When judges announced Mary Lindsay Gunn as the winner of the 2006 Louisiana Junior Miss Scholarship Program, she was speechless.
By Brian Blackwell
LBM Newswriter
When judges announced Mary Lindsay Gunn as the
winner of the 2006 Louisiana Junior Miss Scholarship Program, she was
speechless.
“What am I supposed to do?” Gunn asked a fellow
contestant as she was trying to catch her breath on stage just moments
after hearing the news.
“Just go over there, smile and accept your award,”
the fellow contestant advised Gunn, a member at Broadmoor Baptist
Church in Shreveport.
Though a month has passed since the night of the
competition, Gunn says she still is in awe of winning the title – and
thankful God allowed her to do so.
“I prayed about this opportunity but never dreamed
that God would put me in this type of position,” Gunn says.
Held July 30 in Alexandria, the Louisiana Junior
Miss Program is an annual competition that honors high school junior
girls in the state. Gunn says the program recognizes excellence while
promoting self-esteem among the contestants.
The 16 girls who competed for the title of Louisiana
Junior Miss were judged on five criteria – scholastic achievement,
self-expression, fitness, talent and interview. During the preliminary
competition, Gunn won three of the categories – self-expression, talent
and interview.
She also took home another prize for her efforts – a $10,000 scholarship to the college of her choice.
Throughout the upcoming school year, Gunn will
attend and entertain at various festivals and parades throughout the
state. She says she also hopes to speak to grade-school girls
throughout the state.
Despite her demanding schedule of balancing duties
as Louisiana’s Junior Miss with school activities, Gunn says she always
leaves time for Christ and Broadmoor Baptist Church – her second home.
It should come as no surprise that she spends an
ample amount of time there. Her father, Frank Jr., is student minister
at the northwestern Louisiana church.
Each week, Gunn meets with six other girls in an
accountability group that started when she was in the fifth grade.
“Having the accountability is something that is so
important in my Christian walk, and those girls have become some of my
closest friends,” Gunn says.
Last year, Gunn began leading an accountability group for sixth-grade girls.
“It’s pretty neat to have been in an accountability
group all these years, and now, I have this opportunity to lead and
disciple younger girls,” Gunn adds.
In addition to the accountability groups, Gunn is heavily involved in the church’s music program.
For the past three summers, she has participated in youth choir tours to Mexico, Boston and Philadelphia.
“The cool part about the choir tour is that we not
only sing but get to witness to others while participating in a great
deal of missions work,” Gunn adds.
Gunn also sings in the Broadmoor youth ensemble and
plays the keyboard as a member of the youth worship band each Wednesday
evening.
When she is not spending time at school or church, Gunn bonds with her family.
Gunn says she admires the balance her parents have between being authoritative and loving to her.
“My family means the world to me,” Gunn notes.
“Whenever I have a problem, I know I can turn to them. I aspire to be
that kind of Christian parent one day.”
In fact, Gunn says her mom has influenced her more than any other person.
“She’s the most godly role model in the world,” Gunn
says. “She’s the kind of mom and wife I want to be one day. One thing I
admire about her is that she is such an amazing prayer warrior.”
Gunn recalls how the faith her parents displayed when she was a young girl has impacted her today.
“My faith in Christ is the foundation for everything
in my life,” Gunn notes. “When I was a little girl, my parents would
respond to my questions that involved decisions by saying we needed to
pray about it. When I face decisions now, I know where to turn.”
While Gunn has been solid in her walk with Christ
most of her life, she admits there was a brief time during her freshman
year of high school that she strayed away from growing deeper in her
faith.
“Everyone goes through struggles in their faith at
some time in their lives,” Gunn says. “I drifted away my first year of
high school from in-depth Bible studies and my accountability group.
“It was really hard, and I noticed how important having an accountability group is,” she continues.
With graduation from C.E. Byrd High School in
Shreveport only months away, Gunn says she hopes to attend a university
less than five hours from Shreveport and to pursue a career as a
marriage and family counselor. Seminary also could be an option, she
says.
But for now, Gunn says she will enjoy her remaining
months as a high school student and as Louisiana’s Junior Miss.
“This ride will hopefully lead to lots of
opportunities,” Gunn says. “And I’m excited about what the future holds
and what God will do.”