The fanciest dress she had ever seen was hers. It was pink and covered with jewels. Goldie immediately spread her arms out and did a small twirl when she found herself inside the dress. Her smile looked bigger and brighter than the Queen of England’s. We combed her hair, added a few rosy touches to her face, and added some extra jewels. 

“Here, are you glass slippers,” I said handing her some sparkling flip flops I had bought for her last summer. She had never worn them before. 

“Mom! They are not glass slippers,” Goldie declares.

“I know but they might as well be.” I said placing them in front of her feet.

Goldie lifted her dress slightly and slipped the flip flops on one by one. She hadn’t worn them once. But they fit perfectly. Just like the ones the fairy godmother had magically appear on Cinderella’s feet. Goldie lifted her dress again and glided over to a chair in front of the window and looked out. Her dress skirt draped perfectly all around her. 

Goldie didn’t look sad. She didn’t look scared or nervous. Her hands rested on her lap. She just looked out into the day that would soon turn into evening. She was still for many silent minutes. 

Goldi had once been so bouncy. She would run through the kitchen, living room, dining room and hallway with some bright green flip flops on and a hot pink tutu.  She would sit on a swing for hours and fly to the sky with bare feet. She would twirl around in her pretend dress up Cinderella dress and then crash to the ground with a belly laugh. Now, she was still. Her head looking out and her eyes looking so intently at a dream.

I stood in the doorway and tried to be as still as Goldie. My heart was keeping me from feeling relaxed as Goldie seemed to be. Seeing Goldie so still was so beautiful. I have seen brides look the same right before they walk down the aisle. My mind wandered out into the day too.

This was the first real Cinderella moment in her life. The first prom that she would attend looking more and more like Cinderella than she had ever before. As a young woman, we have dreams of wearing our Cinderella dresses especially the one that we wear when we are the bride walking down the aisle to our groom. But for Goldie, that moment doesn’t seem possible.

Yet, it does seem possible. Because as she sat there, I did see a bride! Through all of her high school years, her concerts, her classes, her dances, …all those times when things were fancy, something ever so magical was happening – more magic than fairy godmother could do. A miracle was in the works. This Cinderella of mine was getting ready as a bride waiting for her Groom.  One day, He will come, and she will be ready. 

“For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”  Revelation 19:7