Friday, September 10, 2010

Author Jena Morrow shares her heart



Jena is the author of the newly released title, Hollow, published by Moody Publishers and is working as a counselor at Timberline Knolls, a residential treatment center in Illinois for women with eating disorders. Jena is passionate about three things: her love of Christ and His people, her love of writing, and her desire to share a message of hope with those who struggle with eating disorders. This poem was written for the girls she presently works with in treatment.


"Waiting for the Artist"

for the TK girls


She stands beside me,
Waiting for her ride.
Soft downy hair on her
Arms and cheeks
Catch sunlight.
She clutches at her belly,
Hunches over, face a grimace.
"Ohh," she moans, and her eyes
Become strangely familiar --
Mirrors of a sort, they show me
A girl of yesterday.
A girl of sorrows.
A girl who knew too much
And felt too little.
Her eyes remind me of that girl,
Whose body I once occupied,
Whose wasted frame I lived within --
If you could call it living.
"I'm so FULL," this girl
Laments to me now, and I
Smile with empathy. "I know," I say --
Which is to say, I remember.
"It will go away," I assure her,
And she appears to want to believe.
Full, she says, and I have to wonder --
Full of . . . ?
Of fear, of dread, or shame?
Of a tentative, undying hope?
Of a will to go on,
To push, to trust, to try?
This too, I remember, this mosaic
Of emotion -- broken pieces of a life
Once believed to have been whole --
Of a heart, a soul, a self.
Broken pieces, waiting --
As my girl waits for her ride --
Waiting for the Artist to pick them up
And lie them down again
In all new places, with all new purpose --
Waiting to be arranged into something
Even more beautiful
Than they might have been
If they had never been broken at all.

Jena's success in life is attributed to Christ, but it is her transparency that endears her to so many of us. Please visit Jena on FB, twitter and her blog post, I'm Just Sayin'.

From my heart to yours,
Diana

4 comments:

Elaine W. Miller said...

Beautiful, Jenna. Thanking God for your life and the light that He is creating from dark days in your life. Keep shining!

Jeanette Levellie said...

"Waiting to be arranged into something
Even more beautiful
Than they might have been
If they had never been broken at all."
Wow, Jenna.
This is my favorite part of your poem, and my favorite aspect of God--that He can make us more beautiful than we might have been if we'd not been broken.
I love your heart to help others heal by sharing your wounded places. May He use you more and more, this gracious Artist.
Love you,
Jen

Millie Samuelson said...

WOW -- totally and awesomely and so VERY beautifully true on multiple literary levels. . . plus marvelously inspiring. . .
(On another note -- unfortunately, I LOVE adverbs, and they're somewhat out of style these days, but I know you'll kindly tolerate my using them). Weekend cheers! :-)

texan girl said...

i feel grateful to be on this side of the poem, on this side of that painting. Thank you, Jena, for all that you have done - you and all of the wonderful and inspiring counseling staff at TK- who helped break me, shape me, and mold me into a Believer of the Truth- that recovery is possible, that the painting will be complete, and that your love comes from a very true and honest place within. <3