What an amazing weekend - we actually had a Mrs. America contestant at our home! If she's reading this she'll probably kill me because she hates me bringing up the pageant thing - but listen, this woman is worth knowing and she's not your regular every-day "Barbie" girl.

Lonna is the person who's heading our upcoming trip to Nigeria. She has a story you wouldn't believe - of abuse, abandonment, adoption, alcoholism, drug abuse, abortions - you name it, she endured it as she lived through the pain of her awful growing up years.

With a gun to her head, Lonna was ready to end it all - and then she felt God standing behind her, His hand on her shoulder. She says that she actually felt God hold her that day, and life for her changed forever as she gave herself to Him.

Lonna found a wonderful husband, had some great kids, and worked with a ministry that helped homeless kids. Then a friend said she ought to run for Mrs. Idaho to get a platform to speak about the ministry. Can you imagine? Lonna just laughed. She says, "I was not a pageant contestant type." But over time, she began to see that her friend's suggestion might make sense.

So she took the plunge. But she had no pie-in-the-sky notions about it. She was not going to win. She was going to enter to pray for other women and care for them as she sought opportunities to share her faith and her passion for serving. She tripped during the swimsuit competition. She ripped her hem out during the evening gown segment. And she won.

Can you imagine when they put the crown on her head, how she must have felt? She didn't even plan to win. She went out of a desire to serve a ministry. And yet God saw fit to crown her queen.

Isn't that like God? There isn't any one of us He can't restore. And when we're at even our clunkiest, our filthiest, our dorkiest, He sets a crown on our head and calls us "daughter" and "princess." There is nothing He can't do.

Lonna spoke at our church Sunday, and it was powerful. Here is this poised, well-spoken, bold and direct woman, presenting the Gospel in such a way as to crowd the altar with seekers, telling us who she used to be and who she is now. Amazing!

I knew in that moment that God had made me new, too. New today, new from yesterday, new from years ago. I became a princess at the altar with all the rest.

May you know you're princess today, too, no matter where you've come from. There is grace enough for EVERYONE, and He wants only YOU.

If you'd like more info on our trip or on Lonna, visit her web site at in-his-grace or Google Lonna Vopat. As I said, she's well worth knowing.