Yesterday morning, as I was thinking and praying about the Princess Project, a picture of a rosebud came into my mind. A tightly closed, deep red rosebud, just beginning to unfurl; a tantalising taster of the beautiful bloom soon to be revealed. To me it was a powerful metaphor for the development of the Princess Project. We’ve spent many years dreaming about what the garden will look like, and two years preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering them, nurturing them. And now we are starting to see signs of vibrant new life.
I last posted about the Princess Project back in March (Worth the Wait). We’d just had a successful launch event in Parkwood, and it felt then as if God was releasing the project, that it was time to take things to the next level. And that is just what we’ve seen over the past few months. So much has happened in a relatively short space of time. We’ve started a new initiative, Totcycle, a baby and toddler goods exchange. We’re now holding regular drop-in coffee mornings at Fusion, a community cafe in Parkwood. We have a trustee board in place and are in the process of applying to the charity commission to become a registered charity. We’ve been invited to be part of two different community initiatives in Parkwood. There is the possibility that we will be given some space in one of the units in the main parade of shops in Parkwood to provide us with a permanent base. Our team of volunteers are hosting a Parent and Baby area at the Detling Summer Celebration, a local Christian summer conference, and we have been invited to run one of the seminars.
Fantastic as all these developments are, what really excites me is the relationships that are starting to be built. Relationships between the members of the team, new and old; relationships between the project and our partner agencies in the local community; relationships with many different churches. And most importantly of all, relationships with so many amazing mums. It has been such a privilege and blessing to get to know some of the mums on Parkwood- after all, that’s what the Princess Project is all about.
At the heart of it all is another relationship. The Princess Project came about because God loves all these mums so very much. They are His precious daughters, His royal princesses. He sees behind the closed doors of flats and houses, sees into the hearts of young women doing an amazing job of raising their children, often under difficult circumstances and without much of the support many of us take for granted, making enormous personal sacrifices along the way. My prayer is that everything we do at the Princess Project may be a practical demonstration of Jesus’ love; that we would show the mums we meet that they are loved unconditionally by their Daddy in heaven.
I don’t know what the future holds for the Princess Project. God in His great wisdom has only revealed a small bit of the vision at a time (if two years ago I could have seen where we are now, I would have been completely overwhelmed, paralysed by fear and unable to do anything!) All I do know is that this is God’s initiative, and that it is safe in His hands. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us. I’ll let you know.
Emma Tanner 
What do you think? All comments and feedback gratefully received!