I want to wake up every morning and work to become. Our life is our message to the world. I want my message to be one of boldness, of hope, and a testiment to a Love so strong it can't be stopped.
This is my manifesto and what I used to apply for Miss Colorado USA.
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My greatest hope is to leave a hot pink dent on this world. A dent I create not with what I accomplish, or even who I become...but with the way I have loved.
In 2009, after graduating from the University of San Diego, I felt called to leave my life
in California for Denver. I moved without a job, without a car, and with $500 dollars. It was reckless and crazy, but it wasn’t a business trip…it was a walk of faith.
I arrived in Denver, I waited tables, I hoped and I hustled. I lived on bold faith and along the way I learned to trust, and to risk it all. These days, I work in the world of medical software helping lead a team committed to nothing less than transforming healthcare through innovation and software solutions. I spend early mornings running, late nights writing, and every moment in between learning to love God, and to love the people He made.
My community in Denver is an incredible example of God’s love for us. Their lives are lived out of a love that never quits, never runs out, and always wins. They’re my family, my home away from home, and my heroes. I’ll never pay them back, but I can pay it forward. It’s out of that love that I lead a women’s Bible study, serve on a young adults leadership team, mentor, and teach pre-kindergarten Sunday school.
We all need heroes. We all need role models. We need people who are willing to stand up and take risks. Heroes let others watch as their tears stream, their voices shake, and every day they grow stronger, more passionate, more compassionate, and more terrifically alive.
Growing up my mom was my hero. She was raised in the poverty-stricken migrant camps of California. She learned English, she started a business, and she fought hard for this life and for the ability to give me every opportunity she went without. The faith and the courage she modeled inspires me, fuels me, and taught me what it means to be a role model and a hero.
If I have a daughter one day, I want her to know that her mom fought hard for this life, never compromised what she believed, and never quit…and she can do it, too.
That type of strength grows out of a love with nothing to prove and everything to give. All the pain in this world comes to nothing if the heroes are unafraid to love like they’ve never been hurt.
I don't know anyone who got lucky, and woke up one day fearless. I know people like my mom and my friends, who use their stories and their struggles to model that with God all things are possible, and there is just no stopping that kind of love.
Life gets sweaty and messy, but as I dance and fight along the road God leads me down, I remember that I know how it ends…Love wins.
Let my life be the proof…
Love wins,
Lisamarie
