Princess

Today, me and my Mom took Claire to a Princess Tea at Mom's church. Elizabeth and Auntie Karri came too. It was really sweet. The room we were in was decorated in soft pinks and purples, there were flowers and butterflies and a fountain. It was so very pretty. Claire dressed up in a gorgeous dress I found at a used clothing sale. She also wore her favorite sparkly shoes. We dined on pink and white sandwiches, (butterfly shaped) cheese and crackers, butterfly cupcakes, sugar cookies and vanilla tarts.

It was delightful to see all these teeny-tiny girls dressed up and treated so well by adults who value them. It was an honour to sit with some very valuable women in my life.

I was reminded about how precious it is to be a woman. I was also reminded that the world doesn't value the sweet innocence that my daughter possesses. She's going to be bombarded by messages telling her she needs to be sexy, super skinny, pouty, beautiful as defined by fashion magazines and that she needs to do everything in her power to attract boys. This is going to happen much, much to soon. (I teach 11 and 12 year olds, so I see this every day.)

I need to, as her mother, affirm her beauty (inner and outer) and her worth. I want to protect her from the hurts the world is going to hurl her way, but I can't. Instead, I can build a foundation of love and trust with her. Then, I can pray for her and trust God to keep her for me.

Psalm 139:13-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.