Lessons from a 5 year old

Every little girl at some point in her life wants to be a princess. She reads a book or sees a movie about princesses and aspires to be that when she grows up. Having a five year old running around my house everyday, I see this very clearly. Unicorns and fairies and this idea of a fairytale princess are all very real to her. When I asked her what a princess was, her answer melted my heart.
"Well Kiki," said the five year old very matter-of-factly, "A princess is a girl who does everything for everyone else without being mad, never fights with her brother or sister, is patient, is always pretty and sits up straight, and never makes mistakes."
I then asked the follow-up question, "Is it possible to never mess up?"
Her response was this, "No, but princesses apologize when then make mistakes and are really sorry for what they did. They also love everyone, so their hearts are sad when they make other people sad or angry."

This little girl, who most people would dismiss as talking about fairytales, has a point. Princesses are humble, loving, patient, always placing others above themselves, apologize quickly, and are tender-hearted towards others. Isn't this who we want the next generation to grow up to be?

As Christians, we are heirs of God. Or in more simple terms, princes and princesses. This imaginary girl in little girl's minds are exactly what God calls His children to be. A princess of God should be humble, loving, patient, always placing other above themselves, never hold a grudge, and be tender-hearted. Little girls should grow up to be fairytale princesses, except they are not fairytales.

One day, my little one will grow up and her main goal in life will not be to become a princess. I hope she can remember what a princess was and never give up that goal. I want to be that princess for her to show her that it is not just an idea in her head. No matter how old someone is, they should always be trying to become a princess like the one this five year old has in mind.

Letters

A dear friend and I have been writing letters to each other to give them whenever we see the other (or a sibling) next. These are not shallow, simple letters about things we talk about all the time in person. They are letters to one another that express how we are truly doing physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Most of the time they include crazy inside jokes and very colorful doodles as well, which is half the fun. :D

One of the letters I received, my friend was struggling with a lot, so naturally I made the reply as encouraging as I could. What I didn't realize was that I needed to hear that encouragement just as much as my friend did. After I delivered the letter through a sibling, I started thinking about the things I wrote and realized what a hypocrite I was. All of the stuff I wrote, I whole-heartedly meant, but was not doing myself. I needed to act upon what I was saying as well.

God used our little letters (I don't see them as that, but in the ultimate scheme of things, that is really what they are.) to show me how much I needed to change how I was living. I needed to do something impossible and live a life the Bible requires of a Christian. Without God, this is utterly hopeless. Thankfully, God sent His son to die for me and take upon my sin, so I can be saved. Through this God has enabled me to live a life of holiness. Not that I'm perfect, by any means, but now it is possible to do good. All to the glory of our great God who can do far more than I can start to dream or imagine!