From the Heart
Funny the thoughts that come to mind when you are just sitting and listening to a group of girlfriends. Women are so relational. I love listening to the choir of their voices.
This week I gathered with 60-some of them.
I know some of their stories. My story has woven its way into the chapters of their lives.
I have laughed with them until I had tears running down my cheeks. I’ve cried with them when there were no tears left to cry.
I’ve seen them judged when no one knew the rest of the story.
I’ve seen them hide behind beautiful smiles when I knew their heart was breaking.
I’ve held their hands, rocked their babies and remembered them in my prayers.
As I sat quietly at a table I listened to their chatter.
I had these thoughts about them …
She walks with dignity when words have berated her.
She smiles when her heart is crying.
She gives advice that comes from years of learning things the hard way.
She sees with her heart, listens with her heart and speaks from her heart. Sometimes her heart hurts but she shares that with no one.
She loves with wild abandon knowing full well she will get hurt. She knows the risks of love but she is brave and takes a chance … and another one.
She sings with the sparrows and flies with the eagles. Her feathers have been ruffled and her wings broken … and yet she ventures out into the wind.
She is beautifully broken and that makes her radiant.
She adjusts the crowns of other women, never telling the world.
She gives praise where it is needed, yet reacts humbly when she is praised.
She is the calm in the storm even when her storm is raging.
She gives more love to those who make her feel less than.
She gives her best when she’s been given the worst.
She knows the power of words … to lift up others when words have brought her down.
She knows the words to the saddest songs but sings because she has learned to be happy in the midst of her pain.
She sees beyond what is right in front of her because she believes that someday … it will all make sense.
She knows the meaning of hope because she has suffered through despair.
Her faith is real because, at times, it is all she has had.
She is gentle because of her inner strength.
She will rise up early even after being up most of the night because she has things to do … for others.
Her complaints are few because her blessings are many.
She focuses on the good in others even when she has been hurt by the bad in them.
She is strong because she knows weakness will keep her from being all that she has been designed to be.
Her character and motives may be questioned but only by those who don’t take the time to know her and what she has been through.
The world may see her simply as a woman but her girlfriends know that there is nothing simple about her.
She is one of us.
Broken into beautiful!