hiking2christ

Have you ever wondered why the Cinderella story keeps haunting us? Not only is it a perennial favorite of little girls, it haunts us as woman. Think of all the movies made along its themes, movies like Pretty Woman and Ever After and A Cinderella Story and Maid in Manhattan. Why is this notion of a hidden princess so enduring? Is there something in our hearts that is trying to speak to us? Is it just fantasy, escapism? Or is there something more?

The desire of a woman’s heart and the realities of a woman’s life seem an ocean apart. O, we long for romance and an irreplaceable role in a great story, we long for beauty. But that’s not the life we have. The result is a sense of shame. Universally women struggle with their self worth. “I feel like a household appliance,” one woman confessed to us.

A woman’s struggle with her sense of worth points to something glorious she was designed to be. The great emptiness we feel points to the great place we were created for. It’s true. All those legends and fairy tales of the undiscovered Princess and the Beauty hidden as a maid are more accurate than we thought. There’s a reason little girls resonate with them so.

-John & Stasi Eldredge, Captivating, 21-22