Next Tuesday, I will turn 40. My gift was to throw this fantastic party! It was such a perfect day and the LORD was obviously so with us, that I have to write it down so that you all can throw a Daughters of the King party one day as well!

We all dressed in gowns and crowns to remind ourselves that we are daughters of King Jesus.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
John 1:12

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7

I adore this amazing bookstore in Monroe called The Story Shop. Not only have I always wanted to have a party in their spectacular party room, but I knew that I wanted to tell a few stories to my guests. The Story Shop was the perfect venue. They have many party themes to choose from. I, of course, chose the Once Upon a Time theme because it made me think of Pippin.

The table only had twenty seats. It was so difficult to not invite every woman I love, but I hope when you throw your party like this, you keep it as intimate as possible. You will see why as we proceed. I ended up inviting the women who have been in my Discipleship groups and then those God laid on my heart to invite.

I fashioned the party after the five love languages (I have never in my life read the actual book): quality time, acts of service, physical touch, gifts, and words of affirmation.

This fantastic party was definitely quality time. For acts of service, everyone paired up and served each other the food. No one got anything for themselves, but everyone ate. Because not everyone showed up at the same time, we didn’t do the physical touch of praying hand-in-hand until the end. For gifts, we all brought a gift to exchange that we felt the recipient would find useful in the year ahead.

And for words of affirmation, I gave everyone a “name story.” I found out the meaning of everyone’s name and wrote how it could possibly point to God’s mission for them here on earth along with a Bible verse that kind of matched. Never will I ever get over these incredible paintings done by my friend, Shannon, that I got to write it all on!

There was also a time of stories. It was a Story Shop, after all!

I told four stories and then ended with a short reading from Triad Champion.

The four stories were:

• Abraham being called out to a place that God would show him, and becoming the father of the nation of Isreal
• The Exodus and the Passover
• The birth of the Passover Lamb
• John 15:5 – Jesus is our Vine, we are the branches

We are daughters of the Servant King Jesus who was born just to die for us! Now He is risen and lives in us and through us—our Vine, the Light of the world. Thank you, LORD.

From Brumbletide and the Triad Champion…

The first class of the day is Subjects. This doesn’t mean school subjects, although it is one of Emily Academy’s subjects. The subject of Subjects is the study of the subjects of a kingdom.

We are gathered in a different part of Justice Tower today, a level I haven’t yet been in. It is a very warm and inviting room, and there is a table with fresh bread and Bubblegin. Squashy armchairs sit behind large wooden buckets like those from old times. Queen Mother Erline welcomes us all in warmly.

“Welcome, your majesties. Today’s class is special. With the happening of recent events, my zeal for reading has returned, and I have started with our sacred book. I have changed our lesson for the day as I have noticed that our beloved King Pippin has unique methods of dealing with his subjects. We will learn one of those methods today. Alright, let’s see, Prince Eden, Princess Shay, Princess Calysta, Princess Graisse, and Princess Thorn, have a seat in the chairs, please. Princess Maggie, Prince Atticus, Prince Jamari, Princess Missy, Princess Lauren, each of you kneel in front of one of them.”

We do as we are told. Atticus goes to Calysta. I go to Thorn since the only other left is Graisse, with whom poor Missy ends up.

“Now, class, this will seem strange to all of you, but those of you on the floor will wash the feet of the person in front of you.”

“She’s not touching me!” squeals Graisse.

No one else objects, but the looks on their faces are less than pleased. I glance up at Thorn, who shrugs.

“Begin,” says Queen Mother Erline.

 I dip Thorn’s perfect feet into the water and use the cloth to wash them even though they seem perfectly clean already.

“Don’t forget to clean between the toes. A queen’s feet need extra attention,” Graisse tells Missy. “And massage. Don’t forget to massage the feet and legs.”

I can hear Calysta and Atticus giggling together. After I clean between Thorn’s toes, I massage her ankles and calves.

“Ah, that’s so nice,” she says. She is completely relaxed in the armchair with her eyes closed.

After several minutes, a pearly handbell rings. “Alright, well done! Come over now for some refreshments,” Queen Mother Erline says, indicating the bread and Bubblegin on the table.

As we clean up and make our way to the table, Queen Mother Erline asks, “Well? How was the royal treatment?”

 “Could have been much better. Missy’s got a lot of work to do if she’s ever going to please a royal,” pipes Graisse.

“Oh, well, I am sorry to hear that, Princess Graisse,” replies Queen Mother Erline. “Luckily, you were not the royal in the scenario. It was Missy. A true royal—a true heir—serves their subjects.”