Brenda

As the founder of the Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party Program, Princess Brenda is committed to teaching young girls ages 5 to 12 the art of self-esteem using practical life principles. She discovered these truths about helping as many young girls as possible. Princess Brenda will go anywhere, anytime, to assist in establishing a Princess of Purity Program, to guide Moms, teachers, or to tell the Princess of Purity story and bring hope and value to every young girls life. She would love to attend your "Kick Off" meeting or come sit around the table in your school, library, church, home or other venue and share about the program.

Princess Brenda has a dream of taking this program to the world. By purchasing your Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party Guidebook you will make it possible for many young girls to participate in their local Princess of Purity Program where they will learn that they are valuable. To quote Princess Brenda, "My hope is that you will be blessed and inspired to help change the world one Princess at a time through the Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party Program.

I was not raised knowing I was a Princess. I watched Disney movies but was never told I was a daughter of a King. Perhaps my passion to teach young girls the truth began there. I remember loving church, the sound of the organ playing hymns and Sunday school. In the summers my brothers and I would visit our Aunt Pat which allowed us the opportunity to go to Vacation Bible school (VBS). Perhaps my passion for wanting our daughters, family, sisters in Christ, know no matter what age, to know not just “who” but “whose” they are and that they are truly Royalty, daughters of the Kings of Kings!

You should probably know up front that mine was not a fairy tale childhood. But it was one that God used to make me the woman I am today with a deeply held passion for helping others experience the fullness of who, “whose,” they are in life. Today, as I look back, I can truthfully say that I am who I am because of every decision I made along the way.

In lesson 12 of the Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party Guidebook we talk about thinking with the “End in Mind”. All the while growing up, I never knew that phrase. My focus was more on surviving today. I have since learned, thanks to Jeremiah 29:11, that I can think with the end in mind. Why? Because Jeremiah 29:11 assures me that God has my back. The New King James Version says it like this: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. The Message says it this way, “ This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

I believe God gives us grandparents sometimes who are angels giving up their lives to make us feel whole and cared for. At least that happened in my case. My Grandmother, we called her Cindy because my older brother loved the song by Ricky Nelson “Get along home Cindy Cindy,” was sent to save, direct, and love my brothers and me. Cindy had a wonderful sense of humor, loved to laugh and she loved God’s word. Every night she read her Bible and I love those memories. We had a great relationship. She loved to play scrabble, pretty good at it too. I probably gained a lot of my vocabulary through our scrabble games. Cindy shared with me that her favorite word in the Bible was “and.” Today I think Cindy was telling me that she trusted the Lord with all her heart, her soul, strength and mind. She put that hope in me and my brothers.

At the age of twelve I got a new stepmother. Thanks to her, my world opened up to things I had never experienced before. A world I didn’t even know existed until then. It was a world filled with excitement, travel, and adventure and that experience opened my eyes to the beauty of this world. It was a world where I could dream and begin to know the things God was planning for me.

At age twenty-nine, God blessed me with a wonderful, handsome son, full of self-esteem and love. A son who knows who, “whose,” he is in Christ. Around that same time, God brought me out of a failed relationship and ultimately blessed me with a husband who helped heal the past and deal with my hurts, habits, hang-ups and pain. A partner who is my best friend and biggest cheerleader. This Godly man helped me truly understand the love my Heavenly Father has for me. “I now realize I am a daughter of the King of Kings,”, “I am a Princess.”

And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story.” I began a life of reading and studying Gods word, attending Bible classes and Christian women’s groups. At one of these group meetings the speaker was a wonderful Christian woman named Sue Bohlin. She told her story about discovering she was truly a Princess, the daughter of a King! I was so moved I stood up and said, “me too”! I walked away from that luncheon a different person. I told all my friends about this speaker and my experience. One of my dear friends bought me a real Tiara and gave it to me for my birthday. It was a life changing event.

Princess of Purity was born in July 2005. I had just finished four years as the PTA President at my son’s middle school. As PTA President I witnessed firsthand some of the challenges of being a pre-teen and a teenage girl. In a moment of anointing by the Holy Spirit, I began putting together what is now the twelve lessons of the Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party. With the love and encouragement of my Pastor and his wife, I got together a few girls between the ages of five and twelve and began teaching them the lessons. After the first few lessons, I could see a difference in these young girls’ behavior, attitude and self-esteem. I felt I should do something special for them. I just didn’t know what. My husband and I were having dinner one evening and I told him what was on my heart. He asked me a simple question. “If you could do anything for these girls what would it be?” Living near New Orleans, Louisiana, a well-known cruise line port, and knowing many of these girls had never seen the world much less gone on a cruise, I replied, “I would take them on a cruise so we could have time together and I could let them know how precious they truly are in God’s eyes.” My husband suggested we decorate our local church assembly room like a cruise ship and host a cruise to the “Island of True Love”. So that’s what we did. That first year we had 21 Princesses of all ages and 21 moms attend. Our “Cruise to the Island of True Love” event had five different religions and churches in the area represented. That event led to what is now the Graduation Ceremony in celebration of successfully completing all twelve Royal Lessons of the Princess of Purity Program.

Princess of Purity became my passion from that moment on. For twelve years I was blessed to teach the twelve Royal Lessons of Princess of Purity in my home church in Belle Chasse, La. Now we have chapters in Knoxville, TN and Utawala Kenya, Africa that have been touching girls lives for more than 10 years. Many of the young girls who have gone through the program are now grown and are using Princess Principles in their own families. With this experience God has now instilled in me a passion to bring this program to the world. I find it interesting, just as life changed for me after the age of twelve, the scope and audience of the Princess of Purity Royal Tea Party Program changed after twelve years. I’m sure those who are biblical scholars can find significance in the number twelve.

And we are not finished yet. Just as it has changed my life, Princess of Purity will change the lives of young girls everywhere. It will be a catalyst for them to become everything they are created to be and to do everything they are called to do throughout life.