The Girlhood Gazette

I have been meaning to review this book for some time now but hadn’t gotten around to it till now. My dear friend sent me this little booklet, called “Stay in the Castle.” It is a short story - I think only 24 pages and easily read in one sitting. For those of you familiar with “The Princess and the Kiss,” this is similar.

The book begins with a true story, about the author and a young 16 year old Mexican girl, whom he encourages to stay pure till marriage and in addition, pure for a Christian man, not just anyone. She is struggling with this, so he tells her a tale of a princess who has lived in the castle all her life. Her father, the King, tells her that someday, a young prince that he has already met and chosen, will come to marry her. She believes him for a while, but she begins to yearn to leave the castle and visit what appears to be the merry, glad village below. Her father warns her against this…

And here I will leave you hanging to find out what happens. Isn’t that sweet of me? I enjoyed this little book very much. You can order it HERE for only $2.50. It is the first book on the page (I have not read any of the other books listed there and do not recommend them in providing the link).

One of the ladies at our church once shared a little piece of wisdom that she would tell her children when they were younger and were less than enthusiastic about doing a job. 

“You can do it happy, or you can do it sad. Either way you have to do it, so you may as well do it happy.”

This sounds like just a good piece of advice to give little ones - but it applies to “big kids” too, and I don’t think it exempts adults either. Much too often I find myself complaining or grumbling about a task I find disagreeable. I may not be outwardly “doing it sad” but in my thoughts I am thinking, “If only I didn’t have to do this. I would much rather be _________(fill in the blank).”

Two Sundays ago our elder challenged us all to really evaluate how much we complain and make it our goal that week not to do it. Did I? Welllll…..

Remember why you are doing those seemingly mundane tasks. Remember to do it as unto the Lord. After all, as the quote above explains, you have to do it whether or not you want to; so while you’re at it you may as well have a cheerful attitude.