{image is a gift for you to use and share however you’d like}
I sit at a table with books in front of me and for four hours they come. Beautiful women of all ages, skin colors and accents who have smiles that glow with joy. They laugh, chatter and kindly include me in selfies with their friends. I am in awe of them. Because in between the smiles they also lean in to tell me about cancer, prodigal children, parents who have gone home to heaven. Some even let diamond-tears slip down their faces.
They are everything I love about women:
That we are feminine and fierce.
Pretty and full of perseverance.
Gentle and wild-hearted.
Soft and steel-souled enough that life doesn’t break us.
Sensitive and never-surrender all in one.
We put on our jewelry and our high heels but also our armor and our swords.
We are not just women. Oh, no, we are warriors too.
Gorgeous Crystal Hittle, Premier Jeweler
Each of the ladies in the book-signing line had on her favorite Premier Designs pieces. Lovely earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings. Yet as I headed back to my hotel room the accessory I found myself thinking about most was the crown each of them wore. Oh, not a literal crown. I mean the one set atop her head by the God who “crowns us with love and compassion” {Ps. 103:4}. Those crowns may have been invisible but they sure showed.
You have one of those crowns too, did you know that? Because you are a holy princess, a true God-daughter, a woman whose identity cannot be changed or defined by her circumstances.
The saying goes, “I am woman…hear me roar.” But I say, “We are women…hear us worship.”
Hear us use our lips and our laughter and our lives to praise the one who makes us beautiful in a way beyond this world’s understanding.
See us pick up our swords of grace and do battle on behalf of each other.
Watch as we love and grow and fight with strength we never knew we had.
{And look pretty darn cute doing all that too.}
You, Woman, are a wonder. Yes, you. Wherever you are today hold your head high {crowns stay on better that way} and know you’re loved more than you can even imagine or see. None of us have it together but we’re all better together. So let’s help each other keep being the beautiful, strong women God made us to be.
XOXO
*****
p.s. My friend and fellow writer, Annie Downs, has a new book releasing today called Let’s All Be Brave.
In Let’s All Be Brave, Annie’s first book for adults, Annie calls you to grab hold of the brave life you desperately desire. Using honest and often humorous illustrations from her own life, contemporary real-life examples, and fascinating biblical stories, she challenges you to step into those places that require courage and gives you the help you need to take the next step forward . . . even when it’s scary.
Yep, you’re gonna want to get a copy.
