Tangled

Breathtaking!

I was completely *taken* by this movie! I went with Violet, and Caleb and Jairus came for the popcorn. They thought it was okay, we thought it was amazing!

First of all, let me just say that when your name means "princess" and you have spent years longing for "what else is out there" you cannot help but feel drawn to the movie's plot.

The princess was stolen and locked away, and she stayed in a tower a good long time. She was told that the outside world was not safe. She wanted to be a good girl. She wanted to do the right thing. So she stayed.

But eventually, through a moment of destiny, her isolation was broken by a criminal who happened upon her tower. She knocked him out and hid his bag of loot. In exchange for the return of his stolen goods, he was eventually persuaded to bring her to the city where she could see the lights.

Every year on her birthday, the sky had illuminated with little lights. She had always been drawn to these lights. She didn't know why, but she knew that she had to see them!

These lights.

Little rays of hope that told her there was more. Oh, and you can guess what happens next. But please don't guess. Watch the movie! Without saying more about the plot, I wonder, can anyone else relate to this?

What is your tower? What is it that keeps you locked up? What leaves you immobilized from fulfilling your purpose, from living your life?

For me it has been many things, but one that stands out is rejection. When I was little I was teased by my school mates. I was regularly reminded that I was unacceptable, I knew that I stood out from the rest. I remember feeling crushed when they would taunt me. It set my life on a pattern of wanting to run into a tower and stay there. I wanted a safe place where no one could tease me, where no one could wound the broken places inside of me.

And I did find a tower, a place of hiding where no one could tease me, no one could crush me. But it's walls left me empty, longing, wanting. Wanting more.

Eventually my life became such an anxious mess that I decided in my heart to leave the tower. I did not do it with as much grace as Rapunzel, but I did leave.

I was desperate.

I remember sitting in a mother's group and listening to a friend tell me about these church meetings she was attending. She asked if I wanted to see a person get up out of a wheel chair and walk. Wow, I thought those things only happened in bible times. I honestly wasn't looking to see that, but something deep inside of me was stirred. Could there be more than what we are used to? Could something like that be real?

So I went to these church meetings. And while I did see many people come for physical healing, I also saw people come for healing of their souls, healing deep inside. I began to feel the love of God, and I was swept off of my feet! Me! He wanted me! Even if I was unacceptable, he still wanted me! If fact, because I was unacceptable he wanted me. He saw so much more than what I saw, than what they saw. He saw me, his daughter, his.

And I began to see. I saw myself for who I really was...

Princess
His
Loved

He began to speak to me and to call me to life. He started to heal me and he gave me a picture of my purpose. I remember one night when the minister was praying for people, he stopped and prayed for me! He spoke to me and told me many things that God wanted to share with me. It was such a precious time. I had never felt God speak to me before. I only remember a little bit of what he said because I was just so touched that God reached out to me. He showed me the lights and I will never be the same!

And as for the princess part, well I have some thoughts on that too. I know why God gave me the name Sara, which means princess. He knew that I would need a reminder of who I really am. I am his daughter. And it feels good to know who I really am.