THAT Kind of Princess

I realized a couple days ago that I want to be a princess still. Kinda like when I was a little girl.  I want to be a princess as much as I want to be a saint.  But before you roll your eyes, hear me out.

I don’t want to be the girl that everyone thinks is just so beautiful.  I don’t want to have the glamorous gowns and sparkling jewelry.  I don’t want to be waited on, hand and foot.  But I do want the prince, and the epic, heroic moment.

I have always pictured this epic moment as one of those scenes where the prince is valiantly fighting for his princess, because he knows he has someone worth fighting for.  But in a sudden turn of events, the enemy has the upper hand.  Things don’t look so good for the prince.  Now the princess gets her heroic moment where she runs in to save him, and she turns everything around.  Because of her courageous action, the prince is able to get up and finish the fight.  They’ll have won the battle together, because they did it for the good of the other.

A friend of mine recently told me I remind her of Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.  I thought it was an awesome compliment, to be compared to a Disney princess.  So I compared my story to hers too.

Belle is an only child to a single father.  He ends up being a prisoner in the Beast’s castle, but with a self-sacrificing act to save her father, Belle takes his place instead.  She doesn’t know it, but the Beast has to get her to fall in love with him, or he will keep the appearance of a beast forever.  Slowly, as he pursues her, Belle and the Beast fall in love.

But then the Beast also makes a self-sacrificing act in order to set her free.  His sacrifice allows her to really live, not live as a prisoner.  She goes on her way.  She can either choose to come back to him, or carry on as though he meant nothing to her.  But then, as he’s under attack, it becomes a matter of life or death.  She remembers their love for each other, and comes running back to him when the battle is raging on.

And so Belle just stands there, watching him get attacked, and she won’t run in there and help defend him.  She doesn’t even tell her family how important he is to her—she’s just too embarrassed.  She won’t stand behind her prince.  She’d rather pretend this isn’t happening.  She lets everyone else fight to save him, but she, herself, does nothing.

Just kidding.

She obviously doesn’t just stand by and do nothing.  But what a disappointing ending that would have been!  People would think she was a terrible princess.  Would she really be a princess at all?  But I realized that this is how my “princess story” tends to look.

I’m just the girl who stands by and watches as the Prince is under attack, too afraid to say anything.  Everything He stands for is being persecuted, but I so easily feel embarrassed of Him.  I’m not a princess.  I’m not that courageous.

But I want to be.  Because I know He’s worth it.  He’s worth those moments where I charge in there to defend Him and say that I’m with Him until the end.  He’s worth those moments where I’m not afraid to say that I am Catholic, and say that I love God.  I want to be able to share my faith with my family, rather than feel embarrassed by it.  I want to be like Belle, who runs into the chaos to be beside her prince, in full knowledge of the battle that rages on around them.  I have always wanted that “epic, heroic moment” like I’ve pictured in my mind—but this IS that moment, but I haven’t been playing my part.

That’s why I say I still want to be a princess.  I don’t desire to fit the glamorous stereotype little girls think of.  To me, the word “princess” has a completely different definition.  She is the daughter of the King.  She is courageous.  She is not ashamed.  She stands for what is right, and stands behind her Prince through the battle.

I want to be THAT kind of princess.

That’s why I’m writing this post.  I kind of contemplated writing it for a while, but figured I would die of embarrassment if this kind of stuff were to get out.  So here’s an attempt at being courageous.  If I am supposed to be the daughter of the King, isn’t it about time I started acting like it?

 

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

- The Princess Diaries

 

Andrea

Back to basics: Going Natural

Over the years I have been to alot of talks about the dignity of woman, the natural aspects of love, God’s design in making men and women. One of my favorites was a talk talk given by Dr. Janet Smith, a woman of great intellect and common sense! Ever since then I have often wondered:

What are women thinking?……Why do we so easily buy into the lie of our sexual society?…We are told that “Pregnancy is a beautiful thing but so is a woman’s “Choice”……Why do we, as living, nurturing women get sick at the thought of killing seals, whales, puppy dogs and yet can treat the question of “Choice” as though “choice” was concrete – that the life within us was abstract – that the word “choice” makes abortion “alright”?

Abortion kills BABIES! Why is it, when a woman is pregnant and wants to be, she tells everyone about her baby……but when a woman is pregnant and doesn’t want to be she only has a “fetus”? Desire doesn’t change TRUTH!

WAKE UP WOMEN!

I watched the video below. My sister, who has 6 beautiful kids sent it to me. Make time for this video! Educate yourself! Women: Get your body back!

Contraception is the number one advertisement for free intercourse. PERIOD. If you want to continue to be used, keep taking it. A true test of love is responsibility. If you stopped taking the contraceptive would your man still love you?

Your fertility isn’t a problem that you need to “pop a pill for”. And for all you mothers out there with lots of kids I APPLAUD YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIFT OF LIFE!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNSELFISH GIFT OF YOUR LIFE!

 

 

Blessed is the Woman

“Blessed is the woman who has a smile in her voice,

 a sparkle in her eyes, a song on her lips;

a spring in her step, a warmth in her touch,

a depth in her beauty, a purpose for her life,

a joy in her faith, a hope in her breast and a love in her heart.”

 

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26

Take time to pray!

Hospitality: What are YOU doing?

Hospitality, Generosity and Acts of Kindness

Hospitality:  friendly behavior towards visitors, guests or strangers, intended to make them feel welcome

Generosity:  willingness to give

This past week on my travels throughout New Zealand I was fortunate to have experienced both. Generosity was given by my new Kiwi friends (kiwi is what New Zealanders call themselves), who insisted on driving me to the hospital and waiting there with me even though it took hours out of their day.  I had a wound infection and need IV antibiotics for three days. Hospitality was given by two Kiwi families who took me into their homes and said our home is your home. I was traveling through the North Island and it was a great relief not having to worry about accommodation. Kindness like this is inspiring! I was grateful for these instances of people place the needs of others before their own.  Also it made me reflect and think of how often I do it.

In addition to this I met an American couple living in New Zealand.  This couple was very impressed by the welcoming and friendliness of Kiwis. They said people just aren’t like this in America anymore, we’ve lost this kind of thoughtfulness. Unfortunately for them they weren’t from friendly North Dakota, but even I have noticed that New Zealand is on another level.  It is still acceptable to hitch-hike here, if someone can’t help you they find you someone who can and going the extra step for another person, even a foreigner, is no big deal.

After talking to this couple I began to wonder how generous, hospitable and thoughtful I have been to friends, acquaintances or strangers. I do often find myself asking God how should I love others.  And I do often catch myself so consumed with myself that I don’t even think about the needs of others.  Hospitality, generosity and just everyday acts of kindness –giving a complement, writing a thank you note, inviting a friend over for dinner, initiating a conversation with a stranger, baking cookies for your neighbors, helping someone with homework- are all the answers God is giving me.

 

~Emily

 

Let us be Chivalrous: From a Man’s Perspective

Chivalry

       It is a word that has been used for centuries by many men of many times, however; no matter how different his surroundings, or his way of life, the true gentleman has a deep connection with men who lived five hundred years ago. This connection is that of holding themselves to a higher standard, in particular, respecting and protecting women, not to put on a show, but out of love for all women through Jesus Christ.

This indeed is not an easy task, it takes great love, determination, and patience to make a gentleman. He has not only to open doors for ladies, or offer his chair to a lady when there are none left, but also to respect all women, ladies or not, in public, and when he is completely alone. Chivalry is what all men should and must strive for, however,

without the example and encouragement of ladies, it is nearly impossible to attain successfully.

              This is where you ladies come into play, it is because of you that we strive for chivalry, we see you holding yourselves to a higher standard and living out your life as a lady and it inspires us to hold ourselves to a higher standard as well, and to live out a life of chivalry and gentility. I do not think you realize just how greatly you can effect us guys. If a man is even simply open to becoming a gentleman,  it is easy for a lady to make him one simply by being a lady. Things like letting him open the door for you, or giving up his chair for you, or walking on the street side of the sidewalk, and thanking him for these acts of kindness occasionally, letting him know that he is doing the right thing.

As a young man, I know that this is true by my own personal experience, not many compliments can compare with one coming from a girl saying how she appreciates me treating her like a lady, it really makes me feel good.

It is this very feeling that makes me all the more ready and willing to continue and excel in a life of chivalry. These small acts that you allow me, and all men striving for gentility, are the very foundations of a chivalrous life, the small acts build into greater ones, and eventually, you have a man who is self-motivated in serving and protecting women of all ages, one who begins to strive harder for gentility through his daily actions and even thought process, and all this because you allowed us to help you!

              Now I know that society today thinks that real men are rough, tough, chew, drink, and swear. That is simply not true, real men are gentlemen, it takes far greater strength to be a gentleman and perform acts of service as a natural, daily occurrence than it is to be an undisciplined, rough, tough, guy. One only needs to look at the greatest example of true manhood, Jesus. He was kind and gentle to all women, even to those who were social outcasts and immoral, however, He endured the most horrific and humiliating death completely out of love for us. He was definitely no wimp, but He was the perfect picture of chivalry. One can also look at a slightly more modern example. The Knights of the middle ages were the most deadly warriors of their time, but their entire lives were devoted to protecting women, children, and the elderly. So do not be afraid to be ladies, you’re role is greatly honorable,and it will make men chivalrous, and you will be the ones effected by them.

    So if you want to be treated  like a lady, you must act like a lady in order to make us gentlemen. Lastly remember, you are a woman, and you are the most precious creature there is in our eyes, you are indeed God’s most beautiful and wondrous creation and He placed us men here on earth to honor and protect you, that is our calling as males, and our privilege as men.

Mark

You Are Not Alone

You are not alone.

   As a woman, in the depths of my soul, I long to be loved, beautiful, wanted, respected and worth fighting for.  Sound familiar? I don’t even know you and already I feel like we have a lot in common! Truly!

The other day I was listening to a young woman of 17 tell me how she thinks she will never get married because she doesn’t think she is lovable. Wow. Things don’t change much as we get older do they?!  For one really long moment I just wanted to hold both her hands and assure her confidently, that yes, she is lovable. Indeed she is priceless. In fact, she is worth dying for.

Look around us in society. It’s all over. Wear this deodorant and you will be beautiful. Shop at this store and you will be popular. Get this car and you will wow all your friends.  We are told all over how we can attain these five things:

Love, beauty, being wanted (accepted), respect……but what happened to our value?

Cha-ching$$$……….the quickest way to cheapen something that is priceless is to put a price tag on it.

Ladies, we are bombarded with how to value ourselves in accordance with how society defines our value.

You are created more than that.

I went out to lunch with my boyfriend the other day and after he got the bill from the waitress I jokingly commented, “What did I cost you?” he grinned at me and said, “You are priceless.”

Yes, women, YOU ARE PRICELESS! You are worth waiting for.  I wish I could give that point of confidence to each young woman as she begins to long for that “Knight in shining armor”. Someone to love us. Someone to respect us. Someone to know us to the depths of our being. Someone who will always be there for us. Someone who will want us always no matter what we look like. Someone who makes us feel beautiful.

Yes, that longing is real.

Yes, that longing is normal.

Yes, that longing takes place in each of our feminine lives at some point.

Yet, what do we struggle with? Thoughts of confusion as to our level of self-worth.  Yet, we don’t always realize that there is only one way to fill it; only one way that will truly satisfy. That is with the love of Jesus Christ.

You, woman, are a masterpiece.  Your value is stamped in the very depths of your being.

You are loved.

You are beautiful

You are wanted, even desired,

You are respected and You are of such value that

    You are worth dying for!

In fact, someone has already laid down His life for you!

I will be here...... ~Jesus

You Are Wanted

To be desired…

It was the day I had been waiting for and the day I was dreading. I had spent 1 whole year on a fast from the one thing I wanted most…a courting relationship. In order to establish relationships with students, teammates, and mission partners, first year missionaries go on what is called a “Dating Fast”. We commit ourselves not to date for our first year on staff with FOCUS. I had been nervous to come off the dating fast. I had become comfortable with having a ‘buffer’ around me. I was not available, now, the guard was coming down, but why was it scary? I had spent a year learning how much Jesus desired my heart. Now I had to learn how to believe I was desirable to a good young man. That should have come with realizing how deeply Jesus desired me, but it didn’t.  I knew coming to training there would be a certain young man who would be asking me out on a date, and I knew I would say ‘yes.’ Why was I afraid? I began to pray about the tension in my heart only to realize I did not trust our Lord in my relationships with the men around me. I have never dated, so a relationship still scared me. What if he didn’t know what he was doing? What if we both couldn’t figure it out? As I prayed, Psalm 91 came to mind. Jesus would protect me. He wanted me to trust His plan, not mine. My heart surged with the desire to be wanted and the YES! I wanted to give it that young man. I was ready, but where was he?

Slowly, the questions, the overanalyzing, and the insecurities popped into my mind. ‘Was I not the girl he was waiting for? What was wrong with me? Could this whole little crush been completely false? I must not be pretty enough. I must not be desirable.’  The devil was filling my head with lies. Why do we women want to be desired in the core of our hearts? This question now pops up even more close to my heart than before.

The longing to be desired was meant for Christ to desire our hearts, but in our world, that longing has been twisted. We begin to place that longing to be desired on anything, men, talents, jobs, friendships, etc. It can manifest itself anywhere! The devil is very cunning and loves to trip us up. Time and again we fall into this lie of not being good enough, of not being wanted. BUT this is far from the truth. As a beautiful daughter of God and bride of the Prince of Peace, you are desired. Scripture tells us, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD.” (Hosea 2: 19-20)

How do we untwist our desires? First find a mentor. As fallen creatures, we need an example to follow. Who can we follow? As women, the perfect example we can follow is our beautiful and loving Mother, Mary. She gave her heart to God and allowed Him to have complete control of her life. She trusted Him with her heart, mind, body, and soul. She knew above all else that she was desired by her Father.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it best:

“Every man who pursues a maid, every maid who yearns to be courted, every bond of friendship in the universe, seeks a love that is not just her love or his love but something that overflows both her and him that is called “our love”. Everyone is in love with an ideal love, a love that is so far beyond sex that sex is forgotten. We all love something more than we love. When that overflow ceases, love stops. As the poet puts it: “I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honor more.”

That ideal love we see beyond all creature-love, to which we instinctively turn when flesh-love fails, is the same ideal that God had in His Heart from all eternity – the Lady whom He calls “Mother”. She is the one whom every man loves when he loves a woman – whether he knows it or not. She is what every woman wants to be when she looks at herself. She is the woman whom every man marries in ideal when he takes a spouse; she is hidden as an ideal in the discontent of every woman with the carnal aggressiveness of man; she is the secret desire every woman has to be honored and fostered; she is the way every woman wants to command respect and love because of the beauty of her goodness of body and soul. And this blueprint love, whom God loved before the world was made, this Dream Woman before women were, is the one of whom every heart can say in its depths of depths: “She is the woman I love!”

Pray to Mary for purity of heart and purity of desires. Ask Jesus to open your heart to being aware of His desire for you.

Jesus will pursue you. He loves showering his brides with compliments and flowers. He wants you to open your heart to His pursuit. Give him permission to pursue you.

You Are Beautiful

“A beautiful and chaste woman is the perfect workmanship of God, and the true glory of angels, the rare miracle of earth, and the sole wonder of the world.”

Being beautiful is complicated.

     As a woman, I know when I go out in the world I am very aware of how I am being portrayed. I used to be obsessed with making sure that I looked my best whenever thought I would see a guy that I liked. I would spend hours in front of the mirror and look at all the imperfections that someone might see.

After too much money spent on makeup I realize that being beautiful is not as easy as a few licks of mascara and some concealer on that one blemish on your face. No, being beautiful is letting the one and only Man be your guide and show you how you can be romanced. Don’t get me wrong, makeup is not a bad thing, however, when there is too much, people get distracted by the overly done makeup and not the beautiful woman. Jesus loves you most when you are not impressing all the other men around you. He will help your interior beauty radiate if you give Him your heart.

Being romanced by Jesus Christ himself is more important than being romanced by any other man. It is so difficult being single and thinking that the right guy is out there and praying for me.

You want to know a little secret?

   I know a guy who thinks about you all the time. I bet He is planning your future together. You will probably think “this is scary, He is kind of obsessed with me” the truth is He is totally obsessed with you. He is loving you right now and hoping you are thinking about Him, loving Him and dreaming about Him as much as He is loving and dreaming about you.

As a Catholic, I feel beautiful when I have gone to Confession and cleaned my soul. The old cliché “It’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that counts” is so true, especially with Confession. Jesus made us women to be beautiful and His Daddy doesn’t make mistakes. You are the most beautiful woman God has ever seen and He is waiting to hear from you and to tell you how beautiful you really are. 

Josie

“A smile costs nothing but gives much.  It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give.  It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.  None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it.  Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.  Some people are too tired to give you a smile.  Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.”

“Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
To have a deep soul relationship with another,
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively. 
But God, to a Christian says, 
“No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content
With being loved by Me alone,
With giving yourself totally and reservedly to Me,
With having an intensely personal and unique relationship
With Me alone.
Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found,
Will you be capable of the perfect human relationship
That I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are united
With Me alone,
Exclusive of anyone or anything else,
Exclusive of any other desires or longings.

I want you to stop planning,
Stop wishing,
And allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing,
One that you cannot imagine.
Pleas allow Me to bring it to you.
You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing the satisfaction I Am.
Keep listening and learning the things I tell you.
You just wait.
That’s all.
Don’t be anxious.
Don’t worry.
Don’t look at the things you think you want;
You just keep looking off and away up to Me,
Or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
And then when you are ready,
I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any
You could dream of.
You see, until you are ready and until
The one I have for you is ready
(I am working even at this moment to have you both ready at the same time),
Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me
And the life I have prepared for you,
You won’t be able to experience the love that
Exemplified your relationship with Me.
And this is the perfect love.

And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love,
I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your
Relationship with Me,
And to enjoy materially and concretely
The everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love
That I offer you with Myself.
Know that I love utterly.
I Am God.
Believe it and be satisfied. “

"Be satisfied with Me"

You are Loved

“To live a life without fear; live a life of love”

Dear Beautiful women of God,

       Never forget how much you are loved. 

       You are not alone when it comes to the desires of a women’s heart.  It took me a very long time to realize that all women are searching for the same feeling of completion.

During my early high school years, I developed a bad case of acne. Since physical appearance was extremely important to me, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. All of the medications I tried did not seem to help at all. I felt out of control and helpless. I did not have many friends, since I was homeschooled and lived out in the country.  I needed stability in my life so I decided to turn to something that I could control-my eating habits and exercise routine.

I began to eat what I thought was “more healthy”. This meant cutting out all deserts, snacks, extra side dishes, and any beverage except water. I started to exercise a lot more, starting at 6:15 in the morning and not finishing until I went to bed at night. Every free moment I had was spent running, rollerblading, cross-country skiing, swimming laps, walking, and doing jumping jacks or push ups. My meals slowly turned into basically fruit and water, because I thought that all other foods would make me fat.

My parents realized what I was doing to myself and told me to stop exercising. This only made me upset. I proceeded to sneak outside to do jumping jacks behind our garage and lock myself in the bathroom to do sit-ups.   I would still go out early in the morning to do a 2 mile run, because I felt that sleeping all night was a waste of time. One particular morning as I was out running, I felt my legs slowly collapsing. I wondered to myself which neighbor’s porch I would crawl onto to die because my body couldn’t go on any more. To this day I still don’t know how, but by the grace of God, I made it home that day alive. I still didn’t learn my lesson though. I was 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighed 98 pounds. I was a walking skeleton.  I knew deep in my heart that I was exercising too much and not eating enough, but something had a grip on my life. That something was the devil.

My internal battle raged on. Every morning I told myself that I was going to change my life, only to realize that I couldn’t. I was trapped in my own mindset. I became angry at everyone who looked at me. I felt worthless and abandoned with no place of hope to turn to.  I saw many counselors and nutritionists to try to fix my problem. But no words that they could say could loosen the grip that the devil had on my life. I would go to church, not to focus on the beautiful Mass, but to plan when I could fit in exercise throughout the rest of the day. I would pray just to go through the motions.

It wasn’t until I went to a Search for Christian Maturity Retreat that my life slowly began to turn around. At this retreat, I discovered something that I had not realized before. I discovered people who didn’t judge me for my past mistakes but who loved me for who I was. I discovered meaningful hugs for the first time. That weekend was the start of my healing journey. During that summer after Search, I met two wonderful Christian girls at my workplace. Throughout that summer they changed my life. They showed me the meaning of true friendship and love. They supported me, listened to my story, and were there at my side.

Slowly, I began to regain my health. Although it is common for victims of eating disorders to struggle with thoughts of the disease for the rest of their lives, my story ends differently. It has been 2 years since my struggle and I have been completely healed. My life is a miracle. Today I am a completely healthy young woman-physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I share my story for a reason.

     First and foremost, God loves you more than you can ever imagine and He will not leave your side.  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are at my side…” Psalm 23:4. Secondly, we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. If it wasn’t for the people in my life who brought me back to His Arms of Love, I would not be here today.

All people, especially women, have the desire in their heart to feel loved, comforted, secure, and safe. Don’t make them fall as low as I did to realize that they are loved.  Go forth and share Christ’s love.  You are all in my prayers.

In His Arms,

Kelsie

P.S.  (from your Heavenly Prince)

My Princess, I am the Lover of your soul. Won’t you open your heart and let Me embrace you with My tender touch? I want to steal your tender heart from this world and let it flourish in Mine. I want you to get so lost in Me that nothing can separate us. Come away with Me, My beloved, and I will complete you in every way.

Love,

Your Prince who will wait as long as it takes

Love is patient, Love is kind,
It does not envy, it does not boast,
It is not proud, It is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.

Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

                                                   L o v e  N e v e r  F a i l s.

Corinthians 13 : 4 – 8 

"Here is My heart"

Know Yourself:

Find out what your love language is, the way that you best respond to how others love you. Click on the 5 Love Languages link on the right.

“Encourage each other daily while it is still today” (Hebrews 3:13)