FRACTURED FAIRY TALE...a story of heartbreak, loss, and recovery

Once upon a time, there was a young princess. Her life long dream was to find her prince charming, get married, have babies, and live happily ever after. One day, it seemed as though her dream had come true. There he was: A prince in fatigues. He was tall, dark, and handsome and best of all, he chose her! She fell in love with the young prince almost immediately. He seemed everything that she had longed for. And he loved the King. He enjoyed spending time in the King's house, studying everything he could about the King so that he would know him better, and participating in activities that would be pleasing to the King. The princess could hardly believe it and felt blessed that this noble prince had chosen her. Things were not always easy between the prince and princess. The prince would sometimes abandon the princess for another fair maiden. Seeing the prince with the other princess broke her heart. The princess would wonder what she had done to displease the prince. When he would return to her, she determined to be even sweeter, kinder, and more loving to him so that he would never leave her again. But somehow, it just never seemed to be enough for the prince and the princess blamed herself, weeping into her pillow, her heart breaking. Then one day, the prince announced that he no longer wanted to be with the princess and that he was moving far away. He treated her with great contempt and she was heart broken at his cruelty. A nobleman and advisor for the King, told the prince that his behavior toward the princess was not pleasing to the King and the prince relented. He talked with the princess and promised he would stay until she returned in a week's time so that they could say good bye. The prince broke his promise and left before she returned and her heart was broken once more. In her pain, the princess became angry at the King, blaming Him for her pain. She decided that she wanted nothing to do with the King and His Kingdom and left. She wandered in a wilderness, searching for happiness and never finding any that was lasting. One day in her travels, she returned to a place dear to her heart; a place that had nurtured her as a teenager and taught her about the love the King has for all His children. She felt the King reaching out to her and she grabbed His saving hand. She returned to the King and to His Kingdom. A year passed. During that year, the princess did something she had not done before. She began to get to know the King on a personal level. She began to have a true, personal connection with Him. And it was wonderful. There was only one thing missing: a prince. She began to beseech the King to provide her with a prince. Lo and behold, the prince that showed up was the one she had loved so long ago. He was unhappy. He had married; he had three beautiful children that he adored. However, his happily ever after was eluding him. There was conflict and strife between him and the princess he married. He sought the princess that he had known so long ago. For a time, both were happy. The prince had nearly made up his mind to leave the wife-princess so that he could be with the princess from long ago. The wife-princess did not want to lose the prince and so presented him with a stallion. (The prince had wanted one for a long time, but according to the prince, the wife-princess had denied him a stallion.) He chose to stay with the wife-princess. The long ago princess was once again broken hearted. She cried out to the King asking Him, "Why?" For months and months, she cried out to the King and never got an answer. Still, she held tight to Him and did her best to trust Him. One day, she realized she couldn't take the pain anymore; couldn't take the confusion she felt. So she cried out to the King, "Please take this. I can't handle it anymore. I'm cut to ribbons and bleeding; it's killing me, this pain. Please take this." And ever so quietly and gently, the King spoke to His princess: "Now, you are ready to know. But first, why did you come back to Me and to My Kingdom?" And the princess replied, "Because I love You and I want to do the things that please You." The King asked, "It pleases Me when you follow the rules I have set for you. Rules that help you to live an honorable life befitting the princess that you are. When you don't, pain comes. Not because I am punishing you, but because you turned away from what keeps you safe from such pain." Slowly, but surely, the King brought the long ago princess to the healing she needed. She no longer felt a romantic love for the long ago prince, only a desire that he and his wife-princess should find a way to forgive each other; to find a way to forgive the long ago princess, and find their happy ever after. Years passed. In that time, the long ago princess still cried out for a love of her own. She continued to build her relationship with the King and continued to study everything that she could to learn more about the King and the love He has for her. While she was reading a book on that very subject, she came across something that changed her life. It was a book about the plans that the King had made for each prince and princess. In the book, she learned that the King's dreams for his children are even more amazing than the dreams they have for themselves. To truly be in the King's will for her life, the princess found that she needed to surrender all of her dreams to the King and then wait upon Him to see what he would return to her. There were big dreams and small, easy enough to surrender to the King. But her dream of dreams was the most difficult to surrender. It took time to completely surrender it, but she did. And when she did, a great burden was lifted from her and her heart became light with happiness. The long ago princess has left her dream of marriage with the King. She waits patiently to see if He will return it to her or not. She has not lost hope that He will, but she no longer allows it to be the focus of her life. In letting the dream go, she has been freed to enjoy the moment she is living in right now. Then a new wrinkle developed recently. The long ago prince found the long ago princess in a country called FaceBook and requested friendship from the princess. She thought long and hard before deciding yes. You see, the long ago princess knew that the long ago prince was in that country, too. She had discovered him on another friend's list of friends. However, she left him to his life and did not contact him. The long ago prince had said all he wanted was friendship and the princess had confirmed that was all she wanted, as well. For some reason that completely escaped the long ago princess, the long ago prince didn't take too kindly to that and began to accuse the long ago princess of bitterness and anger and unforgiveness. The long ago princess was confused by the prince's tirade for she had truly forgiven the prince in her heart and in front of the King and held no grudge against the long ago prince. It saddened her that the long ago prince's marriage was beyond repair and that the prince and wife-princess had parted ways. The long ago prince said he felt he must withdraw his request for friendship because of his perceived bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness in the princess. She was puzzled, but seeing how the long ago prince felt, maybe it was for the better. The long ago princess hopes that the long ago prince will find the happiness that seems to elude him. She hopes the surgeries and other things he is doing for his self esteem will be good for him. She hopes he will have a good life. She hopes he will find peace: for his heart, his mind, and his soul.