So, all I have to say about this is WOW!!! My friend, Hannah, read this poem that she wrote in English class for a poetry competition. I wish each one of my readers could have been there to see it. If you could have felt all the air sucked out of that darkened classroom, if you could have heard the tremor in her voice as she spoke of her Savior’s love, you would have been amazed that any person on earth could reject His unconditional love. Sorry about the punctuation and slight typographical problems. But, truly all that doesn’t matter in the face of all the deep truths contained in these words. Well, before I bore you with my rambling, here is her poem-Salvation Gave Me Scars. I hope it touches your heart as it has mine.

Salvation Gave Me Scars
By Hannah

Where were you when I needed you the most
The feeling of love has become nothing more than a ghost
I gave him the knife and he stabbed out my heart
I am wounded, I’m bleeding, I’m falling apart

This dark room has become my church and pain my God
I have fallen in love with my own sin
I would stab him with the very knife he left in my back
To get back to where I once had been

I blame you and turn away and now I am trapped
By so many wounds
By so much hate
I desperately try to find a way out before it is too late

My hope has left me, my strength is gone
I no longer have the desire to see the dawn
I have given up. I do not have the will to fight
I am afraid to sleep, fearing it may be my last night

As I lie here motionless and let the tears fall from my eyes
I roll onto my back and look to the skies
All I see above me is shadow and cloud
I feel so alone and hear the silence scream out loud

I am through with this suffering and all of these scars
Hate has become my cage and I’m trapped by its bars
All I know is guilt and the bitter taste of pain
The thought of being alone again makes the tears fall like rain

I feel the sorrow wash over me like a great flood
I have lost my hope along with my tears, sweat, and blood
I’m past being forgiven.
I just can not get it right
I look back up to the sky,
its still as black as night

The tears finally stop
My body goes cold
What happened to the love and all the truths I have been told
The thing I need most is what I am trying to fight
Suddenly the clouds break
Could that really be light

Then it hits me. I have been lost all along
I drop my madness realizing this is all wrong
I have dealt with sadness and hatred in all shapes and forms
But the stars were always there, I just lost sight of them through the storms

I have never felt more alive or closer to death
The lights burn my eyes and the warmth takes my breath
I now remember the love I left long ago
It grabs a hold of me tightly and will not let go

You lift my shaking body up off the ground
My eyes are filled with tears, but I still see you all around
I want to run from you to hide my shame
I don’t deserve to be forgiven but you still call my name

I am covered in marks of madness, but you tell me I am beautiful with my scars and all
Even though I felt alone you were with me through this fall
You were no longer invisible when I became alive
You told me something true when all I have heard were lies

You gave me a second life and now I know forgiveness
Now I will shine for you though all I have known is darkness
You tell me you love me, you forgive me, I am free
I turned my back on you but my the real problem was me

You showed me your unconditional love
This gift will stay with me forever
I can not keep this to myself
I’ll share it with whomever

I once was lost but now I am found
I once was unstable but now I am sound
I must share this faithful love that has saved my life
That rescued me from darkness and made me put down the knife

We are all called to hold our hands to the wounds of the broken souls to stop the bleeding
Instead I went wondering around lost, not knowing what I am needing
I have never walked this road before, but with your help I can run
You have pulled me from out of the black and into the sun

It is true our hearts will all break along this winding road
But when we think we can not carry on you are there to help bare the load
I believe you saved my life so I could share your love
My suffering was not a punishment, but a gift from above

From that moment you rescued me on that dark and rainy night
I vow never to return to darkness but to always seek the light
Stories all have endings
All life ends in death
I promise to follow my savior until I draw my last breath

Until my life is over or until I begin to fade
I will share my story about all the mess I have made
I won’t forget my past but I will not let it control me
You broke my chains, made me new, and from my sins I am free.

As the rain falls on my window
I see a rainbow in my dreams
And the colors are the colors of my heart
Beating
While I frolic in the cloud fields
I’m on top of all the world
I see the colors, and the colors are the heart
Of what I’m feeling

I’m yellow with sunshine that’s shining on my face
I’m white with innocence and youthful grace
I’m blue with peace, green with life
And red with love that’s pulsing through my soul
My sweet euphoria, my rainbow

When I wake up from my dreaming
The rain drenches my face
And the colors aren’t my colors anymore
Dream over
As I think of all I’m missing
And I wallow in self-pity
All the colors, they have left me desperately
Searching for cover

I’m red with passion, calling out
Your name into the distance
I’m green with envy, angry you picked her
Instead of me
I’m black with hurt and disappointment
Why’s this happening
Where’s the rainbow?
I can’t dream
And where’s my rainbow…

A long-hidden jewel
In a leatherbound case
Enticing you, drawing you near
Deep in its pages
Adventure awaits
It’s calling you, “Come!” Don’t you hear?
Each volume a story
That needs to be told
And told in a truly new way
For though it’s been told
To the crowds many times
To you, it is born on this day
Each page is a window
Into worlds unknown
A step of faith toward the unseen
Each word a wheel turning
In one author’s mind
A picture of his living dream
Each letter a brushstroke
In an aged artist’s hand
A masterpiece dreading its end
For when the last page,
The last word, and the last
Letter is written-his pen
The instrument bringing
His vision to life
Is laid down and lifted no more
And the jewel of adventure’s
Locked safely away
‘Til one dreamer can open its door.

Soldiers going off to battle
Fighting wars with bravery
While we sit in comfort, knowing
That our freedom is not free

We pledge allegiance to the flag
That tells all we’ve received
Red stripes, the blood of countless soldiers
Proving freedom is not free

Let us not forget their service
Sacrifice to make us free
But, even more important let us
Not forget Mt. Calvary

Yes, the soldiers earn our trust
But, how much more should He?
The Son of God loved us enough
To give His life up willingly

And though the soldiers often give their
Lives just so we can be free
No soldier in the world has power
To guarantee our liberty

Yet Christ not only fought the battle
Dying, suffering agony
But rising from the grave He gave
The final shout of victory

Death has lost its sting, yet now
Through new eyes we may see
Jesus’ awful death reveals that
Truly-freedom is not free.

You wanted what I had
And didn’t know you already had it
So you let it slip away
Just like that

You wanted to be me
And didn’t know I wanted to be you
And have what you had

So many words left unsaid
So many years now gone by
Between my best friend and I
So, if you’re out there listening

I wish I would have told you
How my heart ached for you
Maybe you would not have bled so long
I wish that you could know how
Much I love you but now
It’s the end, time is gone
That’s the end of it all
That’s the end of this song…

That never could be sung
This bell I pointlessly have rung
I’m sending out an S.O.S
For my best friend
Longing to be rescued from
The lonely side of this radio
The lonely side of this song…

That never could be sung
This bell I never should have rung
I’m sending out an S.O.S
For my best friend
Knowing I will not be rescued from
This loneliness

The lonely silence of
This song

A-E-F#m-lowA-E-F#m-D