A "Golden Birthday" is when you turn the age of the day you were born, so this year constitutes as my golden birthday because I was born on the 22nd.
So I just turned 22 on Monday.
(Gah! The secret's out!)
This year, I got to celebrate in a fantastic and unique way: I dressed up as Princess Peach and reinacted a live Super Smash Brothers fight skit during Youth for the Nations' annual "Dodge-a-lujah" dodgeball tournament intermission--over 250 people were there with 40 teams each competing for the championship.
(Congratulations Cheezeballs for winning!)
I think the best part of the skit was getting to wear a crown, painting "white gloves" on my arms, and fighting "Link" with an umbrella as my sword after kicking "Ash Ketchem". ;) (I'll post pictures later if I can find some...)
But the best part of my day came in the form of a little girl no older than maybe four years old. She saw me hiding in the hallway about to make my grand entrance. With wide eyes and a big smile, she exclaimed, "Mommy! Mommy! Look, a princess!"
My heart instantly melted. This kid was too darn cute.
She came up and asked, eyes wider by the second, "Are you a real princess?"
I smiled bending down, "Why yes, I am! What's your name?"
"Jasmine."
"Jasmine? That's a beautiful name."
Then her mother started to pull her away so they could be on their way, she looked back smiling and waving, making me smile even more.
My friend Heather snuck up behind me saying, "You know you just made all of her dreams come true, right?"
I smiled, letting the truth of that settle deep in my heart. I just made some little girl's day and all I did was dress up...
Or did I?
As I stood there watching the dodgeball games roar, I began to think about how I true it was when I said, "Yes, I am a princess!" Because I am.
And so are you.
Unless you're a dude, then you're a Prince.
As a daughter to the King of Kings I AM a Princess.
Granted, I wouldn't pick a $3 thrift store dress and a plastic, borrowed crown for my royal garments, but it worked for the skit. I began to then realize that as I walked out there in character for Princess Peach I am also in character for my alternate reality.
In the other reality, the spiritual realm, I really am a Princess.
I just happen to be the kind who prances around in jeans, TOMS and hoodies, and sits Indian style on the floor or sprawled across a couch that is too small for my long legs.
After our skit, my Director told us to each stay in costume and continue to stay in character. For the next three hours I tried my best to sit properly, up straight and tall, walk with grace, shoulders back, and keep an aura of royalty. As a result, I have been called "Princess Peach" four times in the past two days.
As I look back on it now, I can't help but think of all the times I didn't walk in authority as a Princess of God. I have every and all authority and power of heaven at my fingertips because I serve a Master who created the universe and everything in it, and He doubles as my Daddy.
But too many times I have traded the crown for a hoodie, tried to blend in with everyone else, take it easy and slow, not draw attention to myself yet still aim to stand out as a "Jesus Freak", and have all too often forfeited my true identity seen by four year old's asking, "Are you really a Princess?"
I don't want to be seen as just the super tall girl who is visible above the crowds head.
I want to be the Princess who makes dreams come true.
Every little girl wants to be a Princess, but when we get older we leave the plastic wands and pretty pink dresses in a dark closet so we can "grow up" and 'level up' to stilettos, lipstick, and 'attractive' clothes to catch the world's attention so we can climb the social ladder as we are expected to someday do.
But what if we were to pick up the dress and silly plastic heels and just look in the mirror? What if we remember who we are, in Christ, and take on the dreams that were once dictators of our every action? As that pretty princess we were fearless, we were not afraid to take on the world. We demanded to be treated like royalty because we didn't deserve anything less. We wanted the best because Princesses always only got the best of the best.
I like to think of birthdays as New Years, because I technically wasn't born on January 1 so I am not starting a new year of my life at that point. I'm starting my 2nd month and 9th day of a new year on New Years. So for my Golden Birthday, and my Golden Year, I want to try and exemplify my true identity as a Princess in Christ. I don't want to replace the real diamond deal for the plastic crown. I don't want to put away the pretty pink dress for a hoodie because I need to 'blend in with the crowd.' Blending in is overrated. And aiming to be unique while maintaining a form of normality is a fancy way of saying "hipster blending." You're not being unique because you're still trying to fit into some crowd. However, when we accept the Christ DNA that is hidden deep within our hearts along with the 'dead dreams' we will slowly find ourselves walking out in the uniquely designed according to our quirks and personality destinies that Creator God made specifically for you.
Then, and only then, can we become the unique, Jesus Freaky, world changin', joy bombin' Princes and Princesses that will charge the world, take it by force of Love, and bring heaven to earth as was originally designed in Genesis 1.
So, it's time to pick up your crown, hold up that pretty Princess dress, and just let yourself relax and become who you once were--which may very well be who you were created to be.
Sincerely Yours,
Saint ("Princess Peach")
Starting from the left we have Ash Ketchem (Pokemon), me as Princess Peach (I'm curtsying, in actuality I'm about as tall as Ash), Link (Legend of Zelda), and Toad (Super Mario).
So I just turned 22 on Monday.
(Gah! The secret's out!)
This year, I got to celebrate in a fantastic and unique way: I dressed up as Princess Peach and reinacted a live Super Smash Brothers fight skit during Youth for the Nations' annual "Dodge-a-lujah" dodgeball tournament intermission--over 250 people were there with 40 teams each competing for the championship.
(Congratulations Cheezeballs for winning!)
I think the best part of the skit was getting to wear a crown, painting "white gloves" on my arms, and fighting "Link" with an umbrella as my sword after kicking "Ash Ketchem". ;) (I'll post pictures later if I can find some...)
But the best part of my day came in the form of a little girl no older than maybe four years old. She saw me hiding in the hallway about to make my grand entrance. With wide eyes and a big smile, she exclaimed, "Mommy! Mommy! Look, a princess!"
My heart instantly melted. This kid was too darn cute.
She came up and asked, eyes wider by the second, "Are you a real princess?"
I smiled bending down, "Why yes, I am! What's your name?"
"Jasmine."
"Jasmine? That's a beautiful name."
Then her mother started to pull her away so they could be on their way, she looked back smiling and waving, making me smile even more.
My friend Heather snuck up behind me saying, "You know you just made all of her dreams come true, right?"
I smiled, letting the truth of that settle deep in my heart. I just made some little girl's day and all I did was dress up...
Or did I?
As I stood there watching the dodgeball games roar, I began to think about how I true it was when I said, "Yes, I am a princess!" Because I am.
And so are you.
Unless you're a dude, then you're a Prince.
As a daughter to the King of Kings I AM a Princess.
Granted, I wouldn't pick a $3 thrift store dress and a plastic, borrowed crown for my royal garments, but it worked for the skit. I began to then realize that as I walked out there in character for Princess Peach I am also in character for my alternate reality.
In the other reality, the spiritual realm, I really am a Princess.
I just happen to be the kind who prances around in jeans, TOMS and hoodies, and sits Indian style on the floor or sprawled across a couch that is too small for my long legs.
After our skit, my Director told us to each stay in costume and continue to stay in character. For the next three hours I tried my best to sit properly, up straight and tall, walk with grace, shoulders back, and keep an aura of royalty. As a result, I have been called "Princess Peach" four times in the past two days.
As I look back on it now, I can't help but think of all the times I didn't walk in authority as a Princess of God. I have every and all authority and power of heaven at my fingertips because I serve a Master who created the universe and everything in it, and He doubles as my Daddy.
But too many times I have traded the crown for a hoodie, tried to blend in with everyone else, take it easy and slow, not draw attention to myself yet still aim to stand out as a "Jesus Freak", and have all too often forfeited my true identity seen by four year old's asking, "Are you really a Princess?"
I don't want to be seen as just the super tall girl who is visible above the crowds head.
I want to be the Princess who makes dreams come true.
Every little girl wants to be a Princess, but when we get older we leave the plastic wands and pretty pink dresses in a dark closet so we can "grow up" and 'level up' to stilettos, lipstick, and 'attractive' clothes to catch the world's attention so we can climb the social ladder as we are expected to someday do.
But what if we were to pick up the dress and silly plastic heels and just look in the mirror? What if we remember who we are, in Christ, and take on the dreams that were once dictators of our every action? As that pretty princess we were fearless, we were not afraid to take on the world. We demanded to be treated like royalty because we didn't deserve anything less. We wanted the best because Princesses always only got the best of the best.
I like to think of birthdays as New Years, because I technically wasn't born on January 1 so I am not starting a new year of my life at that point. I'm starting my 2nd month and 9th day of a new year on New Years. So for my Golden Birthday, and my Golden Year, I want to try and exemplify my true identity as a Princess in Christ. I don't want to replace the real diamond deal for the plastic crown. I don't want to put away the pretty pink dress for a hoodie because I need to 'blend in with the crowd.' Blending in is overrated. And aiming to be unique while maintaining a form of normality is a fancy way of saying "hipster blending." You're not being unique because you're still trying to fit into some crowd. However, when we accept the Christ DNA that is hidden deep within our hearts along with the 'dead dreams' we will slowly find ourselves walking out in the uniquely designed according to our quirks and personality destinies that Creator God made specifically for you.
Then, and only then, can we become the unique, Jesus Freaky, world changin', joy bombin' Princes and Princesses that will charge the world, take it by force of Love, and bring heaven to earth as was originally designed in Genesis 1.
So, it's time to pick up your crown, hold up that pretty Princess dress, and just let yourself relax and become who you once were--which may very well be who you were created to be.
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
-Psalm 139:13-16
Be blessed and grab your dress!
Sincerely Yours,
Starting from the left we have Ash Ketchem (Pokemon), me as Princess Peach (I'm curtsying, in actuality I'm about as tall as Ash), Link (Legend of Zelda), and Toad (Super Mario).
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