"The Girl Bound in Silk"~ A Short Story by Rachel Allen

Note to the reader: This story is best if it's read like a fairytale.

Once upon a time, a beautiful baby girl was born. She was the apple of her father's eye. The poor child's mother died in childbirth. Her father was heartbroken, but he knew that his daughter was his first responsibility. He fed her well and cared for her and loved her. But before he did any of that, he tied her wrists together with her mother's old silk scarf, one end tied to each wrist securely. His friends and family asked him why, but he just shook his head and told them, "In due time."
As the girl grew, her bonds grew tighter. He loosened them, of course, so she wouldn't be in pain, but he made sure that she could not take them off. He was still very kind to her, and she grew up with the silk scarf always present.

When she turned 10 years old, she began to question her father's intent, picking at the scarf and asking him why it was there. He always smiled, kissed the top of her head, and told her, "In due time."
Three short years later, the girl was growing impatient. She asked her father kindly to take the bonds off, but the answer was the same. She resorted to yelling and screaming at him, calling him names and telling him he was a cruel father. He would calmly send her to her room and told her, "In due time."
Finally, on her 16th birthday, she was sitting calmly eating breakfast. The scarf had grown almost too short to fit her, but she had stopped fighting it, accepting the fact that she would be bound until her father's word.
At that moment, her father walked in and told her "Happy Birthday." They ate breakfast in silence. When they were finished, he said, "I have a present for you. Hold out your hands and close your eyes." She obeyed, expecting to feel the cold metal of a locket, or perhaps the square corners of a wrapped box. She felt nothing.

Her father told her she could open her eyes. She opened them, but there was nothing to see. "Father, what is my present?" she asked.

He smiled, a smile that reached his eyes and went from ear to ear. He held up the scarf that had held her for sixteen whole years and said, "Freedom." Slowly, the scarf fluttered to the floor and lay in a crumpled heap. The girl stared at her hands for a moment, then threw out her arms and twirled. She danced around the room and swung her arms with all her might. Finally, the girl gave her father the biggest hug of his life. After a moment, she leaned back, looked him in the eye and asked him, "Why?"

He smiled, took her by the shoulders, and spoke. "When your mother died, you became mine and my own. I knew that here would be no one else to help me raise you. I could teach you what you needed to know, like how to read and write and cook and ride a horse and take care of it. But your mother wasn't there to teach you the rest. I bound you so you would learn to be strong, patient, loving no matter what, and know that there would always be something fighting you, holding you back. I love you, and I just wanted you to be the woman I knew you could be."

The daughter stood for a moment, then threw her arms around her father and cried. "I love you too, daddy."

The point is, God will use discipline to teach us strength, patience, kindness and love. But no matter what method He chooses, whether it's silk or a testimony or a someone fighting you, He does it because He loves you. And that's the truth.