Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller

“Do you believe you can be free? From everything? All your doubts. All your hurts. All your betrayals. All your fears?”

Aiden’s eyebrows creased together at the man’s questions. He sat and thought for a long moment before responding. “That seems like a lot to be free from in just this cell,” he answered quietly.

“Men are often imprisoned by far less,” the man replied. “I know your life has not been what you planned or expected. You have learned things on this journey that might cloud your judgment at times or decisions on how to take back your land and deal with the man you have called father your entire life. You have to be aware of those things and willing to give those things up to become a good ruler. If you don’t, those things will hold you prisoner for the rest of your life and you will not become the great and mighty ruler you were destined to be. Do you understand that?” the man asked.

Aiden sat and thought about the man’s words. “How do you know so much about me and my past?” he asked as he leaned forward and rubbed his hands together.

“I know many, many things,” the man replied with a smile. “You have the heart to become a mighty ruler, Aodhán.”

Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise at being called by the name the guardian had called him in the cave. 

The man smiled and laughed. “Yes. I know your true name. White fire. One who burns bright and pure. Are you ready to step out of your prison and into your destiny, son of the harvest?”

Have you ever discovered something that changed who you thought yourself to be? Has something ever happened that made you question who you are or what your purpose on this earth is?

The other main character in my third book, Beauty Reborn, discovers some things about his past one his journey through this Summer Solstice tale that makes him question his true identity. He discovers a gift within him that he could have used to bring back the harvest to his realm long ago. He discovers that his family history may not be all that he thought it was. He even discovers that he was given a different name when he was born than the name the false ruler of the Fall realm gave him after his mother died. He grew up being told he was weak, and insignificant. His interest in music and art gave him the identity of unable to defend his land in battle and only good enough to roam the palace halls and wait until it was time to assume the throne. His father and half-brother treat him horribly his whole life and get the message across that he’ll never be good enough for them or do anything of any real merit or significance. His identity has been shaped and formed by the lies he’s been told his whole life and he spends most of his life believing those lies because no one ever took the time to tell him different or share the truth with him.

What has your identity been shaped by? Have you been told that you are weak or insignificant your whole life? Have the underlying messages of people’s actions, or inactions, told you that you are not worthy of their time? Have you been treated like a bother or like someone who is in the way or underfoot? Have you been told that you’re ugly or worthless or powerless or incapable of thinking for yourself or achieving great things?

Maybe you’ve been lucky and you were told that you are loved and admired and that you are capable of doing great and mighty things in your life. But, I think many of us have likely been on the receiving end of the first scenario at least once in our lives. Cinderella was belittled and treated like trash by her stepmother and stepsisters and though she was the rightful heir to her father’s house and had more right to live there and carry out a normal life, she believed the lies her step-family told her and believed herself unworthy, dirty, and nothing more than a servant in her own home.

The messages we receive throughout our lives tend to define and shape us into who we are. If we receive messages that we aren’t beautiful, we aren’t lovely, we aren’t accepted, everyone is making fun of us, we’re awkward, we’re dirty, we’re unworthy, etc., it is all too easy to believe those lies, especially if we don’t have someone in our corner standing up for us and countering those fiery arrows being shot at us on a regular basis. If we are told messages that we are beautiful and we are worth it, we have talents and gifts to change the world, we can achieve our dreams and make a difference in this life, often those people do just that and change the world because someone told them they could.

I weave elements of the Bible and Gospel into all of my stories and one of the biggest messages I try to portray in these books is the attacks of Satan against our beauty and our light and how he works tirelessly to destroy our beauty and diminish our strengths and might. He constantly tears us down and tells us how unworthy we are and fills our minds with shame and guilt, making us believe that a pure and holy God could never love or forgive us for things we’ve done or had done to us. We believe the lies that tell us we aren’t beautiful. We aren’t powerful. We have no hope and no future. This is our lot in life and nothing is ever going to change that.

Just as Aiden discovers a deeper family legacy that gives him more than just a half-blooded prince’s claim to the throne, we also have a deeper identity within each and every one of us. First of all, each of us were hand-crafted by the Creator of the universe and we not only bear His image, we carry His very breath in our lungs every time we breathe in and breathe out. The fact that such a mighty Creator would pay attention to each and every one of us with so much attention to detail that He knows the count of the hairs on our heads shows a great love and affection for us that you won’t find in any other religion or belief system in this earth. Second, the Bible also tells that we are heirs with Christ. A royal priesthood. Set a part and holy. Do you know what that means? God is the Highly Anointed King of the Universe. He is the only One worthy of that title and that means His Son, Jesus, is heir to the throne in Heaven. When we become believers, we become heirs with Christ. We are like adopted children who have been taken from the slums of the earth and brought into the palace of the King as His children and heirs. We have royalty in our veins, sometimes we just have to be reminded of our true identity and the sons and daughters of God we were created to be. God is a loving Father who anxiously waits for His children to return home. He wants nothing more than to take off our robes of filth and unworthiness and cover us with beautiful new robes that show the world exactly who we are.

What things are you finding your identity in today? Are you willing to let God show you who He says you are? Are you ready to step into your role as an heir to the King of the Universe?