I'm a fan of the band Superchic[k] and my favorite song by them is quite possibly Princes and Frogs.
All princes start as frogs
All gentleman as dogs
Just wait till it's plain to see
What we're growing up to be..
Coz some frogs will still be frogs
Some dogs will still be dogs
But some boys can become men
Just don't kiss us till then
You hate men is what you say
And I understand how you feel that way
All girls dream of a fairy tale
But what you got's like a used car salesman
Trying to conceal what's wrong
Behind a smile and a song
And I'm not saying that boys are not like that
But I think you should know
That some of us will grow
Because...
All princes start as frogs
All gentleman as dogs
Just wait till it's plain to see
What we're growing up to be..
Coz some frogs will still be frogs
Some dogs will still be dogs
But some boys can become men
Just don't kiss us till then
You found him is what you say
And we all want you to feel that way
But the frog you've got seems cute enough to kiss
And maybe frogs seem like that's all there is
But just because you haven't found your prince yet
Doesn't mean you're still not a princess
And what if your prince comes riding in
While you're kissin' a frog
What's he gonna think then?
So look into His eyes
Are you a princess or a fly?
All princes start as frogs
All gentleman as dogs
Just wait till it's plain to see
What we're growing up to be..
Coz some frogs will still be frogs
Some dogs will still be dogs
But some boys can become men
Just don't kiss us till then
Sometimes it seems like as soon as you put 2 or 3 girls together, the conversation quickly turns to the subjects of guys or jerks- two terms that are used quite interchangeably. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "All the good guys are either gay or taken" I'd be able to buy the entire collection of Veggietales DVDs, and still have money left over. And there certainly are a lot of guys out there who can be real jerks, and are too shallow to care about a girl unless she is uber pretty and will give in to them (neither of which describe me). But I've been encouraged since coming to university and becoming involved with the Navigators (a campus Christian organization) to find that there actually are guys out there who are serious about their walk with Christ. I find that encouraging, and not even mainly from the perspective of a Christian girl who hopes to get married someday and doesn't particularly relish the thought of marrying another woman. I think the Kingdom of God needs both men and women who are wholly sold out to Him, because both genders bear the image of God in different ways and have amazing things to offer. And it's encouraging to know that women aren't the only ones seeking after God's heart, which often seemed to be the case in high school, which had several Christian girls and exactly zero Christian guys. It's encouraging to know that not all guys are frogs forever.
But lately the line of that song that has been really standing out to me is "Look into His eyes/Are you a princess or a fly." Especially the look into His eyes part. As long as I can remember, I've wanted to get married. But God has been teaching me in various ways over the past few years that I need to focus on Him, and let Him take care of those details. Most noticeably, lately, He's reinforced this through Phil Vischer's autobiography. That's right, the Veggietales guy. I expected to enjoy his autobiography, but I didn't think I'd learn that much from it. I'll be blogging more about it in the near future. But suffice it to say that it reminded me and deepened my understanding of waiting on God. When you want something badly, it's tempting to take matters into your hands and run off half-cocked. Abraham and Sarah tried that. Remember Hagar? They wanted a child, and Sarah was too old. So Sarah decided it would be a good idea for Abraham to sleep with her teenage maid and conceive a child that way. As a woman, I have to ask "Was she insane?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Didn't she see the potential for awkwardness, tension, and jealousy? But I guess when you want something badly enough to run ahead of God in your haste to chase after it, it becomes easy to ignore potential consequences. I know that's true of me. And the thing is, Sarah's desire wasn't bad. She wanted a child. That's a natural, even God-given yearning, much like my desire for a husband. But even God-given yearnings can be stumbling blocks unless they're fully submitted to God, in Whom all our yearnings find their ultimate fulfillment. For those of you who are familiar with Christian girls' nonfiction, the gist of approximately 87.99421% of the genre is as follows: "You are a princess, and Jesus is your Prince." It's trite, it's oversimplified, and it's easy to mock, but there's a lot of truth to it despite all that. Jesus really is the sum of all I need, and it's my prayer that I continue to look into His eyes and hold His hand. I want to keep chasing after Him, knowing that He'll lead me wherever I need to go.
I really love this Kendall Payne song. As a child, the chronicles of Narnia showed me a God who was much bigger than any Sunday School flannelgraph or picture Bible. Even now, Aslan is the best picture I have of Jesus as the Lion of Judah. "Safe? Didn't you hear what Mrs. Beaver told you? Of course He isn't safe. But He's good. He's the King, I tell you."
