That’s about it. My princess life. No castle in faraway lands; no magic carpets; no fairy godmother, no under-the-sea playground. Just once upon a time. Why? Because my fairy tale life doesn’t exist. I live in the real world.
You know the one… The world with endless to-do lists, pressures to do, be and have, responsibilities, obligations, time limits, money problems, accidents, gossip, sickness, questions with no answers… The world with biting insects. That’s right! That’s something you don’t hear about in fairy tales…fleas, ticks, mosquitoes…parasites. I bet we won’t hear about those in the next epic Disney princess life movie.
Here in the real world…
The good, the bad, and the ugly, right here, every day. Some days my story involves flowers, dresses, perfume, foreign vacations, and glamour. Those days are awesome! But most days I’m like many other women my age – complaining about my spanx getting too tight, whining about my children growing up and leaving me, and biding my time until my next mammogram.
But you know what? Even without the princess life, talking birds, enchanted forests, and pixie dust, and despite the saddlebags on my hips and wrinkles on my brow, my story is awesome. Why? Because it’s full of…drama? I won’t lie. Some days are straight out of a soap opera: sunsets, therapy, God, loss, illness, laughter, friendships, depression, love, hate, betrayal…
This is my story…
But more than those positives and negatives, my story is about reconciliation and redemption. Like a divine author writing his life’s work, God is creating my character, shaping me with complicated themes, creating in me the yearning to be a protagonist rather than an antagonist, mesmerizing me with a magical star-lit sky, reminding me that each breath can be stealing or giving, and each moment of fellowship with Him is a gift.
Though the fairy-tale version of my story is short, I won’t complain. My story is better anyway! It’s about a loving heavenly Father who breathed life into creation and then watched it implode. But he didn’t give up. He saved it, redeemed it, and continues to add chapters. And though we know the end, (we are saved!) the journey is in real-time, and can be quite the nail-biter!
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