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The young sisters from Fort Frances, Ontario sing an Easter rendition of Leonard Cohen's famous "Hallelujah," that is so beautiful, it'll bring tears to your eyes.

What Is Maundy Thursday?—How to Celebrate During Holy Week

As we celebrate Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, you may start to wonder, what is Maundy Thursday? Three days before Easter, we come to Maundy Thursday. "Maundy" comes from the Latin word "mandatum," meaning command, order, or commission.

Abby & Brittany: Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel is Married!

They’re the most famous conjoined twins in the world, and now Abby Hensel, of the duo Abby and Brittany, is now married! 

Why My Gorgeous Daughters Aren’t Allowed to Do Beauty Pageants

I grew up competing in beauty pageants, or beauty reviews (as we called them when I was little), and I enjoyed them too. It was fun for me to get dressed up, put on makeup, and get my hair styled. My mom and aunt would fawn over me, telling me how stunning I was, and I sure enjoyed their attention. Sometimes I placed, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I won, and sometimes I didn’t even make it to the top ten. I tried to understand that each judge had a different idea of beauty, and my mom and her sister would try to make me feel better when I lost.

“That ugly girl’s mom must know the judges!”

Hey, y’all don’t gasp too loud. You know all your mommas said stuff like that. Or maybe it was just mine. Bless her heart. She just loved her baby. But anyway.

I competed in everything from tiny-town USA pageants, where less [than] a dozen girls participated, to Miss Teen of Mississippi pageants, where the winners were chosen on talent and scholastic achievements too. Some titles got me a tattered banner with Elmer’s glue and glitter words across the front, while others offered scholarships for college and modeling opportunities. So what I’m saying is, I know how the pageant thing works. I’m no expert, but no novice either. I played that circuit for years, and though I placed less and less the older I got, I typically enjoyed myself and tried not to think I was getting uglier with age.

I suppose things began to change my senior year of high school. I can remember getting all glitzed up in a tight, sequined number that my mom was convinced brought out the green in my eyes. She had also insisted on taping my chest and adding some eye shadow to create the illusion of cleavage and further sell the twenty pounds of padding in the dress since I had exactly zero boobies to fill it out. Did you know they put darts in those formals for breasts? Us flat girls were out of luck. Big boobs equaled pretty, but I digress.

Back to senior year. Despite the extra fluff up top, I did not place. I didn’t even make the top ten. Dang, southern girls are gorgeous and hard to compete with. Afterward, I tried to dampen my disappointment, even though my crush couldn’t look me in the eyes backstage (I think the sudden cleavage thing made him uncomfortable). At that moment, as I watched my fella stare at the floor and stammer, a group of friends, who also didn’t place, came up to me.

“The judges are letting you meet with them,” one girl exclaimed. “They’re telling us why we didn’t place!”

I found this kinda odd, and I asked what they had said.

The first girl was so excited to spread the good news of epic judginess that she had wandered off, and another friend told me her flaws per the panel.

“They told me my lips were too thin,” she shared.

I thought to myself, my lips are thin.

“They told me my hair was too straight,” she added.

I had curled my hair, but really? Too straight?!

Too thin.

Dress too sparkly.

They were looking for natural beauty that year.

Brie Gowen
Brie Gowenhttp://briegowen.com/
Brie Gowen is a 30-something (sliding ever closer to 40-something) wife and mother. When she’s not loving on her hubby, chasing after the toddler or playing princess with her four-year-old, she enjoys cooking, reading and writing down her thoughts to share with others. Brie is also a huge lover of Jesus. She finds immense joy in the peace a relationship with her Savior provides, and she might just tell you about it sometime. She’d love for you to check out her blog at BrieGowen.com.

WATCH: Sisters Sing Bone-Chilling Easter Rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’

The young sisters from Fort Frances, Ontario sing an Easter rendition of Leonard Cohen's famous "Hallelujah," that is so beautiful, it'll bring tears to your eyes.

What Is Maundy Thursday?—How to Celebrate During Holy Week

As we celebrate Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, you may start to wonder, what is Maundy Thursday? Three days before Easter, we come to Maundy Thursday. "Maundy" comes from the Latin word "mandatum," meaning command, order, or commission.

Abby & Brittany: Conjoined Twin Abby Hensel is Married!

They’re the most famous conjoined twins in the world, and now Abby Hensel, of the duo Abby and Brittany, is now married!