Natalie's Poem
Carol:
You have read Natalie's story.
People who know her today can hardly believe the torture she went through.
People who knew her then can hardly believe the love and joy she spreads to all
around her today.
Natalie:
She stands, shaking yet sure. At her feet lay a pile of
old and rusted chains. Lifting her foot she steps out and steps free.
"Freedom" is a whispered promise that in her heart she knows is
truth.
One foot first and then the other, she walks through a scraggly garden as the sun comes up and warms the frozen earth. Ice slips off of plants once green, and frozen stone walls warm in the coming sun.
"Daughter of Zion, lift up your head." He speaks in soft yet assuring comfort. This warrior singing lullabies over her. Her fear still holds tight, unyielding and unrelenting in its grip. The wind picks up, the sun breaks through. She squirms; she's just not quite used to the light.
She stumbles in the direction of her fear. To take the wall apart in the same way it was put up: one brick at a time. With every brick she takes down, the garden around her begins to melt. She watches in wonder as life begins to bloom.
She takes the brick for hate and throws it down and in its place, from the rubble, rises Love, all petals and preciousness and new. She reaches for the next brick, wincing as she sees each night terror and bad dream. Shuddering, she remembers, as she lifts the brick high above her head; she lets it crash down with a thud, the pieces flying everywhere.
Exhausted, she sees the massive wall still before her, filled with anger, grief, shame, fear and self-loathing. Stack upon stack of situations and moments. Lies she believed to be true and things said and done to her in moments of trust.
She walks forward, confident and bold, and tries again to attack the wall, clawing and scrambling to pull more bricks out. She can't, though, and falls down, exhausted.
She hears the footsteps and suddenly He's there, wiping her tears and brushing her hair back. She stands again, bold and confident and sure. He reaches out His hand and whispers "Beloved, come" and with that, brick by brick, it crumbles at His feet.
"My Child, let me take these bricks, let me take these shards out of your heart. You were never meant to carry this all alone. Beloved daughter, I want to wrap you up in My arms. Find solace under My wings. I don't waste anything. Don't live in fear or condemnation, rise up and be free. I have declared you whole and new. No longer will you be a daughter of darkness. No longer will you be a slave to what was, but a child of deliverance. Because I have declared you free."
"I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts"
Psalms 119:45
One foot first and then the other, she walks through a scraggly garden as the sun comes up and warms the frozen earth. Ice slips off of plants once green, and frozen stone walls warm in the coming sun.
"Daughter of Zion, lift up your head." He speaks in soft yet assuring comfort. This warrior singing lullabies over her. Her fear still holds tight, unyielding and unrelenting in its grip. The wind picks up, the sun breaks through. She squirms; she's just not quite used to the light.
She stumbles in the direction of her fear. To take the wall apart in the same way it was put up: one brick at a time. With every brick she takes down, the garden around her begins to melt. She watches in wonder as life begins to bloom.
She takes the brick for hate and throws it down and in its place, from the rubble, rises Love, all petals and preciousness and new. She reaches for the next brick, wincing as she sees each night terror and bad dream. Shuddering, she remembers, as she lifts the brick high above her head; she lets it crash down with a thud, the pieces flying everywhere.
Exhausted, she sees the massive wall still before her, filled with anger, grief, shame, fear and self-loathing. Stack upon stack of situations and moments. Lies she believed to be true and things said and done to her in moments of trust.
She walks forward, confident and bold, and tries again to attack the wall, clawing and scrambling to pull more bricks out. She can't, though, and falls down, exhausted.
She hears the footsteps and suddenly He's there, wiping her tears and brushing her hair back. She stands again, bold and confident and sure. He reaches out His hand and whispers "Beloved, come" and with that, brick by brick, it crumbles at His feet.
"My Child, let me take these bricks, let me take these shards out of your heart. You were never meant to carry this all alone. Beloved daughter, I want to wrap you up in My arms. Find solace under My wings. I don't waste anything. Don't live in fear or condemnation, rise up and be free. I have declared you whole and new. No longer will you be a daughter of darkness. No longer will you be a slave to what was, but a child of deliverance. Because I have declared you free."
"I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts"
Psalms 119:45
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