A Woman's Question

"This chills me everytime I read it. Her words show me to be the immature boy that I am, stopping me in my tracks and daring me to be man enough to treat a woman right. Some of the poem's wording might seem old-fashioned, but the message is timeless."
                                                                                            ~Joshua Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing

Ever made by the Hand above?

A woman's heart, and a woman's life--

And a woman's wonderful love.

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing

As a child might ask for a toy?
Demanding what others have died to win,

With the reckless dash of a boy.

You have written my lesson of duty out,

Manlike, you have questioned me.

Now stand at the bars of my woman's soul

Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall always be hot,

Your socks and your shirt be whole;

I require your heart be true as God's stars

And as pure as His Heaven, your soul

You require a cook for your mutton and beef,

I require a far greater thing;

A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts--

I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called Home,

And a man that his Maker, God,

Shall look upon as He did on the first

And say, "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose may fade

From this soft young cheek one day;

Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves,

As you did 'mong the blossoms of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and true,

I may launch my all on its tide?

A loving woman finds heaven or hell

On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,

All things that a man should be;

If you give this all, I would stake my life

To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook

You can hire and little to pay;

But a woman's heart and a woman's life

Are not to be won that way.

~Lena Lathrop~

That poem is my heart's cry for my future husband. Yes, it may be old-fashioned wording, but you can understand what it's saying. You can even translate it to modern-day words and meaning. I know it's long, but kind of like this:

So it seemed that it was cool for everyone to be in a relationship but me. So, I took matters into my own hands and ended up with him.
Him, who displayed the characteristics of a cheater, a liar, an abuser, and a thief, so why was I surprised when he broke into my heart?
I called 911 but I was cardiac arrested for aiding and abetting ‘cause it was me who let him in - claiming we were ‘just friends’.
It was already decided for me by the first date that even if he wasn't, I was gonna make him the one.
You know, I was tired of being alone, and I simply made up in my mind that it was about that time so I decided to drag him along for the ride, because I was always the bridesmaid and never the bride.
A virgin in the physical but mentally just a grown woman on the corner, in heat, and was tired of the wait.
So I was going to make him the one.
He had a form of godliness, but not much.
But, hey! I can change him, so I’ll take him.
I mean, he’s close enough.
Ready to sell my aorta for a quarter not knowing the value of its used to be - Arteries so clogged with my will that blocked His will from flowing through me.
So I thank Christ that His blood pressure gave His heart an attack that flat-lined my obscure vision,  put me flat on my back.
Through my ignorance He saw, so through my sternum He saw, to crack open my chest to transplant so I was 51:10 (Psalm 51:10).
A new heart and a renewed, right spirit within, so now I fully understand; better yet, I thoroughly comprehend how much I need to wait… for you.
 
See, the bad thing is that I knew he wasn’t you from the beginning.
‘Cause in the beginning was the Word and he didn't even sound or shine like Your Son.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and all he could whisper were sweet, empty nothings, which meant nothing.He couldn't even pray what I needed him to.
Asking him to fast would be absurd, so forget about being cleansed and washed with water through the Word.
But I know you. You are already praying for me.
Even never having met me, let me assure you, I will wait... for you.
 
I will no longer date, socialize, or communicate with carbon copies of you to appease my boredom or to quench my thirsty desire for attention and short-lived compliments from sort-of kind-ers.
You know: he’s sort-of kind of right, but sort-of kind of wrong.
His first name Luke, his last name Warm.
I won’t settle for false companionship.
I won’t lay in the embrace of his arms attempting to find some closeness but never feeling so far apart ‘cause I just want to be held.
‘ Cause all I gotta do is say, “No”.No more almost sessions of almost coming close.Passing winks and buying drinks and – I’m a, I’m a, I’m a flirt -
Who flirts with the ideology of: “Can you just tell me how much I can get away with and still be saved?”
No more.

I’ll stay in my bed, alone, and write poems about how I will wait for you.
He won’t even come close;
Our fingers won’t even interlock;
We won’t even exchange breath;
‘Cause I have thoughts that I have saved, and asked that Father God has only equipped you to open.I will no longer get be-raided down from so-called friends and family talks about the concerns of my biological clock when I serve the Author of Time – who is not subject to time, but I am subject to Him.
He has the ability to stop, fast forward, pause, or rewind at any given time so if we could role play, you would be Abraham and I would be Sarah.
Or, you could be Isaac and I could be Rebekah: a servant’s answered prayer.
I am bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh, made up of your rib, Adam.
And once we meet, like electrons I will be bound to your nucleus completely indivisible atom. 
We even speak the same math.
One plus one plus one equals three, which really equals One if you add 'em.
We were all created in His image, but you have the ability to reflect, project, and even detect the Son.
If I were to explain what you look like, you would have to look like a star – a son of the Son.
I would gain energy simply from the light that you shine on me.
I would need you in order to complete my photosynthesis.
I await your revelation but once again from the moments of genesis – I will wait for you.
And I will know you, because

 when you speak I will be reminded of Solomon’s wisdom;

your ability to lead will remind me of Moses;

your faith will remind me of Abraham;

your confidence in God’s word will remind me of Daniel;

your inspiration will remind me of Paul;

your heart for God will remind me of David;

your attention to detail will remind me of Noah;

your integrity will remind me of Joseph;

and your ability to abandon your own will will remind me of the disciples.

                    But your ability to love selflessly and unconditionally will remind me of Christ.But I won’t need to identify you by any special Matthews or any special Marks ‘cause His word will be tatted all over your heart.

And you will know me and you will find me where the

boldness of Esther meets the warm, closeness of Ruth;

where the hospitality of Lydia is aligned with the submission of Mary,

which is engulfed in the tears of a praying Hannah.
I will be the one drenched in Proverbs 31 waiting for you.

But to my Father, my Father who has known me before I was birthed into this earth – only if You should see fit.I desire Your will above mine, so even if you call me to a life of singleness, my heart is content with You. You are the greatest love story ever told, the greatest love ever known.
You are forever my Judge and I’m forever Your witness.
And I pray I’m always found in the mission about my Father’s business.
 I will always be Yours, and I will always wait for You, LORD.More than the watchmen wait for the morning. More than the watchmen wait for the morning,

I will wait. 



The Best Is Yet To Come...