When I Grow Up....

When I grow up, I want to be a princess....... Or maybe a dancer..... No, I want to be a singer...... No wait, I really, really want to be a ballerina.....

When I was a little girl, life was big and dreams were bigger. Life was a fairy tale and I played the main part in the story. When you read about the princess in Cinderella, that was me. In Little Red Riding Hood, I was Little Red, the girl that ran through the forest to her grandmother’s house. When Snow White was poisoned, it was me that laid waiting for the prince to come and kiss me.

I so easily was able to put myself in the place of the story because in my mind, it was all possible. Dreaming was my thing. My grade school teachers didn't like it much that my mind would wonder off to dreamland during class, but it just could not be helped. I lived in the dream world of my mind and it was a great place to be.

As you can see, I did not become a dancer, singer or ballerina. And as I grew up I certainly didn't think of myself as a princess any longer. Life in the beginning that was filled with belief in the impossible was stripped out of me by the world. I was told; fairytales are not real, live in the real world, life is not easy or fun, stop dreaming. So, as the years went by and life took its toll, I did just that. I lived in the reality of a cruel hard world, I didn't believe in princesses or fairy tale endings any longer.

Lately though, I have begun to think about growing up in a different light. I have been born again and I am now a new creation. I am in the process of growing up again, this time though; I'm growing up in Christ. What he has shown me about growing up this time around is this.

I am the princess in the middle of His fairytale. I am the Cinderella that is waiting for my great prince to take me away to the place He has prepared for me. Once again, I live in a world of dreams, dreams so big that my mind can not wrap itself around them. The dream of an eternity with a God so great and so in love with me that he died for me. A place where all the tears will be wiped away and no more sadness will be. Oh, how I love to sit and think on that place. Indeed it will be better than any fair tale castle I once read about.

He also tells me that even though I long for that place in eternity, I still have a dream to live here on earth. Through me He wants his love to be shown, through me He wants His light to radiate. I get to believe in things that most people think are not possible. I get to call His name and see the miraculous happen. I get to dream again, but it’s not my dream this time, it’s His.

I can not sing well, but He loves to hear me anyway. When my songs reach Him, it warms His heart. Ballet may be out because my knees crack when I bend them but I dance for Him at times like David did. I dance because my joy is so great that it just can’t be stopped. As for being a princess, I am His beloved and I wait for Him to ride up on His white horse. And with this prince, I’m assured by the bible, the truth of God, He will one day.

Although dreaming as a child brought me much joy and fun, dreaming as an adult has become an even greater joy to me. As I live in the spirit and walk next to my savior in faith, I imagine what it must have been like to live in the Garden of Eden. Walking and talking with God.... To me, it is the dream.