A Woman of Strength and Softness
Surrendered heart
Not surrendered identity
A strength to be reckoned with…
She does not demand respect
But you want to give it to her.
Her presence invites you to rest
In fact, she is like a tree
Holding forth nurturing branches…
Not a spider web
Trapping you for her soul food.
Her vulnerability is so lovely
You cannot keep your soul out of hers.
She is marked by a genuine kindness…
Of one who has already forgiven you
For how you will fail her.
She exudes the kind of strength
That trusts, and waits, and suffers…
As unto God’s purposes…
Not her own.
She lays her life down
Like a lamb
Not a dog…
Her surrender flows from her love…
Not fear or desperation.
Her surrender is a chosen thing.
She lives in the vulnerability of her longing to be treasured
Her longing to be known
Her longing to be invited in…
But she lets her disillusionment tenderize, not toughen, her heart.
She does not hold the objects of her love captive
She does not make them pay
Or tie them to her with guilt
Or keep them in terror of her critical eye…
But rather lets them fly free
Enjoying all the more the reunion.
They get to choose to be with her.
She lives at the mercy of no one…
She is captive only to the Father
Thus she is free to love…
Even if it means she loses.
She chooses doing love over getting love.
By Lottie K. Hillard
