Once upon a time in the far away land of Alabanana, (that's Alabama for the rest
of you), there lived a beautiful little girl with blond hair and blue eyes named
Elizabeth. Like most little girls, she loved to pretend she was a princess.
Cinderella was her favorite character. Elizabeth had a fourth birthday coming so
her parents planned a trip to Disney World to meet Cinderella.
Little did her mommy, Vanessa, know that you could not have breakfast with
Cinderella without making reservations about two years in advance. Therefore,
she settled for Mickey Mouse and Goofy. The Birthday came and Elizabeth loved
the surprise, but she kept asking about Cinderella.
They played in the Magic Kingdom all day, did all the usual fun things, and saw
the parade. Elizabeth saw Cinderella from a distance in the parade but was not
satisfied. She wanted to talk to her and kept telling Vanessa that she knew
Cinderella was looking for her. She was determined to see Cinderella's bedroom!
At lunch when she said her prayers, she said "Jesus, please let me see
Cinderella. I know she wants to be my friend."
The day was ending, and they were about to leave. Elizabeth was still persistent
with her dream so Vanessa suggested they go the castle one more time. When they
arrived, Vanessa talked to some people and asked if they could peek inside the
castle. They first said no, but with some persuasion agreed. They walked up the
stairs and gingerly looked inside. They were getting ready for the sold out
dinner crowd in Cinderella's restaurant. Suddenly someone turned the corner. Lo
and behold, it was Cinderella in the flesh. She walked up to Elizabeth and said,
"I hear you have a birthday today."
Elizabeth's eyes were as big as saucers and grinning from ear to ear she said "I
have looked for you all year!" Cinderella invited her to ride on the elevator,
sat down in the floor and put Elizabeth in her lap. They talked, touched each
others face and had a grand visit. As they were leaving, she asked Vanessa if
she could bring her back at 6:30 that night. She wanted to ride her carousel
with Elizabeth. They immediately agreed. There was concern because Elizabeth
refused all day to ride the carousel. However, when the time came Cinderella
took her by the hand and she placed Elizabeth upon a horse without a hitch.
Everyone standing around wanted to know how much Vanessa paid for this personal
attention from Cinderella and how did she arrange it. Some even asked if she was
part of "Make a Wish." Vanessa had no good answer, other than wishes do come
true. After the ride, Cinderella invited Elizabeth to breakfast with her the
next morning and gave her a secret password to get inside the Magic Kingdom.
Elizabeth was almost too excited to sleep. They arrived at 7:00 the next
morning. They were standing in line to get in with a crowd of people, when an
employee asked Vanessa to step to the side so she could speak with her. Vanessa
wondered what was wrong. Then the lady asked if Elizabeth could be her
gatekeeper and open the gates to the park. Again, Vanessa was flabbergasted!
The lady escorted them inside the gates prior to the crowd waiting with them.
She gave Elizabeth a magic wand and instructed her to wave the wand and say
magic words to open the gate. Elizabeth lifted her wand, blew a kiss to the
crowd, waved her hands and said "Bipidy, Bopidy, Boo." The gates opened.
Elizabeth had breakfast with Cinderella and met some of her other friends too.
She saw Mary Poppins, Ariel, and others. She got stardust for her pillow and a
certificate signed by Cinderella to have always. She had a grand magical time
and then went home to live happily ever after. The End
....Not quite......
All fairy tales have a moral. As this Mimi pondered this real life fairy tale, I
gleaned some truths from this story.
First, nothing is insignificant to God. With all that is going on in this world
today, He still has time to hear the simple request of a four year old. He is
interested in everyone and every problem we have. He is in control. What we
cannot do, He can do. He wants to, and many times does, give us the desire of
our heart. As in this story, He always gives us far more than we ask or even
know we want.
Second, His unmerited favor is limitless, boundless and unending. He is no
respecter of person. His children are the apple of his eye and He wants to give
good things to us. Sometimes we just explain it was luck or chance, but with God
there are no accidents. His mercy and grace extends to us all and He gives them
both new to us each day. We never have to live on borrowed grace or mercy. He
delights in blessing His children.
Third, when we remain faithful and live for Him at the end of our stay, He gives
us the keys to the Kingdom and escorts us into the gate. Now, what else could we
want. With all of that going for us, why should we fear and be in dismay. I am
proud to know that He is on our side and we have nothing to fear. After all,
wishes do come true.
Maxine Wright copyright 2001
maxlj@bellsouth.net
Maxine has been a Writer of the Month for 2TheHeart, and has endeared herself to
our online family. This is the first story she has written since she had surgery
to have a brain tumor removed last July. She has since suffered incredibly from
many of the side affects of medication and the surgery itself. Her faith is
inspiring, as she clings to the hope that she will be well and strong again one
day.
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