Princess.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

Friday morning, tunes blaring, clouds looming overhead; I rushed to the dentist in an effort to avoid being late to my appointment. Frazzled and still half asleep, I survived the x-rays and teeth cleaning before I got my turn with the dentist. Caught off guard, I was surprised to hear the dentist's joy at my being at his office that morning. My family, all of which go to the same dentist, consists of mostly boys! It's something I've known my whole life, that in so many ways I was a lone ranger in a world of men. But this thought really never caught much of my attention. Sure, I can tell you any random fact about Major League Baseball, know my fair share of football players, and despite my failed attempts to play most sports, I try. But the actual thought of why I am so different from my rough and rowdy cousins and brothers never really crossed my mind. That is until I heard the following remark from my dentist as I sat patiently in the chair. My dentist in his cheeriest Friday morning voice exclaimed, "Oh my, we get the honor and the privilege of seeing THE princess today?".

For me, at that moment something clicked. It's not that I walk around with a tiara and I certainly hope it's not because I act like a snobby brat, but something for that dentist separated me from the rest of the male clan that is my family. And that was something I needed to hear. For as long as I can remember, I have been playing a game of keep up with the boys. I'm not as tough, or physical, or loud as them, but I've always done everything I could to just keep up with them. Things, that weren't natural for me to like, I learned to like. Things I didn't want to do, I did. I strived to be one of them. And no big shock, most times I failed.

But something in me just wanted to fit in with the rest of them. I wanted to be just the same as everyone else. And in that conversation with the dentist, I was reminded that in a million little ways I'm not the same as the boys. And that that's ok. Beyond that, that's actually something beautiful. So many times in an effort to just blend in, I missed out on everything that's beautiful about who I already am! God didn't make me a rough and rowdy boy for a reason. He made me to be His princess and to bring His love to the world along with everything that is beautiful about being a woman of God.

God made woman and man different. Each has something different to offer the other. But when we strive to be someone we aren't, we miss out on being able to offer everything that is woman and man, and in so many ways being able to receive that too! I was so concerned with keeping up and being rowdy, that I failed to see my beautiful gentle side. It's evident that the things that make woman so beautiful and so different from men, radiate from them from time to time in their lives whether they intend it to or not. Sneaking out, from tough exteriors, are the precious things about woman; their gentle spirits, their nurturing side, and their complex minds. But imagine for a second, what would happen if we as woman truly embraced everything that God made us to be? What if we saw our gentleness as a strength? What if we used our passion for the better? What if we realized that we are truly God's princesses?

He created us to be the complex beings that we are; beautiful, mysterious, complicated, unique. He set us apart from men. He wants us to be different. The world needs us to be different. And it's odd to me that He was able to remind me of that at the dentist office. But the truth is He loves us that much, that nothing will limit His ability to remind us that He loves us and that we ought to trust that He made us into exactly who He wanted us to be!

My whole life, being a woman was something I saw as being good in so many ways, but something that I couldn't fully embrace. As I grow and learn more about who I am and who God wants me to be, I feel amazed at how many beautiful things God has given me in creating me to be a woman. The fact alone that my body could very well one day become a tabernacle of life is enough to believe I'm amazing. I suppose if I didn't grow up in a family of all men, I might never know how special it is to be a woman. But as the princess of the family, and beyond that as a princess of the most high king, I'm convinced that we, as woman, have so much beauty to bring to the kingdom of God.

Know your inner beauty. Discover who God created you to be. And never let the world make you feel like less for being that exact princess He has called you to be!