Two Princesses

Morning Sunshines! This Facebook memory hit me as it always does…it was my first trip, my first day…it’s one of the reasons I still ask what more can I do.

Once upon a time there were two little princesses who were born into a hard life. Their mother died giving birth and their father took off. They were left in the dungeon to fend for and feed themselves. For 7 months they stayed tucked in the bowels of this dungeon. A lady nearby began to do what she could feed them and protect them as the door to their tiny quarters had been removed because no rent had been paid. This left the girls vulnerable.

One day, some strangers from a far away land came to visit. They found the girls scared and quiet..clothed in dirty, tattered clothes...skinny from not enough food...silent from fear and trauma. The strangers told the lady they would take these girls to the safe zone of the school and find sponsors to get them clothed and fed. Everyone ascended the concrete stairs, stepping over trash and sitting water...no railings or safety measures...up three flights to the girl’s room. As the strangers watched, God must have whispered in their ears because they began to remove their tattered clothing ... and from a little trunk pulled out two princess dresses...torn and dirty ones, but princess dresses none the less. Their chariot awaited them just down the dusty road to whisk them away back into the TRUTH of who they were.

Y’all this is the story that wrecked me. My first day. My first home visit. It was too much and I was overwhelmed and did not think I was going to be able to hold it together. The tiniest of the tiniest. Hurt. Scared. Seen things I’m sure even you and I as adults would not be able to process. Extreme loss of both parents...one by death..one by desertion...the vulnerability of the least of these...to be taken in a car full of white strangers and whisked away from the only place they had ever known. To watch them unbutton those filthy rags and step into princess gowns, put on their fanciest shoes that didn’t fit and had broken straps. To hold their tiny hands and have the littlest sit in my lap the whole way to the school. She played with my wooden bead bracelets the whole way...the next day, when we went back to visit...I was in a SEA of children and all of a sudden I felt a little hand playing with the wooden beads on my arm. I looked down and there she was. HADIJA. She held my hand and was joined to my hip ALL DAY.

Two sisters. Princesses and ROYALTY in the eyes of their Heavenly Father. Their earthly one failed them...but He won’t.

xox.eb