No Ordinary Princess Story

No Ordinary Princess Story

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

  Isaiah 41:10

            I have another granddaughter on the way! And, yes, I’ve already bought her first little pink princess dress.  She will be my seventh granddaughter.  My first one was born twenty years ago and got married this past summer. I wish you could have seen her; no royal bride has ever looked as beautiful as my granddaughter did on her wedding day. And, yes, I did cry. But they were happy tears  

             In addition to seven granddaughters, I also have two very handsome grandsons. Unfortunately, when all of us get together they sometimes get lost in a sea of pink. Or maybe they purposely escape from the girl drama to go outside where they can ride scooters with their grandpa.   

                As the day of my granddaughter’s birth gets closer, I find myself praying for her more often. My prayer for this unborn child is similar to the ones I pray for all my grandchildren. I pray for God’s protective hand over her. I pray she will be healthy and happy. And I pray that she will always feel safe and secure. As I look at the world around me today, I also pray that God will help her and the rest of my grandchildren be strong in the faith and not be fearful.
             I read somewhere that the words “fear not” can be found 365 times in the Bible. If it’s true, that’s one for every day of the year. I have to think God wants us to depend on Him for strength and courage rather than live in fear.
            The Bible is full of examples of God’s people being courageous. It seems like most of them are men, but one of them was a young girl. Her name was Esther. I remember my Sunday School teacher telling me about her when I was little, and I decided I wanted to grow up to be like Esther.  Not because she became a queen, but because she was brave. (I was one of those timid little girls.)
            Esther’s is a rags to riches story; but there’s no other princess fairy tale that can compare with hers. She was a humble, orphaned teen age girl who became a queen. In most fairy tales we find the princess being rescued by the handsome prince. But in Esther’s story, she was the one who did the rescuing. God’s people were in danger and God used Esther to rescue them.
            Because of her courage, Esther not only saved her people, she found love. In the second chapter of her book, we find these words, “And the King loved Esther above all women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight.”  Later, after she became his wife, “he (the King) saw Queen Esther standing in the court. He was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand.”  
            Esther’s story is one I want to share with my new granddaughter. I’ll tell her, first of all, that she’s already a princess, because she’s a child of the King. And I’ll tell her that she too, like Queen Esther, can be courageous, and grow up to be used by God to do good in our world.