Seven Princesses

I love this artwork! It makes me laugh so hard. Especially Sleeping Beauty who has always been my favorite Disney Princess. Who knew she could give such a good noogie?

(I promise, there was no fussing or treat involved in getting him to do this, when the camera comes out, he is a willing victim!)

Do you know who my (current) favorite princess is?

Princess Hatshepsut.

Yea, I know...Princess Hatshep-whooo?? That's ok. She's certainly no Disney princess, and it's only a scholar's guess that Hatshepsut is her actual name. For the sake of our sanity...we'll call her Princess Hattie.

Princess Hattie is most notably known for pulling a certain important Biblical character, oh, you know, MOSES, from the river. Oh, IS THAT ALL? In fact, it isn't.

The Biblical account says in Exodus 2:5-6;
"And the daughter of Pharoah came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrew children."

So, here's your quick background check; Isrealites move to Egypt to escape famine, current Pharaoh likes them, Israelites multiply. New Pharaoh comes to power, enslaves Israelites, they build big statues. Now too many Israelites according to new Pharaoh, solution: kill newborn boys.

Princess Hattie was the Pharaoh's daughter, so we can assume she knew full well what Daddy P was up to. He had standing orders to kill EVERY male Hebrew newborn because he was worried the Israelites were becoming too powerful. I am certain Hattie was no stranger to this law.

But she saw that the baby wept and was helpless, and she had compassion on him. So much so that she didn't just go and hand him off to a maid to raise, she took personal responsibility in finding the baby a nurse and then raising him as her own. That included a royal upbringing, education, etc. And she knew he was a slave child!!! She's like an Old Testament version of the Good Samaritan! As it turns out, that baby, Moses, ended up being the Israelites deliverer from their slavery.

Today, I'm going to try to be like Princess Hattie. If I see someone in the reeds, I want to be the one to have compassion on them and pull them out of the river. Sometimes all it takes is a little encouragement, or a nice word, or compassion, and we can change the entire outcome of someone's day. This isn't necessarily my strong point, but I am always trying hard to change it.

It's so easy to walk by people and think something as simple as "I love her shoes!" but not actually tell the person. Well, what if that person was having a completely bad day up until some stranger walked by and complemented her on her shoes? Sometimes it's as little as that, and sometimes it's bigger. But I want to challenge myself to be more aware of those opportunities and react to them. Even if that means helping an old lady put her eye drops in at the craft store parking lot (true story!).

Sure, Princess Hattie had no son, and when she saw Moses probably thought that he was a gift from the god of the Nile. But the verse still says she knew he was a Hebrew, and thus by her father's orders, should have been killed. That didn't sway her one bit though, and she still took him in as her own. She had compassion on one tiny baby, and by it, changed the outcome of the entire Israelite nation.

Hats off to you, Princess Hattie.