Cinderella Prequel

Turns out I do have time to write for an hour tonight. I like to read Proverbs every day, and since it is December 3, 2024, today's Proverb is Proverb 3. It has been fairly gentle so far, the winter weather and the Standard Time which I hate. Every year we go into a cold, dark season that can really be challenging, especially if you live alone. If you live alone, you had better be vigilant and disciplined or it will be very tempting to be subject to all kinds of gloomy moods and all the rest of it--Seasonal Affetive Disorder, they call it. However stoic it sounds to proclaim you have no problem with living alone, the truth is, when you have others living with you, you have a lot of distractions and a lot of things to keep you too busy to be depressed. My late friend, Pat, who died three years ago used to tell me about her depression. She knew the Lord and she always had a cat, but other than that, she lived alone. How she dealt with it was she read a lot of books and watched TV, cleaned her apartment and visited some friends, one of them in a nursing home, until that friend died. We used to watch movies at my apartment practically every Friday night, and I love movie nights. Since she died, I haven't really enjoyed movie nights much anymore. Movie nights were always one of my favorite things and I miss them. I miss her. Movies come and movies go, but I miss her. However, that is life, losing people and things over time. But God says to be content, so there's always that to work on, no matter what you're going through. He says we should be content with food and clothing, and we have so much more than that. I am about to make peace with the fact that I don't write fiction anymore. If I ever do again it will be providential--a miracle of God. I wrote it as a child, and I wrote it again in 1997-1998 in Kentucky. Since then the fiction muse has simply taken up residence somewhere else. But today I collaborated with a third grade girl about a prequel to the Cinderella Story. The teacher had asked the children to be creative and come up with their own version of the story. So that's what we did in our writing group today. The one dear child had written that Cinderella was already a princess (married to the prince) before the ball, evidenced by the fact that she slept with her glass slippers on. She was content to leave the story that way, but I probed her a little. Why was she already married to the prince if she was going to the ball and had to compete with her stepsisters and all the rest of the young ladies in town? Why were they keeping it a secret? I explained that she couldn't just leave the story with no conflict and no resolution (she wanted to just leave it that she was already married to the prince). I don't remember all the questions I asked her about it. Mostly, in other words, the whole thing about the ball was rigged ahead of time, but I told her she would need a couple of sentences to explain all that. So,to make a long story short, we put our heads together and came up with this: Cinderella and the prince were keeping it a secret that they were already married because (1) they didn't want people running around after their money. I added that maybe the King didn't want everybody to know that the prince had married a poor girl. She liked that better, so that was my big contribution to the story. It was really quite a cool collaboration. You wish you could enjoy such a refreshing collaboration. I sure enjoyed it. I think they should make a movie of it. So, back to Proverbs 3. Everybody's favorite passage in Proverbs chapter 3 is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones" (Proverbs 3:5-8). There is just so much wisdom in the Bible. If you believe it is the word of God, It comes to you like spring rain, like sunshine on a cloudy day, like renewed hope and joy of living. Many people are experiencing stress and anxiety since the election. We don't know exactly how many, I guess it depends on which news source you watch and/or which side of the political spectrum you occupy. We don't talk about the election at work; we just work. We just live our lives day to day, doing what is set before us to do every day with school children and co-workers and finding it rewarding and worth whatever stress we must endure. Some of us are cut out for that sort of thing, I suppose, and some people are not. I met a guy in Tennessee when I was teaching Spanish at the high school and he was teaching shop or something (Industrial Arts). He had college training in forestry, and I assume he was also certified to teach. In any case, he had been complaining that there was no work, because he didn't like teaching and he didn't want to work at Lowe's. I'm pretty sure if I had ever had that attitude I would probably be homeless by now. I hear there are a lot of people who can't find work these days, and yet everywhere I go I see signs that people are hiring, hiring, hiring. I don't understand it. I have never been able to not work. I was unemployed a couple of times in the past but only for a couple of months. Being unemployed sucks, but I suppose if people can not work and get paid, that might suit some people, but not me. I think working is pretty cool, whatever kind of work it is, and I am very blessed where I'm working now, blessed that I can work, and blessed that I get to work in education with children. "When you lie down, you will not be afraid, Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet, Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of toruble from the wicked when it comes; For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught. "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so..." (Proverbs 3:24-27). I love God's word. I love his promises, I love his presence, and I love the hope and the joy that he gives that makes life worthwhile. My prayer for this Christmas season is that someone will come to know Jesus, and that someone who is struggling for whatever reason will renew their faith in God because it is truly the greatest gift of all. I love this time of year and I hope that you do too. Don't let anything come between you and the joy of Jesus.