I Want to be a Princess

"Once upon a time, a young princess wandered through the woods. A nasty barbarous man spotted the lovely young princess and approached her. He offered her the "pleasure"of becoming his bride and living with him in the shack he called home.
After a quick look at this barbarian and his residence, the princess flatly refused. She told him she would never marry a man who couldn't respect himself or his home. She wanted someone honorable like her father, the king. Then off she went to the beautiful castle.
The barbarian was crushed.
In the following days, he couldn't get the pure and noble princess out of his mind. Finally he vowed to win her, no matter what. He decieded that the only way to do this was to become a noble man himself.
He observed the king from afar, watching his actions and listening to his speech. He noticed and admired the king's integrity and dignity. The kings character captivated the barbarian. He wanted to be just like him. He still longed to marry the princess, but now his desire to become as noble as the king exceeded even his love for the princess.
Slowly but surely, as the barbarian modeled his behavior after the king, his appearance and manner were refined. He also worked long and hard to transform his home into a beautiful estate surrounded by well-tended gardens.
Finally he felt ready to approach the princess once more. This time the princess was so impressed that she promised to consider his request to become his bride. Eventually the two were wed, and (you guessed it) lived happily ever after." Jeramy Clark I Gave Dating a Chance

I recently started reading I Gave Dating A Chance after talking with a friend about Joshua Harris' I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Last night while reading I came across this story and it really intrigued me. Since reading it I've really been chewing on its meaning and just how I can apply this story to my life. In the past, I haven't said no to the barbarians. I've accepted them as they were instead of caring enough to point them toward my King. My selfish desires to have someone love me had overtaken my desire to make my Lord's name famous. This also shows me where my faith is weak. I haven't trusted God enough with my ENTIRE life. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." I struggle with allowing God to take control of my relationships. This is why I have really and honestly tried not to date over the past nine months. I knew that I wasn't ready to allow God to have that part of my life--I still struggle with allowing him to have it. I want God to completely consume me and control my character before I enter into a relationship with anyone. I want to be so in love with Jesus that whoever the young man is that God places in my life falls more in love with Jesus the more time he spends with me. That's another reason why I know that I am not ready to date. I still have that selfish desire to be the center of a guy's attention. This leads to another reason why I know that the young man God places in my life will have to be strong enough in his walk with Christ to lead us both. I'm barely strong enough to lead myself, I need someone to lead me. So, what this story pointed out to me in a nutshell is this: 1) I need to have faith in God's plan for me in relationships 2) Just say no to barbarians 3) I want to fall more in love with Jesus so that I can help my future boyfriend fall more in love with Jesus rather than falling in love with me. This time I'm spending growing in my walk with God is priceless and I would not change it for love or money. Jesus rocks my socks off! One that note, I'm out like lighters during the ballad at a rock concert.

P.S. My aunt just came over and took me back to my childhood days by bringing me Chewy Spree and a Dr Pepper-a snack she used to bring me at every visit! :-) I am 20 years old and this still makes me smile. Like my g-pa Chastain always used to say, "It's the little things in life." Then he would call me May-gweel...and that made me smile, too!