The transformation is not an actual transformation but a disenchantment, the breaking of a spell.
-Iona & Peter Opie, The Classic Fairy Tales
(Let us begin with a story…)
Once upon a time, a terrible evil cast an enchantment over all the land. Every man, woman and child of the domain began to forget they were ever royalty in a beautiful kingdom of light. Over time, the concept of a kingdom seemed more and more like a make-believe story.
Their land had been cursed long ago in ancient days, and the darkness that dwelt among them since that time now kept the people from hoping for fairy tales. No one dared believe such a story was real. Disappointment would crush their already wearied hearts.
But that was what the evil wanted. After all, its power depended on belief in the illusions it created. If a human became disenchanted, the evil was no match for that person.
For centuries, it had been this way. The light of truth was always superior to the darkness of deception, but people often trusted the darkness because of their own wicked deeds. Even when the King himself shattered the binds of the curse through a pure and selfless act of true love, not everyone believed it. The darkness told them it was not really so. And those who did not accept the truth remained in the cursed bondage.
Now, the new enchantment was not as new as one might suppose, since nothing was done under heaven that had not been done before. Evil had unlimited disguises, but limited deceptions. To evil, the only thing worse than a human freed of the curse was a human living like they were freed. When a person was freed, evil came along with its whispers and illusions, always scheming to trick the human back into old bondages again. For if a freed human went about living in freedom, the other captives would see it and realize the truth, too. Therefore, one of evil’s most essential duties was to make each freed human appear still the same as the doomed captives.
And so when the freed humans began to enjoy abundant lives in the Kingdom of Light a little too much, the evil started its whispers.
See how fairy tales are bad for the children? These stories breed unrealistic expectations! Children that believe they can live happily ever after will make unwise choices that lead to devastation. Life is no fairy tale, as you know. This business of princesses being rescued by masculine heroes only promotes gender specifics. Who says boys cannot be princesses and girls cannot rescue themselves? Children must not be taught to feel shame for being themselves. And this nonsense of villains being evil came from religious fear. No one is all good or all bad. The fairy tale delusion was never healthy for anyone. From now on, let us teach the children what life is really like. Fairy tales are not real…
Then the humans who were freed from the curse – they who knew very well that they were now part of the Kingdom of Light – began to see the kingdom as an abstract thing, and they ceased to live as true royalty. After all, evil was not wrong. Certainly, children should be free to express themselves. Absolutely, little girls should not be helpless.
But this was the way of evil. Its whispers were almost right. For evil did its best work pretending to be as truthful and bright as the King rather than to expose its enchantments as from the realm of the dark prince.
Yet, through the years, man, woman and child always sensed that fairy tales were special, even if they kept it to themselves. They could feel the gentle tugging in their hearts. Centuries passed, but fairy tales remained timeless. After all, that was because they were very, very real indeed.
Not Just Any Ordinary Girl
(The story continues in your life and mine and all lives. Let us follow it into one…)
One day, a young woman, who was not so very young now as she had always felt before, looked out a window upon the fallen autumn leaves. She liked the way that just seeing them made her feel inside, like the cold sting of October air and a single ray of the hot sun interfused to become an arrow piercing her heart. The chilling spark ignited passionate creativity, and many of her dreams-on-hold felt possible again. The usual stressors of her life lost their bite. She always loved moments like this one, fleeting as they were.
She pondered, could there be a way to capture this feeling? Could it be tamed and made to grow? Could she nurture it and harness it and keep it as hers always without ever having to lose it again?
…I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
She remembered the familiar promise. The Bible seemed to teach that there was a way for Christians to have joy always, even in suffering.
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…
The truth was that she was the daughter of the Most High King, perhaps a princess in a way. But was there some secret to being aware of it more often? To be strong and brave, wise and gentle, full of faith – and faithfulness! – even beautiful like the older, Christian women she had met through the years who lit the room with their presence.
And oh, to see herself through God’s eyes instead of how she so often saw herself. But who would look at her and want to be like her? Who would recognize the King in her and honor Him? She did not light the room with her presence, that was for sure. Would she one day hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” or was she missing something crucial about how she could be living?
It was tiring to always feel like she must be least in the Kingdom of God, but not in the good way.
“Lord,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be stuck like this anymore. I have been your child for many years now. Why do I still fall so short so easily? How can I live rightly as your daughter every day? Please, help me!”
She opened My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald Chambers had a way of reminding her who she really was and the power she really possessed in Christ, even if she always forgot it again later. But today, Mr. Chambers’ words were just for this moment. Her heart quickened knowing that the Lord was beginning to answer her prayer.
“We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life,” Mr. Chambers had written in the October 1 devotion. “Those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration.” Her eyes fluttered to the scene outside the window and back again. “But God will never allow us to stay there… We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.”
We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life.
Oddly, she thought of the “Care Bears: Adventure in Wonderland” (1987) movie that she had loved when she was a little girl. The test of a true princess included having a supernatural ability to make the flowers in the sleeping garden bloom. (Just for fun, check out the nostalgic clip here.)
The test of a true princess…
“We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something.”
Somehow, her thoughts of princesses shifted to the fairy tales. Cinderella, Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty flashed through her mind one after the other. These women learned nothing new from being reduced to peasants by jealous adversaries, but their hardships had not broken them. They accepted their circumstances with courage and grace. They were kind and good to the very end, like the true princesses they were.
The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain.
“The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley.”
The test of a true princess.
She was a sort of princess, but not a real princess like in the fairy tales. Well, they were real in their worlds, at least. There was nothing ordinary about them. They were true royalty, and she was… well…she was…
Wait. She was royalty, too… right? In her world. She was not just any ordinary girl, either…
One could not tell you how it happened, but what unfolded in her mind next was nothing short of supernatural. The enchantment broke, and she suddenly understood that fairy tales were real, and it would make all the difference.
Fairy Tales are Real
(If you have read this far, keep going! This is what you’ve been waiting for!)
Cinderella’s story was not about rags-to-riches. Snow White’s story was not about dreams-come-true.
Fairy tales were about reality made clear.
She remembered when her husband had been baptized, the friend who pulled him out of the water into an embrace said, “Welcome to the other side! It’s upside-down here!”
Jesus’ disciples had once been accused of turning the world upside-down. But it was not exactly true. That was the world's perception. What the disciples were really doing was turning the world right-side-up, revealing the way things really were.
The princesses in the fairy tales were of royal birth. Their goodness and beauty was unmistakable, no matter their position or attire. The established order was not turned upside-down. They were already princesses! They were simply tested and found worthy. They had accepted their menial positions with boldness and dignity. They met unfairness with calmness and cheer. To the unlovely and unlovable, they opened their arms with love and compassion. They passed the test of a true princess - the test Oswald Chambers wrote about.
And their princes had loved them as kitchen maids first. By this, the spell was broken. For the enchantment was not to be desired, but the breaking of it. Then the girl, lowly in appearance, was revealed to be the princess she already was.
Just as King Jesus had to be accepted in His lowly state - a humble servant - or else acceptance of Him was without value. The transformation from humble servant to royalty was never done by magic, which is a thing of evil and incomparable to God’s mighty power. It was accomplished by true love, Christ’s love, through a disenchantment.
Furthermore, at the end of each fairy tale, the wicked characters received the punishment they deserved. But those who had chosen truth and righteousness in the face of persecution went on to live full of joy ever after. Not just because it was made possible through love, but because by their trials they had learned how to have joy, even in suffering. That joy would go on to be made complete in heaven one day, forever.
Iona and Peter Opie, whose words would later solidify this concept for the young woman, once wrote, “Perhaps, after all, fairy tales are to be numbered among the most philosophic tales that there are.”
Awaken to Kingdom Life
(It’s time! Find out now how you can break the spell for good!)
Wake up, O sleeper…
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light…
The Bible teaches that those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior become His children. Collectively, God’s children are royalty in His spiritual kingdom, set apart in the world. They are a holy nation called out of darkness into His light in order to proclaim the excellencies of their King. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
“My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus once explained. “…In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:36-37)
Although Jesus was in very nature God, He humbled Himself to a lowly servant. He became obedient even to a shameful death. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest throne, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Philippians 2:5-11)
From that time on, all of the ways that King Jesus had loved while on the earth - all His actions and attitudes – these His children were to do likewise.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1)
As Christians identify with Jesus, they identify with all that He was and is. Pure and selfless acts of true love continue to help reveal the truth to captives so that Jesus might set them free, as well. The fruit of the light consisted of all goodness, righteousness and truth. (Ephesians 5)
1. The first step to unlocking any of God’s promises is to believe and receive.
The lies of this world have been shouting otherwise and will continue to do so, but you can make a commitment to own your identity once and for all.
State it: The truth is, I am a daughter/son of the Most High God.
As a child of God, He has the final say on you. What anyone thinks of you, or what you think of yourself, is irrelevant now. To God, you are beloved. To God, you are a prodigal child returned home, and He has run to you with joy and outstretched arms to restore you to the life where you belong. In His Kingdom, your physical circumstances in the natural realm may not match your spiritual ones in the spiritual realm, but physical reality gives way to spiritual reality one way or another, such as the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16. A robe and crown only truly matter when they are spiritual truth.
2. The next step to begin walking in Kingdom life on earth is to learn about it and practice it.
When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He said that once a new disciple became identified with Himself, they were then to be taught how to walk in their new identity.
You’ve come to the right place!
To those who long for deeper intimacy with King Jesus and are tired of hearing that we cannot experience more peace and beauty in this life because “life is not a fairy tale,” well, let me captivate you with the parallels of fairy tales to spiritual truths!
Let the King woo your heart on a deeper level, and let yourself be adorned as His bride. Identify with Him in his sufferings and death, yes, and then in His resurrection, too! Understand your role as His representative on earth but also as a citizen of a kingdom not of this world. Wait for the King with eager expectation, dressed and ready. And in the meantime, sharpen your skills for the battles here, becoming more alert of the enemy every day. For you live in the demon-possessed valley. Enchantments surround and threaten you. Evil only seeks your harm as the King’s rightful child.
For you, I created Story Spinner Press, an indie publishing house with a mission to awaken children and grownups alike to kingdom life. Our first re-telling of a classic fairy tale is in the beginning stages. Don’t miss it! It will be the first children’s fairy tale in a series of beautifully illustrated, collectable, faith-friendly story books that ignite wonder in little hearts. We believe children deserve quality fairy tales again.
Christian writer and theologian C. S. Lewis said, “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” And we agree.
So, join our email list, and like and follow on your favorite social media (links below). You will love my Pintrest pins!
The bottom line is do not miss a single book release or update as we endeavor to bring fairy tales to life for you and your children.
And to those who long for “long ago” and “far away,” let me sweep you up into an amazing adventure.
You wish for simpler times, places that do not seem to really exist but you wish they did. Places where a peasant girl becomes a queen, where a peasant boy inadvertently wins the heart of the princess with nothing but his wit and heart (and they really do live in happiness), where the fantastic is not so impossible, and old ways are not so lost.
That’s what Cottagecore today is about - a longing to slow down and capture a bit of wonder, to obtain a tangible piece of a homespun, homegrown, homemade life that feels out of reach.
The truth is that we just want to enjoy things again, such as the beauty of creation, a cup of hot tea, maybe even a blanket that we have knit with our own hands. We wish to learn traditional skills that seem to be vanishing. Somewhere along the way, they became obsolete. Only they were more precious and practical than we ever knew.
There can be trouble on this path. One problem is that where there is folk craft, there is folklore. And folklore is a hotbed of demonic deception. Another problem is that nothing in this world will fill an empty void in one’s life except for a relationship with Jesus and finding one’s identity in Him.
Therefore, Cottagecore alone will not satisfy, but an awakening into kingdom life, with a lot of rustic, fairy-tale-esque ideas thrown in, now that sounds like fun!
So for you, I created this blog dedicated to kingdom living in today’s world. It will satisfy your craving for wonder and timelessness. (And I will expose the enemy along the way!)
Go on the adventure. Subscribe at the very bottom of this page.
While you’re adding good things to your life, put these books in your Amazon cart to get started learning how to recognize demonic deception in folk medicine.
Also, check out our sister blog, Unfading Beauty, at Castle Gardens Hope & Soap Co. to learn Bible wisdom for natural health and beauty.
And if you did not sign up for our email list when I just mentioned it above, do it now so you can watch for news about our upcoming Fairy Tale cookbook! This book will invite you to transform your mind and kitchen to pleasantly peasant wisdom. You may never need another cookbook again. The project is collaboration with my friend and sister in Christ Andrea Drew, Registered Dietician Nutritionist. It features traditional cuisine from around Europe and the tables of the fairy tales.
Check out Andrea's blog for the best and most straightforward nutritional advice.
3. The final step is to tell the captives the truth.
Jesus said that His disciples are to tell others the good news. If no one tells them, how will they know?
Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you take the time to speak a truth, you believe it!
Therefore, if you share this blog post, or this website (www.storyspinnerbooks.com), or one of my pins, or if you write a review for one of our books on Amazon or Goodreads (the number 1 thing that boosts visibility and sales), it means you stand alongside of us in our mission. Thank you!
The more you share from us, the more people we can reach. Help us give parents story books that purposefully teach their children God’s ways. Help us declare to teenage girls that they are beloved. Help us encourage women who feel far from the abundant life God promises to embrace joy. Help us inspire you to cultivate wonder everywhere you go.
That girl in the story above? She did not notice herself, but the evil around her did. She now sat up a little straighter. She glowed a little brighter. So evil began to stir and panic and whisper all it could, because one of the King’s daughters had discovered her crown.
And the next time she put the baby to sleep for his nap, she whispered a prayer, tiptoed to her laptop, and began to write about how to live like fairy tales are real…
Welcome to her words.
Meg Grimm is a Christian writer on a mission to help women replace enemy lies, counterfeits and magic with God’s truth, beauty and wonder. She has authored several books on biblical wisdom for natural healthcare.
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