I am not my family tree
These are different leaves, you know
There are miles and miles between
My roots and what I’m trying to grow
I am not the slave they sold
Nor am I royalty
I’ve worn them both, the finest coat
And rags that barely cover me
But there’s mercy in the soil
Mercy in the sun
Learning to forgive
What cannot be undone
And what was meant to harm
Can’t harm you in the end
Stepped out on a limb I thought might break
But Love said, it will only bend
It will only bend.
I am not my past mistakes
Labeled by some place and time
Nor am I trophy case
Trying to maintain my shine
I have dreamed a thousand dreams
Watched a grain in famine, grow
I am not my family tree
I have branches of my own
Oh, does fate resign us to
Find shelter for our wounds
Beneath the battered roof of broken dreams?
Oh, but I will choose to stand
In the shadow of Your hand
And see what grows when Grace has sown the seed

Brandon Heath Nordeman/Herms