As this year comes to a close, let’s not forget one of the best movies of 2015 (please, no arguing this point). I grew up on the 1950 Disney version of Cinderella and she has always been my favorite princess. I was delighted when I sat in the movie theater for the 2015 live-action version of Cinderella and the story was not changed, updated, or diluted, but simply enhanced and expounded upon. The original 1950 version has quotes that are gems, my favorite being, “yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind.” Cinderella was for me as a child what I now love to think about and want to live out: elegant and bold; soft and strong. The new version developed characters and portrayed truth, beauty, grace, and femininity.
The whole movie was magical joy and I feel like a little girl each time I watch it 🙂 I’ve always loved the Prince. I love the ball. I love the story. I love the animals and the singing and the magic! Besides being entertaining and lovely, the movie had substance to it that I just loved.
I picked out my five favorite quotes (in no particular order):

1. “Have courage and be kind.” Courage and kindness. Strength and softness. Elegance and boldness. My favorite combinations and what I want to be 🙂
2. The name Cinderella “transformed her into a creature of ash and toil.” “Just remember who you are, you wretch.”
   Names have power over us and what we are called makes all the difference. Cinderella’s stepmother laid the trap to drag her back to her identity of ash and toil – “Remember your name! Remember you are a wretch!” But Cinderella was walking into her new identity and new name – beloved of the Prince.
   What do I believe I am called and how does that change how I daily live? What do I call people and how does it transform them?
3. “Will you take me as I am?”
   “Only if you’ll take me as I am.. an apprentice still learning his trade.”
   Isn’t this the best part of life, when we agree to take each other right where we are? When we are accepted in our imperfect, learning, stumbling, and growing stage?
4. “Perhaps the greatest risk any of us will ever take (is) to be seen as we really are.”
   True.
5. “She was sad but her spirit was not broken.” Cinderella is soft yet strong. She was sad, she felt emotion, and she wept, but she was unbroken. Cinderella remained courageous and bold, but she was not hardened. Strength and courage are best accompanied by softness and kindness. Like the 1950s version says of her, “yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind.”

“To me, a lady is not frilly, flouncy, flippant, frivolous and fluff-brained, but she is gentle, she is gracious, she is godly and she is giving. You and I have the gift of femininity… Be women, be real women in obedience to God.”
– Elisabeth Elliot

“Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh’ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don’t let someone steal your tenderness. Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things.”
– Zooey Deschanel