Soldier Girls

Born
Brave

is the album I've always wanted to make. It gives voice to the many stories that have helped shape my life. I hope it gives you strength as well.
Born

I started writing this song early one morning when I was faced with all sorts of personal discouragement. It can be easy to look around and feel miles from where we want to be in life, on all levels.

You know those days when you feel like your life keeps hitting brick walls? It was one of those.

Out of that frustration I tried remembering what I'm really here for, and what I DO have, all around me; what my responsibilities are exactly where I am, and what my life IS good for. What am I here to do? What am I born to be? There had to be purpose, despite feeling like all expectations were lost on me.

Discouragement turned to appreciation. It jogged me back to my past, the people I came from, reminding me I have a legacy of those values to leave when I'm gone. I'll never forget where I was that morning when the lyrics and melody started ringing. I think I sang what I had written on that song 100 times, at least, the day I started to writing it. It was like the best prescription for what was ailing me. Still is.
whats your story
Born

I was raised to be BRAVE
To stand up & stand out
To wear my name like I know
The people I came from & who I am now.

There's a banner held to the sky
Down through the ages it's been held high
And I've found fearless blood in my veins
That makes me the lightning every time it rains

I was born to stand tall
I was born to face the wind
I was born to feel heartache and heal again
Born to open up my heart
Raise my hands and sing
I was born to fill the measure of my wings
To be a light in the storm
I was Born

I want to live until I die
Leave a fire in my children's eyes
So they can run through the fields
And feel that sweet wind lift their dreams

Cause
We were born to stand tall
We were born to face the wind
We were born to feel heartache and heal again
Born to open up our hearts
Raise our hands and sing
We were born to fill the measure of our wings
& be a light in the storm
We were Born

When your fire's burned down to the embers
Just recover and remember

You were born to stand tall
You were born to face the wind
You were born to feel heartache and heal again
Born to open up your heart
Raise your hand and sing
You were born to fill the measure of your wings
To be a light in the storm
We were born
I was Born

(Katherine Nelson, Jason Deere)
We Are

It's important to remind every young girl and young woman who we women are and the role we play. We are nurturers by nature. We are strong. We are the emotional backbone in society. It seems so much rests on our shoulders to lift and inspire the people around us: by educating, leading, and loving. Are they getting that? I picked up my guitar and started writing the first few verses of this song thinking about all the amazing women in my life I look up to. I could see their high heels clanking on the pavement as they juggled the world on their shoulders, with grocery bags and briefcases in their arms, and kids around their ankles.

As a little girl I couldn't wait to be all grown up, wearing high heels and lipstick. I recall my sisters, cousins and I having fashion shows at my Grandma's house, getting all dressed up in her glittering gowns and heels drowning our adolescent frames. As a woman and mother, I've often wondered if I am giving my daughter something to look up to as she ages and eventually grows into her first real heels? Am I honestly portraying what a woman is? With all the beauty and joys that come with it? Will she have an understanding of that role and want to live it (even with all the stretch marks and sleepless nights)?

So, I wrote this song just in case she doesn't know...
whats your story
Soldier Girl

A lifetime can be seen like a landscape. From beginning to end there are hills, valleys, canyons. Sometimes we stumble onto grounds where skies are full of thunderstorms and we're wading through deep trenches. It's in these battlegrounds we discover what we are capable of enduring. This song came after a long fight to keep my own feet moving when things were really, really hard. "We carry the Hope of years..." refers to our personal little army of support we have both on earth and in Heaven, holding us up so we can bravely make it through.
whats your story
Soldier
Girl

(For the strength and faith we boldly bear from the courageous women who came before us)

Driven thru the wild rain
As we cross the river
Storm ahead and clouds on our backs
Only grow stronger
Still we march on through like thunder
'Til the battle bids us come

We go in the face of fear
Drawn swords and our souls unfurled
We carry the hope of years
We're soldier girls

We've covered the fields and the floods
Just to wade in the trenches
We danced when our feet carried on
And sang when they couldn't
With our hemlines drenched in mud
We reached for God from where we stood

()

Oh you wounded fallen ones
Close your eyes
Hear the battle drum
The cadence calling us
March on
March on
Oh you wounded broken ones
Still glinting in the sun
Live trying 'til we've won
March on
March on