"You be the prince and I'll be the princess"

I sat watching an 8 year old sing a song by Taylor Swift at a rehearsal for my daughter's talent show the other night. She was adorable. Little red ringlets filled her head and her voice was sweet. I sat trying to figure out the words for she had a little lisp as she sang & I have never heard the song before. But I did get the gist of the song...it was about a girl waiting for her prince. How her mom & dad don't approve of the prince but she loved him anyway. She was going to wait for him & they were planning on running away together. The story of Romeo and Juliet.

It was quite obvious that this little girl loved this song. In fact, as I was watching I noticed other little girls of EVERY age mouthing the words. Even the mom's.

I believe it is in every woman's heart to be the princess. We desire this prince to pursue us and whisk us away to live happily ever after. It's true. Really.

This is a beautiful trait in a woman. I believe God gave us this desire to want to be pursued.

But, I have found that a lot of us "girls" are often dissapointed when this pursuing never really occurs. At first it seems like a fairy tale, happily ever after...yet things get old. Relationships die, people walk away when it gets hard. This high doesn't always last forever.

I have been married for 15 years now. I married the man of my dreams. He really loves & takes care of me in ways that I don't even understand sometimes. Yet, even though we have a fantastic relationship it sometimes gets stagnet. I think he'd agree. We just go about life and sometimes forget about who we really are and what we each desire. We have to remember. We have to make an effort to keep the flame glowing.

Most relationships fail due to these facts.

This is not the case with our God, our Heavenly Father. He pursues us endlessly. He desires & loves us unconditionally. He will be the only true prince in your life. No matter how far and wide you search. He is always there for you...just waiting...waiting for your Love.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

Those around you might fail you, they might hurt you, but God is all you need. His love lasts forever. Sing to him, "You be the prince and I'll be the princess..."

Defining Worth...

I want to go back to the issue of self worth. Because I think that is where the heart of this purity issue begins.

I hear so many stories of young girls cutting themselves because they don't feel they are worth anything but pain. They hurt themselves in this way because it makes them feel physical pain instead of the deep emotional pain...because sometimes the emotional pain is harder to deal with. More and more I hear these stories and it breaks my heart. I want to reach out and say "you are loved more than you'll ever know". Yet to these girls, they have no idea what that even means. Maybe they have never heard those words before. Maybe they are told the opposite on a daily basis so how could they know?

Some stories I hear, and some I've lived is that you know that your parents love you, but you just can't measure up to the standards that the world and media have put us at. So therefore, we don't feel worth much of anything. Yeah, we might think we are okay, but the truth is that there are sooo many others out there better than us because of their perfect...well, EVERYTHING.

Do you know what I mean?

Have you felt un-loved because you don't measure up to those around you?

I know I have.

I've felt insecure because of the way I looked.

I think deep down, we ALL have. Even the ones WE think are "perfect".

But I want you to hear these words...I mean let them dig deep into your heart. Just try.

"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

It is okay to say that you are having difficulty believing that God loves you or that you are "fearfully" and "wonderfully made", if that is how you feel. You see God is greater than your hurts or your weaknesses. And He can change the way that you feel about yourself.

Understanding our self worth is the beginning of the process. The next step is to change how we think about ourselves. If we believe what is written in the Psalms then we can begin to reclaim the positive thoughts that He says about us and towards us. Instead of saying," I will never amount to anything" we can begin to say,"I am God's daughter, and He made me and He loves me and I know that He has a plan for my life and He will help me understand it"

So what does this have to do with purity? Well, many girls try to find this love through men. That's what I did. I longed for love and attention so I found it through the words and attention that they gave me. And soon, I was doing things just to be accepted. "If I do this, then they will love me forever".

Nope. If they loved me then they would have waited for me.

True unconditional love comes from your Heavenly Father. No one, noTHING on this earth will fill those voids.

Now read those words again...

"For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, I know full well." Psalm 139:13-14