FREE Today: One Size Too Big

Ever felt like life was handing you a glass slipper—only to discover the slipper itself was a size too big?

We all love Cinderella moments.

We all crave stories where our happily-ever-after comes through against the odds.

And we can all think back to at least a couple of times in our lives when something that looked like an impossible fairytale actually came true.

But what about the times when we watch the dream come true—only to discover a sizing issue that threatens to turn our world upside down?

Halfway Through the Fairytale

Ever been absolutely sure you were following God’s footsteps?

Ever kept on following until you ran straight into a dead end?

Yeah, I’ve been there, too.

Most notoriously, as I sat in a small silver car at a U.S. Customs window on an April evening in 2022.

I had six weeks of luggage in the trunk, a Bible School acceptance letter in my purse, and a dream that this was going to be a Cinderella story to pass on to my grandchildren someday.

Yes, the world was in the middle of a global pandemic. Yes, the United States border was subject to restrictive entry guidelines for non-nationals. Yes, I was aware that I did not qualify for any type of exemption under the existing regulations.

And yes, I was baffled and confused when I was denied entry not once, but twice—had to cancel my Bible School attendance for the term—and spend the next eighteen months trying to trace God’s hand in a dead-end I’d been so confident He was leading me towards.

I Thought I Had My Cinderella Promise

That was the part that made the whole thing so confusing.

It wasn’t that I was denied entrance at a semi-closed border during an international crisis. It wasn’t that I experienced legislative discrimination in common with thousands of other travellers who had compelling reasons for wanting to be in the United States during the spring of 2022.

It was rather than I had been looking for a miracle.

Not because I had an entitlement perspective that I deserved a miracle. But just because I’d though God was telling me to expect one.

I had felt confident of God’s leading in attempting this trip. I had felt His peace about driving to the border and seeing what would happen. I thought He wanted me at Bible School that year.

And I thought He was going to make it happen.

What Does Cinderella Really Feel Like

When life sends us the makings of a Cinderella story, we have a tendency to recognize the script really well. The opening of the fairytale comes like a trumpet-blast, telling our rising hopes that we know what comes next.

The fairy godmother is about to swoop in and save the day?

Or is she?

We think we know what it would feel like to live in a fairytale. Have we forgotten what a fairytale actually looks like halfway through?

Today, I’m excited to share with you a new short story set exactly there—halfway through a familiar fairytale. It’s available on Amazon for FREE April 8-10 2024, so don’t forget to grab your copy right away.

One Size Too Big

By Courtenay Burden

What kind of a fairy godmother makes your glass slipper a size too big?

It’s the night after Cinderella’s dream came true. Only the dream is starting to feel more like a nightmare. As Cinderella huddles in her attic bed, it isn’t the memory of a gorgeous ball that’s keeping her awake. It’s a haunting question about a slipper that refused to stay on her foot.

Already insecure about her smaller-than-average shoe size, Cinderella’s world feels like it’s crumbling as she realizes even her fairy godmother seems to have forgotten just how tiny Cinderella’s shoes need to be.

How can the one person she’s trusted have made such an utter mistake?

One Size Too Big paints an untold chapter of a familiar and beloved folk tale, exploring the complex doubts and emotions we all face when we’re called to trust the Author’s heart—even before we’ve reached the happily-ever-after.

If you have a soft spot for sweet, clean fairy tales—including fairy tales with a twist—then One Size Too Big is a story you’ll want to grab today!

The End of the Fairytale

My adventure at the U.S. border in 2022 didn’t end with a happily-ever-after. It ended with a lot of tears—and a lot of questions—and eventually, down the road, some answers that made the unknowns easier to navigate.

Will I ever understand 100% why God gave me that sense of leading, only to close the door I thought He was leading me through?

Maybe not.

I have been able to see other doors open, that I would probably never have even glanced at, if I had been able to go through the one I thought He was leading me towards. I’ve been able to see how much better prepared I was, emotionally and physically, for the Bible School term I finally was able to attend in the fall of 2023. And I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I wouldn’t trade the memories, friendships, and growth of that term—even for the Cinderella moment I thought I was supposed to have eighteen months earlier.

I can see all that now—after the end of the story.

I couldn’t see it halfway through.

And neither, I expect, could Cinderella.

At least—that’s way I imagine her, in the short story I’m sharing with all of you, today.

One Size Too Big: FREE Today!

In case you haven’t noticed, I have a soft spot for Cinderella—both the literary trope and the fairytale itself.

One Size Too Big was born out of that soft spot. It was a very fun story to write, and I hope you’ll find it a fun story to read.

More than that, though, I hope you’ll let a familiar character remind you of a lesson we can all use when life gets tough: no story looks like a fairytale halfway through. But not matter where you are in your fairytale, you always have the choice to trust the Author’s heart.

Don’t forget to pick up your FREE copy today!

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