Prince Charming's Bride

"'To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. It is natural to think of it ... right to hope and wait for it, and wise to prepare for it, so that when the happy time comes, you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy.'"

Little Women

We all dream of marrying Prince Charming ... but do we realise that the girl who marries Prince Charming is his bride? Yes, he is her prince. But she is his bride ... his princess ... too. And just as Prince Charming's bride has high ideals and precious dreams about him and their future together, so Prince Charming has high ideals and precious dreams about her and their life together. So ... should unmarried young ladies prepare to be godly wives and mothers? Should they prepare to be Prince Charming's bride? Should they prepare to be their beloved future husband's princess?


I have to admit that preparing to be a godly wife and mother is something I've thought about vaguely, but never actually engaged with or acted upon. Of course, I've always known that a wife and mother should know how to cook and clean and watch children. But as the eldest of a large family, I learned how to cook and clean before I was ten years old and watching children is something I've known how to do for longer - since my first younger sibling was born - before I was three years old!

As I wrote in a post earlier this year, I am my future husband's future wife. And as such ... shouldn't I prepare to be my husband's wife? I want to marry ... Prince Charming!

I want to marry a man who's heart is on fire for God and has a vision and passion to live for God and do His will all the days of his life. I want him to be noble and courageous and self-controlled and long-suffering and strong and gentle. I want him to be a gentleman. I want him to be a good husband and father. I want him to be ready and mature for marriage and fatherhood ... and whatever ministry God calls us to as a married couple. If I want to be Prince Charming's bride (and I do!), shouldn't I prepare to be his bride?

Lanier Ivester, of YLCF, writes:

"True love and beautiful marriages really do exist. And the dreams God allows us to dare to dream in our girlhood are, I believe, where such marriages are born ..."

Girls dream ... of marrying Prince Charming, among other things! I know some strict people frown on dreaming, but as long as it's natural and innocent dreaming and not fantasizing, I don't think dreaming is wrong. As Lanier said, maybe "it's in the dreams God allows us to ... dream in our girlhood that [true and beautiful] marriages are born" ... especially if the dreams we dream, of marrying a good and noble husband and of being a godly wife and mother, inspire us to prepare for the days when our dreams (God willing!) come true ...

Girls go to college to learn how to be Personal Assistants and Teachers and Nurses. But they don't go to college to learn how to be wives and mothers. (When I was younger, I resented this!) They don't go to college to learn how to run a house and make a home, how to keep to a tight budget, how to cook good food, how to love and sympathise and understand, how to read widely and talk intellegently, how to cuddle and soothe and instruct, how to smile and laugh and just have fun. Maybe those of us unmarried young ladies who dream of being wives and mothers 'someday' son't need to go to college.

But I think we do need to prepare.

If we dream of being a wife and mother 'someday' and have a desire and a vision for that, I think we should take our 'training' as seriously as a minister or doctor or teacher takes his training. We should prepare to be, not just good wives and mothers - but excellent wives and mothers. We should prepare to carry the privileges and responsibilities we long to have. We should prepare to be Prince Charming's bride ... so that when he comes and sweeps us off our feet, carrying up away to live happily ever after in a house with a front porch (with a swing!) and a picket fence outside and baby-toys and homeschool-textbooks inside ... we're prepared.

No ... maybe we'll never be fully prepared for the awesomeness of womanhood and wifehood and motherhood. But we can be partially prepared!

We may then, as Marmee said, "feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy." And if "the happy time" never comes and we never get married and have children? Derek Prince's wife, Ruth, wrote:

"For those willing to spend the time and effort, willing to 'pay the price,' preparation for marriage will bring uncounted rewrds. Whether or not a woman ultimately marries preparation for marriage can enable her to find fulfillment in life."

We cannot predict what God will do in our lives ... but if we feel He has called us to be wives and mothers 'someday', we need to let "the dreams God allows us to ... dream" inspire us and we need to prepare for the days when our dreams (God willing!) come true. How?

1. Develop your relationships with God ... I believe this is the most important way you can prepare for anything and everything. Don't be content with an 'average' relationship with God, but go all out for the best and closest relationship with God. I know that my relationship with God (and I'm still working towards 'the best and closest') is where my strength and guidence comes from 'today' and will come from 'someday' - without it, I hope I could be a 'good' wife and mother. With it, I hope and pray that I'll be an excellent wife and mother - one that delights in God as she lives the life He has called her to live in the way He has called her to live it - walking with Him.
   
2. Faithfully do what He has called you to do 'today' and cultivate contentment even if what He has called us to isn't what we 'like' ...
   
3. Cultivate your character, learn self-control and perseverence and allow the Holy Spirit to bear Spiritual Fruit in your heart and life.
4. Learn - housekeeping, homemaking, budgeting, cooking, childcare, first-aid ... and anything you have an interest in - social graces and friendship skills, Hebrew, French, art, music, writing and history in my case! Knowing how to play the piano (for instance!) may not help you to be a better housekeeper, but it will help you to be a better homemaker, wife and mother - as well as a better friend and minster's wife or church member!
   
5. Live! It sounds so simple, but I know I'm all-too-good at allowing discontent and fear to clutter up my heart and life and stop me "living out loud" - living the life God has given me to the full every moment of every day. "Live out loud"!

Don't just dream of marrying Prince Charming. Prepare to be his bride!