Recently, I have had to dig deep and find my inner thespian.
I have had to clear away the cobwebs and dust off my imagination. In a matter
of a day my toddler jumped full force in to pretend play. “Mommy you are a frog”
he says. He waits and watches with those big eyes as I attempt to act like a
frog.
Pretend play is nothing new to me; it’s just been a while
since I have done it. My son wants to act out every single book that we read
and if he doesn’t understand something he will ask. Recently, he asked me what
a prince was. I was a little tongue tied and was scrambling to come up with a
simple and accurate definition that would make sense to a 2 year old.
After giving a pretty lousy definition he of course says “let’s
play it!” I start explaining that he is courageous, brave, and confident. I
tell him that represents the King and has an important job to do. I tell him
that he can do whatever he wants, as long as it is good.
I start thinking to myself that I could turn this pretend
play time into a great life lesson. Bring God into the picture and these are the
kind of traits we see in men who follow Jesus.
Then I remember. My son copies everything I do and
everything my husband does. He learns how to act like a frog from me, and he
learns to act like a prince from me. If I am not treating myself like a
princess, how can I expect my son to treat himself like the prince he is to God?
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm
139:14)
God loves us more than we could ever fathom. He made us and
he commands that we love and take care of ourselves. This does not mean that we
should be prideful, conceited or self-centered. In fact, we should be the
opposite of those things. What I mean, is that we should love how God made us,
care for the bodies and minds God gave us, and always be striving to have a
better soul.
When we are born we have a body, a mind and a soul. It is
our job to nourish and care of each one of these parts. We nourish the body by exercising, eating right,
and sleeping daily. We nourish our mind by being self-aware of our feelings and
emotions, studying the word of God and praying. We nourish our soul by inviting
the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and giving every ounce of will power and
energy into becoming more like Christ.
If we let any one of
these things go then we are not capable of being all God made us to be. God’s
kingdom is huge and God has big plans for all of his princes and princesses. Are
you treating yourself like a princess? Are you teaching your son or daughter to
love God, love themselves, love others, dream big, and take care of their body,
mind and souls so they can get on their horse and fight for God’s kingdom?
It’s never too late to start. You are never too old or too
young to achieve your dreams and nourish your mind, body and soul.
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an
example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity”
(1 Timothy 4:12)
Even if your children are grown and living out of the house,
they will still be inspired by you. Even if your child is an infant and has no
idea what you are doing, it’s never too early to start good habits.
Precious is a word that is commonly used to describe babies
and little children. Well, I’d like to use it to describe you. You are precious, you are a princess. Treat yourself like one
and your little ones will learn to treat themselves like one. Then, hopefully,
they will be fully equipped to give their life over to God and humbly be the
hands and feet of Jesus.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no harm to its neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:9-10).
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