Dust off Your Crown
/I hope this post reaches you, I hope that it causes you to step back for a second and think. Just a disclaimer: This post is personal, sorry to do it to ya but every once and awhile it’s needed; every once and while I need to express what’s going on in my head through the form of writing, and more often I need to express those feelings with other people, hence the public post.Are you a fan of long car rides? I sure am! And I’m certain that the man I marry will be too. It’s the simplest, yet extremely freeing experience of staring out the window and letting the mind wander. This past week I was given an extensive amount of time to enjoy this experience on my 15+ hour ride to Florida with my family. Although my knees and hips were ready to get out by the time we reached the house, my mind had more than enough time to think, to not think, to relax and to meditate on things that were worth meditating on.One of my favorite books in the bible to read is Esther, so naturally you could imagine that me (someone who loves watching movies) would enjoy the film One Night with the King. Now, let’s pause for a minute, if you haven’t seen this movie you need to see it after you read the story in the bible, just so you will be able to tell what’s factual and what’s creative flare. Not only did God use Esther in an extraordinary way, but also she demonstrated exactly how a lady should act, exactly how a queen should be. And although I’d like to believe that I conduct myself as lady, I was guilty of forgetting that I am the daughter of King, a princess on the way to becoming a queen.My crown was collecting dust, not because I was trying to forget who I was, but because I had allowed the enemy to convince my mind in a twisted way that I wasn’t worth wearing it. My dear friend Pearl Tenny gave me a great read, Gentlewoman: Etiquette for a Lady, from a Gentleman. The book had several insights, things I knew of, things I learned and things I needed to be reminded of again.“Don’t let ‘reality’ make you lose faith in God and gain faith in man. Don’t put your joy in man because when man leaves, there goes your joy. The world didn’t give you your joy and the world can’t take it away. Your value isn’t in the hands of people, and your worth was determined when you got here… You’re the daughter of the King of Kings, and your worth extends beyond the clouds…†---- Enitan O. Bereola IIGuilty as charged! I had fallen into exactly what I was reading. I had allowed my faith in man to grow and I put my joy in things that had no power to give me my joy. I would like to believe that I didn’t allow the hands of people to determine my value, but I did allow the devil to.A few weeks back I had a long look in the mirror, not to see what are physical insecurities were there, but to adjust my posture; to lift my head up, push my shoulders back and to look myself in the eyes and tell myself who I was, whom I had forgotten.I think in today’s society, being a lady isn’t something that’s necessarily praised. And although I wasn’t always fond of trying to fit in, I would say that what led me to this point was trying to please certain people in my life. The twisted way that the devil had convinced me that I needed to please them, that if I couldn’t keep these people happy that there was something wrong with me, that I would lose worth.What a wonderful feeling revelation is, when all the things you had convinced yourself were factual aren’t true. That’s where I’m at now, in the realization stage. Nothing is ever perfect and it’s all a growing process, but it’s still progress. I’m reaffirming myself and allowing God to heal areas that were damaged, remove bitterness and anger, and fill me up with joy. Allowing Him to remind me that I am His daughter, and that my crown was meant to sit firmly on my head.Xoxo, Kelsley
