Starting Over

Fairytales have ruined me. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been on a steady media diet of Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After. To say that I’ve got a Princess Complex would be an understatement. It’s more like Princess-mania!

Nothing is more indicative of my condition than whenever my birthday comes around, I wear a tiara for at least 23 out of the 24 hours of that day. However, there is one thing that every princess should possess, yet I lack a canopy over my bed. You see, I’ve always thought that having a canopy over my bed would seal the deal and make me a bona fide, undeniable, real deal princess!

Building My Canopy

You can imagine the joy that I felt when my best friend offered to build me one (and by offering, I mean acquiesced to my begging)! I was so excited as we drove around town, purchasing yards of organza, meters of Christmas lights, loads of hooks, and mounds of pins. We brought all of the purchases into my apartment and set to start making my long-deferred dream a reality. In slightly under an hour, I possessed the most beautiful canopy in all the land!

My best friend spent a week with me in my new home, and it was marvelous. Besides building my dream canopy, she helped me unpack all of my things, organize my belongings, and decorate the rest of my home.

And then it was time for her to leave.

I ask that you please excuse me, as I cannot describe what I am feeling right now. I’ve just dropped my friend off at the airport. I stand here alone in an empty, albeit impeccably decorated apartment in a city where I don’t know anyone. Happily Ever After was never supposed to feel like this.

I yell out, between the tears and the panic, “Ugh! I can’t believe I have to start over!”

A New Beginning

But I pause. I’ve been here before, and I know exactly what choice I need to make. I can wallow in the fact that I’ll have to make new friends, find a new favorite coffee shop, find a new church community, and start a new daily routine.

Alternatively, I can rejoice because new beginnings bring new challenges, new adventures, and new joys!

So I take a deep breath and choose to rejoice because I stand in the palm of God, Who just so happens to specialize in new beginnings.

“Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert and rivers in the badlands” (Isaiah 43:19, The Message).

If you liked this, you might also enjoy My Spiritual Renewal | 7 Things the Bible Says About New Beginnings 

Jael Amador writes from New York, New York.

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