Antietam

Today a dear friend of mine and I had a bit of a retreat if you will... we went to the Antietam battlefield, to a little bridge that is picturesque and amazing.  For me, this was supporting a friend, nothing more, nothing less.  I knew that we would have a great time together, and it would be good for me as well, but this was really all about her.  While we were sitting though, I started imagining the battle.  For those of you that know me, my imagination can go a little nuts sometimes!  But here i sit leaned up against a stonewall and I'm picturing the battle raging around me.  Then like a snap of the fingers, I saw what actually was going on around me.  This poem came to me after that happened.

Blood gushing, screams echoing
Water running, birds chirping
Bombs exploding, horses neighing
Crickets singing, cars purring


The difference, then and now
So stark, so contrasting
What must've been 
Replaced with what now is


Look around, all evidence gone
Grass so green, sky so blue
Not a trace of the devastation


But under the surface it still sits
Bloody tree roots, bullet casings
Life flourishes and covers


To an untrained eye all is calm
But to those that know
The battlefield awakens

Virginia Bluebell

Virginia Bluebell by Miranda Lambert


Carrying the weight on the end of a limb
You’re just waiting for somebody to pick you up again
Shaded by a tree, can’t live up to a rose
All you ever wanted was a sunny place to grow

Pretty little thing, sometimes you gotta look up
And let the world see all the beauty that you’re made of
‘Cause the way you hang your head nobody can tell
You’re my Virginia Bluebell
My Virginia Bluebell


Put a little light in the darkest places
Put a little smile on the saddest faces

This song has been speaking to me ever since I was in Colombia.  We as women all have things that weigh down on us.  And usually we feel that we are out on the edge of a limb and that everything we carry is going to crash down on us and we are going to fall hard.  Even the strongest of us feel that we want someone to bear some of the weight, or at least pick us up and carry us until things aren't so heavy. 

In our own minds, how many of us are really a rose?  How many of us really measure up to the "ideal" flower?  Instead we just want to be planted somewhere that we can shine and we can allow the sun to just soak into us.

The chorus strikes me hard because how many times a day do we as women tell each other how great we are, how pretty we are, what we have to offer the world, but instead of accepting those compliments, we blow them off. How easy is it to say to ourselves "she's just saying that because she loves me" or "if she only knew what's inside she wouldn't be saying that".  WAY TOO MANY TIMES!! I am the queen of this, ask anyone who knows me.  Every woman I know says that to themselves.  But sometimes, we just gotta look up.  I know that Miranda means this more as a confidence thing, being confident in yourself and others will see that, but I take it completely different.  We need to first of all see what God sees in us, so when we look up, we need to look up to God.  We need to hear His heart about who we are to Him!  Then and ONLY THEN can we allow the world to see the beauty that we are made of, because we will be receiving that beauty from our Abba Father, the creator and imaginator (don't know the word I am looking for so go with it!) of all things beautiful!  


So many times we hang our head.  Why? Because we forget that we are the DAUGHTERS of the KING OF KINGS!! I am working now on grasping in the deepest part of my soul that i am a woman of God!!!!  This is not an easy concept for me, and unless I miss my guess for a lot of you that may be reading this right now!  We need to grasp that and lift our heads up!! 


We as women of God have certain privileges, but more importantly we have responsibilities!  God has given us wondrous gifts that he wants us to use to touch people!  We have an amazing and wonderful opportunity to do what the "bridge" of this song says.  Put a little LIGHT in the darkest places, put a little smile on the saddest faces!  This comes from just being us, and allowing the true LIGHT OF THE WORLD to shine through us!!!  


My friends, women of God, lift up your head and let us all see what God has placed inside of you and the beauty that you are created to be!!  That is my prayer as I write this blog, and as I go through this week for all of you that may be reading it!  **abrazos(hugs)**