My Mom, who is persistently generous, took us to the Broadway show "Beauty and the Beast". It was a really phenomenal production, with a lot of laughs and a few cries.
I was really struck by the storyline. I have always taken them for granted, princess stories.
They are just always so pretty, happy, and stuff just works out for them. But, I really saw Belle for the first time and her life was hard! Maybe it was closer to my heart after the loss of my own father, maybe it's because I don't love dogs, but I couldn't live her life.
She had no mother to talk to, had to deal with the neighborhood bully, and felt lonely enough to drown her sorrows in reading. Then, to top it off, everyone thinks her dad is crazy.
So, popular she was not. And, in the midst of this set of difficulties, her dad is imprisoned by a giant and tempermental beast in a possessed castle! The worst of it is, the beast doesn't even let her say (what she believes to be) her final goodbye to her sweet dad. It sounds a little silly to me, even as I type this, but these are hefty problems! I don't know that I could ever forgive that beast, even if he turned into a moderately handsome rich guy.
What struck me, as I sat there next to my widowed mother and my two sweet girls, was that none of us escape adversity. Even Disney princesses have it hard! Think through them all in your mind, it is pretty profound. They had some seriously insurmountable trials! Jasmine, Elsa, Snow White, Ariel (she was a bit of a self sabatoger), and Cinderella! I know there are many more. Really, I felt a forceful reminder that who am I to expect any less? I am a Princess, darn it! I am a daughter of a Living God, and Donal awesome Lowe! I was presently struggling with acceptance of my own set of challenges and feeling a tiny bit put upon. But, truly, how can I expect to have my own happy ending without the trial filled sequences in the story? I am no less worthy of testing and sanctifying. I can do it. I was thankful for the reminder. Heavenly Father catches me at the oddest times, but I'm thankful to feel his advice and counsel in my life. So, if you want to call me a Princess, go ahead. I'm proud of it.
