Identity of a Princess

A story from my village trip this past October.

via Google Images

She wore her princess shoes.

She dressed up in the fanciest dress she's probably ever owned. It was white with fabric white roses tracing the top. Bunched in the middle and poofy and full at the bottom.

She's quiet and timid, but the sparkle from her shoes reflected in her eyes.

The light in her eyes created a permanent smile on her face for the day.

We'd been teaching English and Chinese language to about 75 students all week. (naturally, I taught Chinese - - - or not so much).

Today was the last day. The day of the performance. The day to get up in front of the other classes and teachers and show what you'd learned that week.

No one had costumes. They just wore the clothes they had. Some washed, some unwashed. Some with holes, some without holes. Some matched, some mis-matched. Some children had showered recently, some had not.

But it didn't matter. This was a safe place. A place where, over their school break, they could go for games, fun, encouragement, smiles, and the teaching of our Father. They could play. They could be themselves.

We get to the last day of the camp. To her, it meant something (not saying that it didn't mean something to the others). But to her, this was special. This was a day to get dressed up.

There would be no parents there to watch, no one except for the students and volunteers that had been there all week.

Still, she wanted to be a princess for the day.

And my heart melted.

She's beautiful. Beaming.

It occurs to me later, after looking through the pictures that she may be one of the many who doesn't have any identification.

Many of the people in this village don't have identificatioin cards. They themselves or their relatives were born in China. There was political persecution that sent them fleeing for Burma. However, since the changes that have take effect in Burma, they've crossed the border into Thailand.

Having an i.d. card didn't mean as much to me in the past as it does now. Without an i.d. card, you aren't in the system. If you aren't in the system - public schools are hard to get into (even for primary and secondary school). Jobs are hard to obtain. College is nearly impossible to get into.

Hope fades without any identification.

Trying to be someone different and unique is hard when you are so limited. "Being anything you want," gets crushed by harsh reality.

And then I remember, the most important identification we can have is in Him. In our Father. In the one that gave EVERYTHING for us.

I never did catch her name. But even if I did, I'd still always remember her as The Princess.

I pray that she'll always remember herself as The Princess, too. That she'll be reminded every day how precious she is to our Lord and how He created her as his beautiful, special, unique, talented daughter.

As important as I.D. cards are, what's most important is knowing that on her I.D. card from the Father, under her picture it says:

Daughter of The King.

This makes her a princess.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20