WOV'N
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
info
The Sisterhood
Now, I’d like to tell you what WOV’N is on the inside. WOV’N is not just an organization of women. It’s a sisterhood.
As women who have experienced challenges and adversities during our youth and early adulthood, we have formed a special bond. That bond not only supports us in our work together, but also enhances our growth – together. That bond is a sisterhood.
As sisters, we can see the beauty in each other, inside and out. We can talk to each other from the heart. We listen with compassion, without judging. Where she is weak, I become strong. Where I am weak, she becomes strong. Because, as sisters, we lift each other up.
“She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink...”
– Barbara Alpert
PRAYER FOR MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS
Our Father Who art in Heaven
Jehovah God only You are Holy
For all that You have done for me
I praise and worship You only.
I pray you bless your children
All over this world
Every man and every woman
Every boy and every girl
Oh Lord, I have sisters on the other side of this world
On the other side of this country
On the other side of this city
On the other side of this microphone
They may not look like I look
but they bleed like I do
They may not talk like I talk
But they cry like I do
They may not walk where I walk
But they fall like I do
They may not think like I think
But I pray they rise like I do
Oh Lord, bless my sisters
My sisters who have been
Beaten, battered
and abused like I was
My sisters who have been
slapped around,
stepped on
and misused like I was
Lord your daughters carry the weight of the world on their shoulders
Often we neglect our own care to mend the pains of our children
And we put aside our own needs to sooth the souls of our men
There are times we starve our own desires to offer a stranger our last ounce of hope
So Lord, give my sisters the strength to endure whatever may come
The wisdom to go the right way at the fork in the road
The courage to tread her own path when the time comes
And the audacity to love herself through it all.
But Lord, I also have brothers on the other side of this world
On the other side of this country
On the other side of this city
On the other side of this microphone
My brothers are stronger than I
but still they bleed like I do
My brothers have base in the voice
But they still cry like I do
My brothers stand taller than I
But they still fall like I do
My brothers have to be brave to make it in this world
So I pray they still rise like I do
Oh Lord, bless my brothers
My brothers who have been
Beaten, battered
and abused like I was
My brothers who have been
slapped around,
stepped on
and misused like I was
Lord your sons hold responsibilities that are greater than themselves
For far too many have been imprisoned in fatherless homes to grow up and define for himself what a man is suppose to be
They are often enslaved by a society who cares more about their bottom line then their peace of mind.
Then when it all goes wrong, we point our fingers and tell them to “man up.”
So Lord, give my brothers the strength to endure whatever may come
The wisdom to go the right way at the fork in the road
The courage to tread his own path when the time comes
And the audacity to love himself through it all.
I offer this poem, this prayer
In the Great name of Jesus
Amen.
WOV'N
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
info
