A Little Girl’s Imagination….

It was February 22, 1965, when my world changed forever. It was the first time I truly believed in the magic of fairy tales and imagination. You see, on that day CBS TV aired a made-for-TV musical of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

This slightly chubby young girl sat in awe watching soft-spoken Lesley Ann Warren turn into the most beautiful princess ever. Sitting beside me was my little sister, Toni. Mama made sure we had already taken our baths, so we sat in our pajamas on the floor in front of our “big” 19” TV (which still had rabbit ears with foil “flags” on the tips). We were mesmerized and didn’t say a word for almost two hours.

The musical quickly transported us to a time where a prune-faced stepmother and two awkward wicked stepsisters cruelly treated a sweet, innocent girl with ashes from the fireplace on her face. The story progressed to a chance meeting with a handsome prince on a grand white horse. (That is always what a prince rides in my imagination. How about you?)

Cinderella’s Imagination

After feeling sad and hopeless that she wasn’t “worthy” to go to the ball, Cinderella sat in her “own little corner in her own little chair” and cried. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLzWe2FXMIA)

Suddenly there was a small twinkly swirl of lights that got bigger and bigger until a beautiful woman appeared wearing a large crown and a lovely pink gown (or maybe it was peach or orange. Our TV didn’t have the best color). She had a sparkling magic wand in her hand. Quickly she told Cinderella that if she believed in the impossible, her imagination could make magical things happen. Cinderella believed!

So after watching mice and rats turn into horses and coachmen, and a pumpkin turn into a carriage, Cinderella spun around in circles and her plain ragged clothes magically turned into a gorgeous ball gown. Toni and I gasped! She was the most beautiful princess we had ever seen. She even had tiny glass slippers on her feet. Her imagination had turned into reality. Only until midnight, of course.

The lovely Cinderella climbed into the pumpkin-carriage, and they magically flew among the stars to the palace. I’ve watched this movie as an adult and always shake my head at the 1965 version of “special effects.” Oh my!

Her Imagination Comes True!

Fast forward to the ball as Cinderella caught the prince’s eye and took his breath away (I wonder why no one recognized Cinderella). Then there was the dancing, singing, and instantly falling in love with that handsome prince. Then that clock struck midnight way too soon. Cinderella’s magical evening turned back to torn clothes and ashes as the mice and rats ran into the woods. No wishing or imagination could change her back to a princess.

But, of course, there was that glass slipper she lost on the palace steps.… (And how did she lose it anyway if it supposedly fit her perfectly??)

The prince picked it up, sang another song, and hunted all over the kingdom to find her. Anyway, (Spoiler Alert!) the shoe fit, she turned back into a princess and, you know the rest, “they lived happily ever after.”

Toni and I sat there speechless. As I went to bed, my imagination was filled with my own fairy tale – I was a beautiful princess falling in love with my own handsome prince.

Imagination Makes Magic

VCRs didn’t make it into homes until about 1980, so we couldn’t record and watch the movie over and over again. But when it came on the next year, we had a cassette recorder sitting on the floor beside us and we taped all of the songs and dialog. It was such a magical escape for us that Toni and I learned the words to all the songs. We used our imaginations to play all of the characters, singing and dancing around the room. We even put on plays in our garage for the neighborhood kids. We always had to take turns being Cinderella, of course.

As a child, I always loved to pretend. I’m sure you did, too. Toni and I used our imaginations to become mommies caring for our babies, nurses healing the sick, princesses riding into palaces with our handsome princes, and even super spies saving the world like “The Man (or Girl) From Uncle.” (Toni and I even used our daddy’s tire gauges as spy walkie talkies They were so cool!)

Even now I watch my 5-year-old twin granddaughters using their vivid imaginations. We can’t step on the floor because it is lava, and we might get burned. So we jump from pillow to pillow across the floor and fall safely onto the sofa.

Imagination sounds a lot like magic, doesn’t it? But actually the two words are not from the same root origin. Webster’s Dictionary describes imagination as “the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality.”

No Imagination Needed!

Well, I have good news for you. You don’t have to use your imagination to pretend you are a princess. You are! You are a daughter of the King! And it’s not magic either! He made you just the way you are, just as He planned for you to be even before you were born. You are beautiful. In fact, He knows everything about you (even the number of hairs on your head! Luke 12:6-7), and everything you have ever done or even thought. He also knows every choice you will make in the future. He loves you unconditionally, no matter what. (Here’s another post that talks even more about your value to God: https://grandma-d.com/youre-beautiful-yes-you-are/)

If your Heavenly Father loves you that much, why don’t you give yourself a break and start loving yourself, too? Remember, even if you mess up, His loving heart keeps forgiving you. My favorite reminder is in Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

His promises are better than any kind of imagination. And I am so thankful!

Prayer:

Dear Father, Even though we are all grown up, there is a part of us that still remembers wanting to be a princess in a magical kingdom. Thank you for making our reality even better than our imagination. Like David, we know that “your steadfast love is better than life,” and we praise you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.