Cinderella...

i remember hearing a sermon awhile ago.
about how we are like cinderellas.
the prince (jesus) picks us up out of our slavehood and makes us princesses (or princes).
but also how the change doesn't happen over night. 
we have to learn to become these princes and princesses. 

i was thinking about it.
a young girl orphaned.
previously raised as a lady.
then raised under the oppressive hand of a hateful stepmother and step sisters as a slave.

realistically, she would have devloped a hard shell around her heart and a thicker skin.
which reminds me of the kids we work with.

not that they're all raised under the oppressive hands of hateful people.
but they are looked down upon by most, even christians. 

but once they've made a decision to live for jesus, it doesn't mean they are all of the sudden without their previous habits, mannerisms, worldviews, fears, insecurities, mistrusts, anger...etc...those things are all still there, as are (often) the environment that cultivates those characteristics that keep them from developing healthy, close relationships with people, and a right view of God.

i mean, we always have the mess that we created to work through, even though we have the hope of jesus at the end of it all.

i just pray that these kids do not lose hope along the way.