Once upon a time in a land not so far from you there lived a certain princess whose true beauty was hidden to all mortals. Now, the Lord of Flies, jealous of her wonderful gifts from her father the God of Heaven, was suspect of having played a cruel trick on the princess at her birth by disfiguring her to make her appear a common boy. Tradition held that he placed on her a curse reserved for angels of the evil Lord of Flies. The curse Most Cruel, as it became known, was that if she revealed her secret to solicit any help she would loose whatever she held most dear. The princess discovered the curse and a part of her true birth right at an early age but was forced to hide her knowledge to avoid the effects of the curse Most Cruel. The princess wept bitterly night after night holding the truth deep within her heart knowing the years were claiming, moment by moment, the beauty she knew, but never fully understood, was locked away inside fighting to be set free. She could not see that the true curse was that the fear of the curse Most Cruel was robbing her of her birthright with every tick of the clock. Fear of the curse battled within her the loss of precious time as she continued to hide the truth.
For an half century the battle raged with momentary escapes where she could not contain that princess charm inside while she lived in terror that those that she had grown to love would not love her if her true nature was revealed. To this princess, that which was most feared was abandonment and the loss of love. But, the God of Heaven loved his precious angel so one day in her bitter Most Cruel prison she was directed to a wise and kind woman of the ancient kingdom of Siam who slowly trained her mind to see the nature of her inheritance and embrace the steps required to seal the blood covenant to reclaim her true inheritance. The princess, unwilling to let fear capture her entire life regardless of the price, accepted her inheritance by revealing her secret and partook of the costly ritual to seal the blood covenant then watched in horror for her world to disintegrate from the curse Most Cruel.
But God had prepared a cleric, a child of the true God who too had lived a secret life. Legend told how the cleric gained strength when he paid the price and revealed his secret to claim his inheritance. The princess grasped onto each word of the cleric as he proclaimed to the princess, and all who would hear, the most powerful 2 magical words in his kingdom which outshine the real curse, fear, from the Lord of Flies.
The princess, now bold in her inheritance from her father, exclaimed the words to combat the curse Most Cruel only to find to her delight that her world did not disintegrate but grew stronger and allowed her to help others with hidden claims of like kind. She now understood the truth, that the fear of the curse Most Cruel had given the Lord of Flies control over her. As the princess, angel and daughter of the God of Heaven, I now share those words with you so you can claim your true inheritance and defeat the Lord of Flies by removing fear curses that held control over your life; they are God’s words of a new covenant embodied through his son Jesus,
“Unconditional Grace.”
Sort of a different fairy tale wouldn’t you agree? But again, I am a bit different in the story book of Open Door Community Church. Oh, there are many parallels to my story with members of the church for we shared many of the same fears and struggles but then the outcome was considerably different for me for mine required not only a daily commitment to truth but a physical alteration of my body.
Let me give you the secret of the princess for if you look closely at the pictures of Father’s Day at Open Door you will see a woman in a blue dress standing with the other fathers. Well that would be the princess, KaDee Angel. I am unwilling to embrace any lie now for I have been freed by the unconditional grace of Jesus Christ. I am the father of 2 sets of twins and grandfather to 4 grandchildren but I am also now a complete woman. Some would call me a transsexual but I prefer, if you must use labels rather than my name, “woman with a trans-gendered past.” I came to Open Door terrified of rejection from family and friends for I was about to embark on a journey I knew well from having been a leader in the community and a journey I would wish on no one.
I began my transition from male to female as part of Open Door congregation and completed my life test as a supporting member of the church. When I left the USA for sexual reassignment surgery in September 2006, with my friend Lynne in tow, it was with the full blessing and prayers of Open Door and Pastor Randy for both of us. When I returned a month later I came back with an unexpected bonus for I’d been privileged to lead a woman, Angela, to accept Christ in a hotel room in Chonburi Thailand . Amazing grace huh? And I thought I was going there for me. Open Door stopped the service when we arrived and presented each of us with flowers in a standing ovation to honor the triumphant victors over their fears which had given them a lifetime of mental agony. Angela, a native of the United Kingdom was later baptized at Open Door and now claims it as her church home as she now claims Lynne and I as her beloved family. Since then I have also been privileged to add to the roster two other girls of like princess inheritance in the name of the Son of God. Open Door is about Christ and his grace, not about differences. We are about inclusion not exclusion. We minister to the wounded rather than condemning them. Try us and you will see.
The “magical words” of unconditional grace gave me courage to face the “curse of fear” which was really only a lie of Satan. My fear was not of man but of God; I feared God had damned me after making me different but there was the inconsistency of “why me” for I knew God was the fairest creature in the universe. A student of logic, I asked the harder question, “Why not me?” The answer was simple and not fatalistic yet long in coming. God had chosen this gift for me and since it was such a difficult pathway, when I walked it fully in his grace, the glory I would bring to his name would far exceed that of those who walk the wider path. No, the curse Most Cruel never came to flower for I have not been abandoned and I have seen God’s hand too many times in my life since I stood up to the tradition bullies to think things will degrade. My church….my work…. my siblings…my children….my grandchildren…. and my father….have all accepted me just as I am. Oh yes, there were severe costs that ripped out chunks of my heart and soul, my former spouse for instance. However, the one person I could not face was my father, a simple hillbilly roofer, whom I loved with all my heart. My sister told him of my impending change and he asked if this is why I had not visited him. She told him I feared he would not love me any more. His response was, “…I love him because he is my son and if not, I love her because she is my daughter.” We are still close and he was as good as his word. The curse of this princess has been broken and you too are an heir of God through the promise of these two words which Open Door brought home to me,
“Unconditional Grace.”
This testimonial is from KaDee McCormick, a member of Open Door Community Church.