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Kristen Anne Glover

Five in Tow

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{18} Trust Me

31 Days: From Enemy to Heir

Trust Me: Day 18 of 31 Days.

Click on the picture above for Day 1.

“There’s just one little catch,” the prince said, and Jewel’s body went ridged with the words.

How could there be a catch? 

Ever since she met the prince, she had been waiting for a catch, but there wasn’t one.  Over and over again, he had told her that she could not earn what he was giving her, and she could not pay it back.

She realized, then, that she had believed it, and she had been tricked.

“What’s the catch?” she asked, a hoarseness catching in her throat.

“You have to trust me, Jewel.”  He said it softly, and with a serious kind of sadness, like he thought it would be a deal breaker.

“That’s it?” she cried, relief flooding over her.  “I have to trust you?”  She almost laughed because it was so simple.  Of course she trusted him.

“You have to trust that I have indeed given you everything you need for life in my kingdom.”

“I can’t imagine why I would doubt that!” Jewel laughed.  She was standing in a treasure box.  What else could she possibly need from him?

“You are my bride now, and that comes with a very high calling.”  His voice was still sad and serious.  The delight he always had in calling her his bride was gone.

“Why are you so serious?”  she asked.  His demeanor was unnerving.

“Because, Jewel, I won’t always be with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have to go away on my father’s business—there is still so much to do—and you will have to stay here and continue the work I have for you, believing that I have equipped you to do it well.”

Jewel’s mind was a flood of questions, but she could not say any of them because her heart was drowning in a sudden, overwhelming grief.  “How can you leave me?” she murmured.  She had not been without him since the moment he found her by the side of the road, and she did not know how she could live without him now.

Trust Me

Trust Me

He smiled a small, sad smile, and she realized he grieved with her.  “My darling, that is why it is the catch.  You have to trust me.  You have to trust that I would not leave you unless the work I have to do is exceedingly important.  And you have to trust that if I go away from you for a time, I will come back again.  I will always come back to you, Jewel.”

Jewel nodded and brushed a tear away with the back of her hand.

“I will never abandon you—remember that?  I promised you that the day I took you as my bride.  I will never leave you.  I will never forsake you.  If I have to go away, it is only for a little while, and I will come back again.  But while I am away, you must come to this room and liberally take from it.  Use these gifts, Jewel.  Use the things I have left you to do the job I have for you.”

“I don’t understand,” Jewel sputtered.  “What job?”  She had longed for a job in the prince’s kingdom, but now, now that he was leaving, she did not feel adequate to do anything but sob.

“You have the most important job of all.”

Jewel’s eyes widened with fear.

“Trust me.”

She swallowed.

“It is such an important job, I have given it to every person in my kingdom: I want you to be like me.”

It didn’t sound very much like a job, and Jewel couldn’t help but feel she was missing something.

“You are my bride, Jewel.  That means everything you say and everything you do reflects back on me.  You are my representative, don’t you see?  It is your job to show the people who I am when I am not here to show them myself.  It is your job to serve and care for them, to love and instruct them, and to uphold all the rules of my kingdom as if I were doing it myself.”

Now she understood.  It was a very big job indeed.

“How can I do that?  I’ve only just come to know you myself!”

“You have to trust me.  I would not give you a job I have not equipped you to do.”

“But I don’t even know all the rules of your kingdom!  What if I mess it up?”

“Oh, you will mess it up.  Over and over again, you will mess it up.”

“Then what?”  Jewel felt panic rising inside.

“Then I will forgive you.” 

“But what if I need you?”

“Then I will come running.  Do you not think I would move heaven and earth to come to my bride if she called?”

“But…” she did not know what else to say, except that she was scared.

“But…?  But I have given you everything you need to grow into your role.  I have given you everything you need to thrive in my kingdom.  There is only one thing left.  Do you trust me, Jewel?”

“Yes.  No!  I don’t know.”  She put her head in her hands and cried, “Only, help me!”

“I will,” he said, cradling her in his arms.  “I have one more thing to show you, Jewel, and it is a good thing.  Think of all you have seen and all I have given you, and know this: I have saved the very best for last.”

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{17} Everything You Need

31 Days: From Enemy to Heir

Day 17 of 31 Days.  Click on the image above for Day 1.

“This is going to take some getting used to,” Jewel laughed.  She felt a little dizzy standing in the vast cavern filled with the treasure that was to be her inheritance.

“You have the rest of your life to get used to it,” the prince said.  “What do you think you should do first?”

“I don’t know…,” she said thoughtfully, walking among the jewels and touching them as she passed.

As soon as her fingers brushed the stones, they began to glow, almost imperceptibly at first.  But then her hands lingered on a beautiful, flawless emerald.  From somewhere deep within the stone, it came alive with light.

“Oh!” Jewel gasped, withdrawing her hand quickly.  “What is happening?”

“Pick it up, and you will see.”

Cautiously, she cupped the stone in her hands and lifted it from the pile of gems.  It was as large as a cobblestone, but perfectly cut so every surface glittered with light.

When she held it in her hands, the emerald seemed to respond to her touch.  The same light she saw at first deepened, causing the gem to dance.  Flickering green fragments reflected off the walls and reached all the way up to the arched ceiling.  The longer she held it, the more beautiful it became.

Jewel looked at the prince.  “Is it alive?”  she asked.

He laughed.  “No, but you’ve just stumbled upon a very important truth about the treasure in my kingdom.  Not only is it vast and limitless, but it becomes more beautiful and more valuable the more it is used.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“Test me,” he challenged, a grin sneaking into the corners of his lips.

Jewel chose an amethyst.  Rich, purple hues spread slowly out from the stone and enveloped her.  “You never cease to amaze me!” she cried.

“I hope not,” the prince answered, but his words were lost amid her wonder.

“Here, you try!”  Jewel handed the prince a ruby.

Everything You Need

Everything You Need

As soon as it touched his fingers, brilliant red light shot out from every facet of the stone.  It flamed with light, burning in his hands like an ember.  The walls of the cavern became the inside of a fiery volcano, and every other gem took on the light and smoldered with it.

“How did you do that?” Jewel gasped.  Her glowing gem looked pale in comparison to his.

“I am light,” he answered simply.

“What do you mean?” she asked, staring at the ruby aflame in his hands.

“There is no darkness in me–nothing evil, nothing hidden in shadows.  Just light.”

She thought of the Enchanter, who gained power from darkness and strength from shadows, and she moved a little closer to her prince.

“These riches shine brightest where there is no darkness,” he added.

Jewel looked at her own gem, softly glowing in her hands, and she felt suddenly self-conscious.  Just as soon as she felt the twinge of shame, the amethyst dimmed.

The prince did not look, but he said, “Do not give in to the shame of your poverty when you are standing in the very place that can make you rich.”

Jewel swallowed hard.

“Do you want to be rich, Jewel?”

She nodded, and he smiled.  “I know you do.  That’s why I brought you here.  I have given you everything you need to become rich like me.  Everything in my kingdom is yours to use for that end.  Everything!   But you have to use it.  Surround yourself with my treasure, Jewel.  Spend it, give it–wear it!  It will change you until people will not be able to see you without seeing me.” 

“It’s just that easy?” Jewel asked, hardly daring to believe that she could become like the prince simply by surrounding herself with the good things he had given her.

“It’s just that easy,” the prince said.  “Of course, there is one little catch…”

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{16} Rich Like a River

31 Days: From Enemy to Heir

Day 16 of 31 Days.  For Day 1, click on the image above.

“I want you to share in my inheritance,” the prince said to his bride as they stood in the midst of his vast treasury.  “I want you to be rich like me.”

“I want to be,” Jewel answered.  “It’s just incomprehensible to me that you would care to make me rich after all you’ve done for me.”

“Oh, Jewel!” he shouted, filling up the cavern with his voice.  “Nothing brings me greater joy!  I long to lavish you with my love and adorn you with my riches because that is who I am, and more than anything, I want you to reflect who I am.” 

She wanted to be like him.  The more she knew him, the more that desire grew.  But she felt so indebted to him already.  “I could never repay you for any of this,” Jewel said sadly.

“Jewel!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.  “Have you now started keeping score?  Because if you have, tell me, how are you doing?”

Jewel knew the answer but didn’t say anything.

“Look at all that I have,” he said, spreading his arms wide.  “I own everything.  I do not need you to earn it, nor do I want you to repay anything I give you.  You could not add anything to my riches if you made it your life’s ambition, nor could you take away anything from it.”

Jewel knew that was true as well.  She could not even see to the far corner of the room, and every inch of it was piled high with treasure.  Even if she filled her pockets, it would be like stealing sand from the sea.

“You’re so used to thinking that there’s only so much, and no more, because you come from a kingdom that is small and limited.  Everything must be earned or repaid, and you all lived in terrible fear that you might not get your share before it all runs out.”

Jewel remembered that feeling far too well.  It churned in her stomach even then and filled her with suspicion and fear even though she was surrounded by good things.

The prince cut into her thoughts.  “But Jewel, what if my kingdom was limitless—infinite—and what if there was always more?  And what if ‘getting your share’ had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me?”

Rich like a river

Rich like a river

As soon as he said it, she saw that it was so.

“Any one of my people can come into this room at any time and take all they want.  The door is not locked, remember?  In fact, I delight to see them use my gifts because I am not like the ruler you once served.  He is like a small cup of water.  But I am the river.”   

Jewel blinked in the light of the gems and tried to comprehend what the prince was trying to say.  “How can that be?”

“Because I am not like any other, Jewel, and my riches are not like the riches of any other kingdom.  They are far, far better.  You can drink all you want, and there will always be more.  My riches won’t run out.  You don’t need to earn or repay them—what need does a river have for you to repay it for a drink?  There will always be enough.”

Jewel could see that, just by looking.  “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard,” she said, as understanding began to flow into her mind.  “I have never known anything so amazing.”

“Jewel, let me make you lovely with my riches.”

She smiled at him.  “Yes.  But how?  I’m afraid I would not know where to begin.  I do not know anything about being rich.”

“Well,” the prince said, taking her hand in his once more, “it just so happens, I am an excellent teacher.” 

*Join us tomorrow for Day 17.

 

31 Days, Faith, From Enemy to Heir 1 Comment

I believe you can find grace for the mother you are and help to become the mother you long to be—a mom who has the freedom to choose the better things and enjoy her kids right now.

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