One year I worked for a non-profit agency that had yearly fundraisers. The year I worked for them, they decided they wanted to hire a clown to be at the fundraising event. But they were unable to find one. I let my boss know that I was willing to be a clown at the event because I had my own costume and make-up….at one time, I even had my clown face registered with a clown registry! (Yes, crazy enough, clown faces can be registered!)  My boss was delighted, so the day of the event, I got to work early enough to put on my make-up and costume.  However, as I finished putting white on my face, I would notice that my skin would start to show through. I thought maybe the oils in my skin were causing the white to come off, so I used some powder and then applied more white. I would get finished with one side only to have the white come off the other side again. Well, I was running out of time, so I prayed God would help me (I wasn’t sure what else to do!).  As clear as day I heard in my heart, “I no longer want you to wear a mask. This is who you used to be but I have made you brand new!” At that point I stopped trying to get my skin fully covered and only a few people asked if I had issues with my makeup.

I was a bit stunned at what I thought I had heard God say since a clown isn’t a bad thing! (Well at that time, this year I have seen how the enemy can use a clown for evil.) But after the event, I prayed about it some more and decided that I would give my clown costumes and make-up away. The hard part is that I wanted to take part in my church’s Harvest Festival and I was encouraged to dress up.  I had no clue what to do…so I prayed and felt like the answer was to just be myself.

What does that look like? Well, the first year, I was trying to get a baking business going, so I wore my apron and chef hat. One year I had the idea of wearing my cap and gown from when I graduated from community college. Another year I wore my cap and gown from when I graduated from university. There might have been other similar “costumes” but I can’t recall what they were.

I was running out of ideas. Who am I???

Well, I really like to pray, so I thought it would be interesting to try to make a prayer closet for me to wear. And I finally got the opportunity to do that when a neighbor down the street from me got a new appliance several days before the harvest fest.

I boldly asked if I could have their box and they willingly gave it to me. I drew up some plans and found some suspenders I could use to hold it on my shoulders and the church had some white paper that I could use to cover the box. As the project came along, I decided that I would make it a prayer booth instead of a prayer closet. On one side of the box, I added a pocket for prayer cards and pens. On the other side, I added a place for people to put the prayer cards and on the back of the booth I put in large letters, “Need Prayer? Ask me to pray for you!”

Harvest Fest 2014

Right away, I was told that the costume was of poor character but I did not let it phase me. Within minutes, children were walking up to me and asking me for prayer. You see, the front had a little “table” where people could write down their prayer requests, but unknowingly, I had made my prayer booth just right for kids to lean in to talk with me as long as I got down on my knees. T0 my surprise, children of all nationalities were asking me for prayer. One child begged his mother to let him talk to me. Her reply, “but we don’t believe in their ‘god’!” The little boy didn’t care. He wanted prayer! It was a very special night for me for sure!

I wrote on my Facebook wall after the Harvest Fest was over: “It was so fun and rewarding to walk around dressed as a prayer booth for Trinity’s Harvest Fest. Please pray for the little boy pictured with me. He asked for a healthy brain and eyes. His mother said he has brain disease. So many children came to me for prayer…one even ‘tithed’ a piece of her candy for my prayers for her mommy to get well.”

Last year I was still in the hospital from the donation surgery (Trinity didn’t have a Harvest Fest anyway) so I didn’t need to come up with a “costume”. This year I had no idea what part of me I should portray. As I asked my housemate her thoughts, Bebe climbed up on my shoulder. She said, “You can be Bebe’s Mama!” So I went to the dollar store to look for a stuffed cat to attach to my shoulder only they didn’t have any. I did find an Army Hat and remembered that I had a bunch of plastic toy Army Men and Army signs from the War Room party I had during the summer. So I decided to go as a Soldier in Jesus’ Army by putting the sign on my back and taping the toy soldiers on my clothes. Little by little my “men” were falling off…guess the battle was pretty tough! I don’t have any pictures of my “costume” but it really wasn’t much to see in comparison to my prayer booth.

I have no clue what part of me I will portray next year. Maybe my readers need to write and give me some ideas (0:

Challenge: What would your “costume” or “costumes” be if you were to portray who you are??? Please leave your comments.