the pensive princess

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Location: Grandview, Washington

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

YOU are a Princess!

YOU are a Princess!
“How can this be”, you may wonder. “I’m not rich, I don’t have a little dog, and I really don’t enjoy wearing high heels.” Well, I have news for you. If you are a born-again believer, you are an adopted child of God. Since our heavenly Father is the eternally reigning King of kings, that makes you royalty. And women, that makes you a princess.

What does a Princess look like?
There are many opinions today about what a princess is all about. They “have a taste for life’s finer things: champagne with breakfast, custom lingerie, and kitten heels—even in the snow. At the office, [they’re] a corporate merger of style and substance, flawlessly handling the most difficult clients or performing life-saving surgery wearing snakeskin stilettos. [Their] romances play out like De Beers moments (well, in [their] mind anyway). And above all, they know instinctively that the real road to enlightenment begins with entitlement.” This quote comes from a book review called “Princess” by Francesca Castagnoli. It is one idea of what a princess looks like.

Another is the Walt Disney version: young, curvy, flawless heroines with angelic singing voices. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, the Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Mulan, Snow White... yep, they all fit the bill.

Or, what about a real-life princess, like Princess Diana. She was known as the “people’s princess. In public she was elegant and poised. She was beautiful and classy. In a TIME magazine article it is remembered “how she listened, how she placed strangers at ease, how she embraced, how she remembered, how she was kind." However, inside the palace, her life may not have been worth emulating. "Charles had resumed his old romance with Camilla Parker Bowles, the wife of his friend Andrew Parker Bowles. Diana increasingly resented the relationship. The obligations and rituals of royal life also took a toll. Diana later admitted severe psychological problems." (link)

The princess that I am talking about looks a little bit different than these commonly accepted models. She comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. Her status is not determined by the location of her home, but by the condition of her heart. Does she know Jesus, personally? Does she take time to listen to the King? She may not even own a tiara, but rather uses her smile to dazzle those around her. The princess I picture is loved deeply by her Father, the King. In turn, love flows out of her to everyone she meets. She is not afraid to touch the unlovely and kiss filthy children. She knows that her beauty- which is first inward and then outward- cannot be diminished by loving the least of these. She has a calm confidence that any hardship that may arise can be entrusted to her King- nothing is too difficult for Him.

These qualities do not evolve overnight, but are developed over years of continuous fellowship with the King. So, the only prerequisite for being a princess is to be a child of the King. But, in order to stand out as one, you must practice the principles I will share in following posts.

Do not lose heart. You may only feel like a commoner now. But, with encouragement, you wil soon be walking tall and carrying your head high as you come to realize that you truly are royalty

1 Comments:

Blogger abelara said...

i love my princess and she loves me!

can anything be better?! i think not.

8/30/2006 05:08:00 PM  

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

just for fun!


i think i'd like to have my very own blog. let me restate that: i now have my very own blog! i've been having some thoughts lately on a particular subject and i feel this blog will serve as great place to get my feelings down in writing.
i've recently had my eyes opened to a startling fact that i should have believed for many years now. but, no. i knew the fact in my head, but it had never really penetrated my heart. the fact: i am royalty. i am a princess. now this goes beyond the make-believe, fairy tale, dress-up and pretend i'm a princess. i really am.
recently, our church hosted a "Holy Spirit weekend" where each participant was taught more about the Holy Spirit and encouraged to connect with Him at a deeper level. in the past,i have been leary about attending these kind of events. i always felt that something was supposed to happen to me- and nothing ever did. at this most recent event, as i was spending some tme in prayer, i was again feeling cheated out of something. a woman joined me and asked what was going on. i told her i didn't feel like i was recieving any gifts from the Holy Spirit. she just laughed and started to point out some obvious things that i was gifted with. for so long i had been hung up on what i didn't have that i could not see what i did have. i then realized that someone- satan- had been lying to me. the person my friend had described sounded an awful lot like a princess.
during my growing up years i had often heard the phrase "it's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." in my mind, this meant some people are important- they are respected, honored, influential, special. then there are nice people- they happily do whatever anyone asks; they sacrifice their own happiness to make sure everyone is taken care of. so i felt i was being told "it would be nice to be respected and special, but since you're not, just be nice to everyone and we won't be mad at you. well it suddenly occurred to me: i could be both- i was both.
my perception of a princess is someone who is kind, gentle, and sweet as well as an influential leader. she is skilled in many areas- in the castle and among the commoners. she sings with the forest animals and all the street children adore her. she wears lovely gowns and the sun follows her wherever she walks. and if ever evil arises in the land, she couragously- and sometimes with the help of a handsome prince- saves the day. a princess is not a doormat- she is highly honored and respected. this is secretly what i wanted my life to look like. and now i see that it does.
this got me to thinking- any women that is a child of God is also royalty, a princess. what can be done to show women who they are and how they are to behave? then i thought, why not have a princess prep school where women- young and older alike- can come and learn about their identity in God and how to walk that out in everyday life. there could be classes on purity, beauty, kindness, freedom from past hurts, loving our children, submitting to authority, etc., etc.
anyway, i see myself in a different light now. i have been placed in my home to nurture and train my younger princesses and to honor and cherish my prince. i can see God continually pouring His love out on me and giving me strength to love others.
well, i have other insights on this topic, as i have stated before, and i will continue to share them in upcoming posts.

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