When Prince William of Wales dated Kate Middleton of Bucklebury, they couldn’t make a move without being photographed. When they were finally engaged, the world went crazy because this meant that Kate Middleton, a commoner from a non-royal family, would one day be called the Queen of England.
I wake up at 4 am on a Friday. It’s late April, the day of the wedding. I may or may not have slept on the couch out of sheer excitement. When I turn on the TV and blink my blurry eyes a few times, the newscaster is announcing that after Prince William and Kate marry, they will become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. We are fascinated with this wedding, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that this girl walks into a church as Kate and comes out an hour later as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.
She’s still the same girl, but with one decision, everything changes. How people relate to her changes. How her life plays out changes. With one walk down the aisle, her future and ultimately, the future of an entire country, is different than it would have been had she never walked down the aisle in the first place. With that one choice, the trajectory of her life goes in a completely different direction than it would have had she not made the choice at all.
***
I’m riding in a pedicab on a waterlogged road made of mud and rocks. One of the staff members from Compassion and I are crammed uncomfortably close together. I’m holding my backpack too tightly, eyes blurring, heart racing. My feet are still sweaty from the rubber boots I just took off after wading through the water sidewalks in the small, flooded community of shacks in Manila. The boy who held my shoes, his eyes still haunt me.
The woman serving as our guide seems to know every name of every child. She must spend a lot of time volunteering down here. I think her name is Ann. Her smile is infectious. Her joy, full. As we pass a row of shacks just like the ones we just left, she points to one on the left. “And there is my house!” She says, proud. Smiling. And then I know. She knows these children so well because they are her neighbors.
Her choices look different from Kate Middleton’s. But they are still her choices. She can choose to live impoverished or she can choose to live in joy. We may be born into wealth or born into poverty, but we still have choices. Our lives are not scripts written in invisible ink. We are not destined to live trying to decode a secret to our correct life. We have a hand in how this whole thing plays out. You cannot always control your circumstance, but you and you alone make your choices. And every change in the world beings with a choice.
This is day 13 in a series. Read 31 Days to Change the World from the beginning. Go here to see all of the other 31 Day series happening around the internets. Want to have Chatting at the Sky delivered into your email inbox? Subscribe here for free.
You totally had me at Kate Middleton.
Oh, how I love this, Emily. You inspire me to look more closely at what choices I’ve made and can make still…
Thank you! I am dealing with a difficult teen age daughter right now…I can choose to let it drag me down and steel my joy or I can keep the joy of Lord no matter what the situation. I am choosing the second one! I really need this today. Thank you so much!!!
Oh, I’m so grateful you chose “changing the world” for your challenge. Your words have inspired, uplifted, and challenged me. I think I may officially be a chattingatthesky groupie….I can’t stop reading & sharing your posts!
Can I just write “Preach it!” for every post you write? Is that okay with you?
Amen!
Loved this and shared this. We are the sum total of our choices!
This is a bit challenging – the line between The Lord’s Will and what I choose to do? What the Lord has chosen for me, and how hard I push to do things my way? I don’t want to go around singing, “I did it MY WAY…”, yet waiting on the sidelines until the Lord does it all for me doesn’t work either. I realize this is an entire philosophical, theological issue, but maybe you could touch on it a little more? Perhaps my question has more to do with defining submission to the Lord’s will, being content with what He gives us, or knowing when to push the boundaries with creative energy? Any thoughts?
Thanks, as always, your writing is inspiring and challenging – thoughtful.
love this reminder.
So true! Our response to trial and attitude in circumstance is a huge factor in the learning curve of life. Life is an adventure, right?
Thanks for a timely post.
Candydawn
So true and a great reminder in the midst of the ordinary as well as extraordinary. You inspire, motivate, cut to the heart with your words. Have enjoyed every post, every day.
Yes! Thinking about my choices today, friend!
Today I don’t feel like making great choices . . . but I will.
Fondly,
Glenda
Queen? I thought she only made it to princess status?
I know, I know…missing the point, but still, queen? I’ll call my mom. She’s a royal junkie*
* royal junkie-someone who loves, knows and follows those of royalty.
Absolutely true. Life is made of choices, some easier than others. But the truth is, no choice worth making is ever an easy one. Life-changing decisions are hard, but they *are* life-changing. And it’s all up to us.
I really like how you juxtaposed Kate’s life with Ann’s — their circumstances are so vastly different. Yet you are so right, each still has choices, important choices, to make that will determine the outcome of her life and its implications on others.
I like how you dig deep here, Emily.
“We are not destined to live trying to decode a secret to our correct life.”
I love that. It is yet another sentence that messes with my good girl. Tells her to quit trying to figure everything out and get everything “just right.” How different would my choices be each day if I quit trying to decode and simply started to live. To live with joy and passion, purpose and delight.
Honestly, some days I am so paralyzed by trying to figure out what is correct, I end up doing nothing at all. Not how I want to live. That’s not living at all!
Good. Stuff.
oh how I love this comparison of Kate to what you experienced in the Philippines… It reminds me of the comparison of Princess Diana to Mother Teresa and how both women changed the world through amazing choices
Choices. Beautiful. Now my eyes are watering. I want to make meaning CHOICES!
Every morning begins with a choice. I may not be able to choose/direct/control all that will happen to me today, but I certainly have a choice in how I will respond. I choose to lay down my life, pick up my cross, and follow Jesus today. Love this encouragement today!
Emily, I was bawling midway between that 3rd paragraph right before the ***.
I was reminded of my walk up the aisle to say yes to The King. My eyes filled with tears at the realization that all of us were commoners from non-royal families became joint heirs with Christ. The King of Kings. I guess I never thought about Kate’s story being mine until today.
I also loved the rest of the post but had to wipe my eyes before reading on.
Beautiful words as always. I’m so grateful that you are using your gifts to make this art.
Excellent points, excellent blog!
Kate is almost as beautiful as your words.
Almost.