March 30 2015,
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” G.K Chesterton
Since I am going to China, I am going to password protect my blog. My blog password is turtledove.
A few weeks ago, my bike broke down on the way bike from ministry—I have been on four bikes that have broken down for a variety of reasons on this race—and so we had to stop at a bike shop. It was there that Victoria Baker and I met a lovely woman named Tram. We got coffee with her and was even invited to eat dinner in her home the last night we were in Da Nang. One special memory that we had with her is taking her out to see the movie Cinderella. We all LOVED it!! While watching it I thought a lot of how much my mom loved the original movie, and how kind Cinderella was.
Well, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I see God in a lot of things, random things. Movies are no exception. So these were the “Jesus” things that I saw in Cinderella
- “Have courage and be kind.” Ella’s mother
This is really this movie’s mantra. Cinderella’s mother gives her this sage advice right before she dies, and Ella (Cinderella) really tries to live this out. She shows kindness and gives it away freely, but many times it take courage to continue to be kind, to LOVE in the difficult times. To keep this love and courage when life looks particularly bleak, because we really don’t know the next turn in our story, do we? To love and love courageously has power!
- “Words have power, like magic spells. And it seemed to Ella that her Stepmother and stepsister’s words had turned her merely into a creature of ash and toil.” Fairy Godmother
Simple gist: words have power to resuscitate life and beauty, or to bring about death and ugliness. Be careful what you say and also be careful what and who you listen to.
- “It’s you, isn’t it?” Prince
“Just so.” Ella
There are a few scenes in the movie where the prince is looking at Ella, in her rags or beautiful dress, where his expression conveys so much love. At one point he looked as though he was tearing up, and his eyes were filled with so much joy, as though he was thinking, “There she is! This is my future wife! This is my wife!” If we could really believe in our hearts that Christ looks at us with that same fervor, and loves us so much. We are His bride! He has fought, pursued, and died for us, and He will never, ever give up on you! Woo Hoo! I’m his bride!
- “Don’t you see, none of that matters now. We are ruined!” Stepmother
In the movie, both Ella and her stepmother experienced loss twice in their lives. Ella with her parents and her stepmother with her two husbands. The difference between them was how they dealt with that loss or struggle. Ella clung to hope, truly grieved for her parents but also was truly grateful for the time that she spent with them. She honored their memories by walking how they walked. The Stepmother chose fear. Where were her and her daughters going to live? What will become of them? She let insecurity take deep root in her, and because of that root, jealousy grew against Ella. She didn’t believe in her husband’s love for her, and in her heart thought that she could only depend on herself.
- “What authority do you have?” Soldier
“I am her mother.” Stepmother
“You have never been and never will be my mother.” Ella
In a scene from Cinderella, the stepmother tries to stop Ella from trying on the shoe and presenting herself before the Prince. A soldier asks her what authority she has to stop Ella, and Ella tells her stepmother exactly what authority she has—none. The enemy will try and keep you away from Christ and His truth, try to scare you into submission, but He has no authority. You can always ignore the enemy’s threats and tantrums, and walk straight into God’s arms.
- “Remember who you are, you filthy wench!” Stepmother
When the enemy can’t keep you from the King, he will certainly try to tell you how unworthy you are. “You are nothing, ugly, unworthy of love! The King will never take you as you are!” It said in the movie, that when the moment that Cinderella presented herself before the Prince was the riskiest thing she ever had to do; to come before him as she is, rags and all, and hope that he will love her. That is all that Jesus wants! He loves us on our best days and on our absolute worst. He loves us as we are, not what we could be. He loves me as ME, flaws included!
- “I forgive you.” Ella
Spoiler alert; the stepmother doesn’t change or get punished. We don’t see her get her “come-upins”, except for one thing. Before Ella leaves with her prince, she turned to her stepmother and tells her “I forgive you.” The stepmother’s expression leaves you with pity for her, rather than anger. She doesn’t understand this forgiveness, nor does she understand what love really means outside of insecurity and fear. The forgiveness was for the stepmother, but it also released Ella to live her new life without the weight of pain, anger, or resentment. She is free! God wants us all to have that freedom in forgiveness, whether the person we forgives changes or not.
So these are the things I learned from the movie ha ha. I love seeing Jesus in random places! Please continue to pray for my whole squad as we head off to China. My team is part of the professional development month, and we will be teaching University students English. We are in the city of Yanji, and are only 10 miles away from North Korea, and also we are pretty close to Russia. God has a plan and purpose for these teams and for the people in Yanji.
I wanted to write another blog, but probably won’t be able to before China. It’s about perspective. Please pray for my team in China, against health issues and above all;
That I will know, that I know, that I know wide and how deep Jesus loves me! More and more, deeper and deeper, to know it beyond words or emotions. In the root of my soul, I want it to sing out it’s joy “I am by Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine! And my Beloved is the King of Kings!” Ahh!!
Easter is coming! Worthy is the lamb.
Thank you all! God bless!
Tori
