Dear Birthright Client,
Though I’ve never met you, I feel like we are part of one another’s stories in some small but deeply significant way. I have been blessed by Birthright, as I know that you have too.
I was asked recently to write a post for Birthright’s website about the strength of women. As I kept thinking through this idea, I found my mind and heart repeatedly returning to you.
Why, you may ask? Because, dear sister, I truly believe that you are one of the strongest women I know of.
You see, in my own life and in witnessing the lives of the women around me that I love, I’ve learned that strength is not limited to a physical trait or perfect power: It is found most completely in one’s resilience; in one’s ability to be knocked down only to return to her feet, to refuse collapse when it feels like the weight of the world rests upon her.
From my time working for this organization, I have been blessed to hear just small snippets of your stories: How you overcame domestic abuse to ensure the safety of your children. How you made your decision to carry your pregnancy despite being a single entity without the support of a family or significant other. How you graduated with honors and a degree while parenting a small child all on your own. How you made an adoption plan for your baby and labored with love so that a family could be made whole.
And it hit me that you, truly, are one of the strongest women that I know.
Having it all together and doing it all perfectly isn’t what made you (or makes you) strong.
No. It was coming to a tough decision, perhaps the toughest in your life in one of the most difficult places you’ve been, and deciding to reach out for support because strength isn’t about going it alone and finding the answers for yourself so that you could make the decision that was best for you. Your strength was, and is, found in your resilience; in the fact that the going got tough and you continued to move forward. Each step that you’ve taken to get to where you are now is a testament of your strength.
I have seen volunteers moved to tears by your story, by their interactions with you. I’ve watched them shake their heads in amazement of all that you are.
Though I may not have met you in person, I am absolutely marveled by you. And I want you to know, and the world needs you to know, that you are a woman of strength. In a time and space where perhaps it is so easy to feel as though you are unnoticed, your struggles unseen, I want you to know this:
You are seen.
Your efforts do matter, and they are making a difference.
Thank you for who you are, for what you’ve overcome. Thank you for pressing forward, because you have inspired me, in my moments of hardship, to do the same.
Remember that you are deeply valued and supported by all of us at Birthright, and if you don’t hear it anywhere else, then let it echo loud and clear from the depths of my heart to yours:
You are strong.
Love,
Faith
