Brussels

I am in Brussels! 

I have taken leave of absence from work and will do a 2 month internship for the church's European Union office. 

I arrived yesterday and two lovely ladies picked me up at the airport. We have already started a list of things that we will do while I am here. Paris is one of them:)

I am meeting the best people. I can say that only after a day, because yesterday was great! And I am already learning so much French. I am really shy about speaking French to frensh-speaking people but they are really nice about it so I will force myself and try to be as good as I can with speaking French. It is a dream I have to be fluent in French and these two months will hopefully be a big step in that direction. 

I will try update this blog so that you people who might be interested will see what is going on. I think these two months will be great!

The picture below is the view from the balcony where I am staying. I think it is pretty.

Children of a King

I went to see Cinderella a couple of weeks ago with my mom and dad. As we sat there and waited for the film to start my father noted on the amount of women in the theater. My spontanious response was:

"It is because they know they are princesses, but have forgotten who the king is."

It was not until after I had said it that I realized the truth of that statement.

I believe we are all born with an inherent, yet sometimes dormant, knowledge that we are sons and daughters of a king. The fairytales we hear in our childhood are so appealing to us because they speak to that knowledge, the knowledge that we are destined for a happy ending, destined for greatness, that we are here to be tested so that we ultimately can reach our full potential and recieve our reward.  

Realizing our nature as princes and princesses, children of the most high God, should influence us to treat each other as such.

"In every man dwells a king, in every woman a queen. Treat them as such and they will appear"
                                                                                                                   - Laura Randolph

Speaking of our potential CS Lews said: "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…Your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."

Treating each other as the royalty we are is important but what is even more important is how that knowledge affects how we see and treat ourselves and our relationship with God. I think that too often we have no problem seeing other people's royal status but are too quick to sell ourselves short. A while ago I read this blog post about a woman who overheard a first date in a college library. The girl was not being treated by the respect he deserved and the writer wrote to her. I am sad to say that I don't remember what blog it was and I don't know who wrote it, but I give her there credit for these powerful words:

"Do you know what you are? Beyond the happy answers, the words we know by rote from primary and young women's lessons. Look at me. Do you know what you truly are? You are the literal progeny of a divine being. You are fire light and the dust of stars older than your mind can reach. You are a creation more precious than the sun and heavens and this earth which we stand on with our two feet while we are blessed enough to breath. You are steel and armor and diamonds that cut. You are made by faith, you live by faith, you are the recipient of God's faith. Do you know what faith is? It is power. It means by which this universe was constructed and reamins. That power sustains you too."

We must remember who and what we are and treat each other and ourselves accordingly. In the LDS Bible dictionary under prayer we can read about what implications this knowledge has on our relationship with God:

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other." 

It is easy to forget who and what we truly are in a world that constantly tells us that we are not good enough. But let us remind each other of the royalty we are and the divine potential we possess by the way we treat one another. And every time you go down on your knees to speak to your Father in Heaven, remember that you are his prince or princess destined for greatness and I promise you that that conversation will flow more naturally and more honestly. That is my experience.