Psalm 45:10-15
Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
Honor him, for he is your lord.
The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
People of wealth will seek your favor.
All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
Her gown is interwoven with gold.
In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
Her virgin companions follow her—
Those brought to be with her.
Led in with joy and gladness,
They enter the palace of the king.
Yesterday I spent all day getting ready for the Worth the Wait Gala I’ll be attending tonight in Washington D.C. I’m so blessed by God’s preparation and provision for this event. Worth the Wait Revolution is a ministry promoting sexual purity and abstinence until marriage and is founded and led by Dr. Lindsay Marsh Warren. Dr. Lindsay has an awesome testimony on remaining a virgin til marriage that she shares in her book “The Best Sex of My Life“. While my friends have attended the Gala several times in years past (it’s held annually around this time) I myself have never attended, mostly due to finances and having a lot on my plate (grad school). But this year I knew I was going when Dr. Lindsay gave me a FREE ticket to attend as a result of me submitting my testimony for her upcoming book “The Best Sex of My Life: Confessions of A Sexual Purity Revolution”. A good friend who is a part of this ministry hipped me to the opportunity to submit my testimony, and I did so, by faith. I’m so glad I did, as I now see how much of it was God’s divine will.
In getting ready for the Gala, I have felt so much like Cinderella! I didn’t know what dress I would wear yet there was a dress my friend’s niece wore a couple of years ago for an event that I fell in love with when I saw the pics posted on Facebook. I tried my hardest to find a similar style of dress, but came up empty and a little discouraged at the dollar signs I was seeing during my search. My friend then offered to see if her niece would let me borrow the dress…”great!” I replied, “but will it fit”? I wondered…And fit it did! To a “T” :). Then I needed shoes and everyone kept mentioning a certain shoe store which I had never frequented…I had the exact vision of the shoe I wanted and hoped for the best. I found the last pair of the exact shoe for 70% off at this particular store. Crazy! This same friend provided me with a shawl and a coworker gave me her FUR COAT to rock over my outfit! What person do you know lends her FUR COAT to a fellow coworker??? Can you say FAVOR? I sure can… :). So my outfit cost a total of $18 and yet is worth HUNDREDS and is exactly what I envisioned. I know my male readers are probably yawning right now, but trust me God knows the way to a woman’s heart and He just loves to shower His daughters in this way. One of the greatest gifts women have is to express the beauty of God. Women LOVE being beautiful, adored, showered, and loved. God is the same way (that’s why we have worship people). Tonight I have no doubt there will be at least a 100 women in attendance, all fawning over each other’s attire because we appreciate beauty in a way most men cannot (feel free to comment below if you feel otherwise).
God told me to “go all out” for this event”, so “go all out” I did. I floated through the mall yesterday, getting my hair, nails, eyebrows, and lashes done. It’s rare for me to wear make up but my stylist talked me into exploring and I was never so glad she did! In fact, there was a particular shade of lipstick I had been looking for that she just so happened to have… I literally felt like I was receiving royal treatment yesterday by all who serviced me. I even found the exact clip for my hair that I had envisioned. God was not playing around! He was providing even the smallest details :).
Which makes me wonder what exactly is in store. Whatever it is I know it’s Him at work!
There are times like these when His Spirit is evident. I’m not talking about just feeling His presence in a church service or on a missionary project, but in our everyday lives. When He makes it clear that “I’m here daughter and I love you to pieces”.
I remember a few years ago my friends and I were sitting in a McDonald’s and my friend made a comment to us, “I’d really like some hash browns”…out of NOWHERE a McDonald’s server comes over to us with a tray loaded with hash browns and says “we’re going to be throwing these away b/c we’re ending breakfast, would you guys like some?”…coincidence? No such thing.
I’m blessed beyond measure when Jesus shows up like this in my life. My best friend’s daughter just LOVES Cinderella…so much so, that she watches it everyday, which means everyone in the house hold watches it everyday :). My Thanksgiving visit refreshed my memory of this timeless story and I can’t help but compare these events. The only difference is, Cinderella went to the ball to meet her Prince Charming. I, however will be going with mine :).
My Friend’s daughter, the lovely Laurianna…don’t you just want to smother her with kisses?!?
Imagine that’s how God feels about us… 🙂
