Like Cinderella

Sometimes a lesson comes not because we're in the midst of trial, but because it's better to learn so we can apply it the next time an issue comes up. This week it was time for one of those "easy lessons." I'd never thought about needing an attitude of unconditional forgiveness till I was reminded of the story of Cinderella. . .

One of my daughter's favorite birthday gifts this year has been a copy of Walt Disney's Cinderella, which prompted me to bring up my etext of the traditional story. There are some inconsistencies, as can be expected with traditional stories and movie adaptations, but one of the things that is not different between them is Cinderella's inspiring attitude.

In the movie, Cinderella maintains a gracious, humble attitude despite unjust accusations. The written story praises her for her ability to forgive so completely that it evokes love from her oppressors.

I believe it's no accident this little fairy tale was brought to my attention after more than two decades. I have been reading Beth Moore's A Heart Like His, and one of the focuses of our last week's readings was forgiveness.

As far as I know, I don't have any ongoing forgiveness issues, but I was struck by Jesus' forgiving attitude on the cross. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do . (emphasis mine)"

If people really knew what they were doing when they hurt others, would they do it? Can I forgive them for it before they know to ask for forgiveness? Can I be humble and gracious toward them like Cinderella was in the midst of all the misdeeds?

I don't often find myself being unjustly accused or oppressed, but I surely could use more grace and humility in the face of adversity. And I wish I were so quick to forgive. The quicker I can forgive, the quicker I can be on my way to doing worthwhile things.

Patience and Blessings

I just wanted to share a cool thing that happened this week that shows how God plans the steps of His children so He can bless them!

My mom and I were taking my kids to Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati for the annual butterfly exhibit. Mom had been there a couple times before, but I had never been. All I could remember about going to that area was which exit to take, so I tried getting the directions online.

Now my parents don't have the fastest computer on the planet. It kept freezing up and each application was taking at least a minute to respond to commands, so by the time I finally got the search results, I just took the address in the summary and plugged it in at Mapquest (R).

That was a mistake. As it turned out it was for Cincinnati Observatory instead, which is 7 miles north. Fortunately, I realized this halfway there, but we were right back where we started from as far as what to do when we got to the exit.

Well, long story short, we made a couple wrong turns and ended up backtracking a couple miles on the interstate and turning around to get back to the exit where we belonged. I figured since Mom had been there, she would know where to go once she got there. She had implied as much, anyway.

Okay, so we were finally on the right road. . . or were we? We went by the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Playhouse in the Park, and one of the lookouts at Eden Park. All very nice, but we were thinking we must be in the wrong place.

Well, this was when I found out Dad's the one who always drives when they come down here, so Mom wasn't really sure where we needed to go. I certainly don't fault her for that, though. After all, we were on an adventure! Eventually, we spotted banners with butterflies, so we knew we were on the right track.

A few moments later we were greeted by orange cones directing us to the left lane. The small one-way parking lot was so packed, cars spilled out all up the road. We turned into the parking lot on the off chance someone would be leaving, but the only opening was too small for our vehicle. Okay, I think that's about the time I started praying for a spot.

We headed back up the road toward the lot entrance to try our luck again, but the folks in front of us decided they would wait for a mom who had just reached her SUV with her toddler.

"Oh, great," we were thinking. "This is gonna take forever." Ah, but that's okay. We were just glad we had found the place!

We watched as the lady got her little boy settled in, went back momentarily to the passenger's side for some reason, and finally got into the driver's seat. Cars were already backed up behind us as far as we could see down the hill, and there was no way we could get around because it was a no passing zone. So we continued to wait, surprised the policeman parked just up the way hadn't told the folks in the car to keep moving.

While we waited, though, we saw a spot open up just beyond the lot entrance. We went back to watching the lady back up her giant SUV, inching it forward, back again, and so on till she was finally out. The folks finally nestled their car into the void left by the truck, and we were free to occupy our beloved parking spot.

Mom managed to get our vehicle in most of the way, but I had to hop out to help her get it straightened out. Meanwhile, a lady with her granddaughter was coming down the sidewalk and asked me, "Are you going to the butterfly exhibit?"

"Yeah," I answered. I figured she had a question about it I wouldn't know a thing about.

"We have two extra tickets if you'd like them."

"Oh, I didn't even know we needed tickets." I thought she meant they were required for the exhibit and that we could buy them from her .

She handed them to me and said her daughter had given them to her to give away. I thanked her, still somewhat stunned, and she and the little girl kept on going. I took a look at them and saw that they were complimentary tickets for the exhibit. Perfect! We all got in free (saving $11) and had a fantastic time!

That's just one of those God things. Everyday miracles, you might say. I'd been praying for a parking space, but what I didn't know was that God was using all our delays--the slow computer, the wrong turns and uncertainty of directions, the full lot, and the patient folks who were willing to wait for a mom with an oversized SUV--to ultimately bless us!

So I guess what I hope you take from this story is the next time you find things not going as you'd like, just try to look at things with the attitude that God's taking care of things to work it all out.

Thought: Can you imagine the number of times God has used less than ideal circumstances to bless you in some way, whether to provide or protect? Thank Him for His provision and protection!