There once lived a girl in a land full of mountains and endless beauty. All of her life God gently whispered to her that she is special. Some days she was able to believe this truth, but most days she denied it. Yet from birth in her soul grew a beautiful garden that was unlike any other.
As the years went on people would enter her garden with high compliments of its beauty, but then they would carelessly walk on top of everything that grew there. This happened over and over until one day she decided to build a wall around the garden, a wall that would protect her heart.
There was one person though that was able to climb over her wall. He saw through her and seemed to understand parts of her that no one else seemed to see. This made her feel loved so she let him in. Over the years though her garden was no longer looked after, and it began to look very different then God had intended for it to be. The girl became lost within herself and she no longer knew her way around the garden.
Then one day the boy decided to leave, and on his way out he set parts of the garden on fire. As they burned the girl, with tears in her eyes, ran and hid. She didn’t know what to do on her own. She had no clue how to stop the fire so it burned for many days and nights. Much of her garden was left unrecognizable.
In attempt to never let anyone that close to her heart again she spent her time and energy building even taller and thicker walls. As she built these walls her garden became darker and darker. Until one day she closed herself in, and there was no longer any light. She couldn’t see a thing.
The dark was a scary place to be, and she knew not what to do. After spending much time trying to find a way out, she finally called out to God. With a voice of desperation she cried, “My God, my God why have you left me?” She thought there is no way He could see into the depths of her despair, nor would He care about the prison that she was trapped in.
Little did she know He had never left her, He was always there, buried deep within her soul. From the inside His light began to filter into the destruction. The things she had tried to hide slowly grew more apparent. She then realized all the work that needed to be done. It was far more then she could do by herself.
God knew this and He had a plan far greater then she could ever understand. He called her to go to far away places, but in order to follow His call she first had to break down part of her wall. She was not strong enough though to break through the thick stones. So again she cried for help and again God heard her cry.
That is when He sent His army of love. Brothers and sisters came marching in from all over to help tear apart her walls. She had never felt so surrounded and so loved. And the walls began to crumble.
Then it came time for her to leave to follow God’s call to go around the world. Hand in hand with her new brothers and sisters they journeyed to far away lands. As they traveled, her garden grew in wisdom. She then realized that she would need to finish tearing down her walls. Fortunately surrounding her, she had a community that wanted to help.
On this great adventure she had many seasons in her garden. Some were filled with rain, others with the harshness of winter, and some were spent basking in the sun. She often felt very broken, but God had big plans that could not happen from the comfort of her home. He began to transform her from the inside out. Her brothers and sisters continued to help her tear down the walls, and God taught her how to care for all that grew within. The mess slowly turned into something beautiful again.
God loved her and her garden so much, and He knew that love is the only thing that could set her free. So He showed her how to love the messy garden. He showed her that it did not need to be perfect to be beautiful. And as she learned to love the garden, she also learned what it meant to trust God. As He helped her till the soil, plant the seeds, and care for the new growth, fruit would grow. She was never hungry. The little broken girl slowly started to take on a new look. She illuminated all the beauty and wisdom that was growing in her soul.
The story does not end here though. Instead this is the beginning of a very real fairytale. One that is filled with many battles against evil and destruction, but nothing that will scare a girl whose best friend and love of her life is a God that knows only good.
Most days you can find the girl and her Father walking through the garden hand in hand. And although it may not be a perfect garden, God is perfect. His love fills every hole and washes over everything that needs to be made new.
This is my fairytale.
