Becoming a Steel Magnolia

I want to become a Steel Magnolia.

I’ve always loved this phrase. Magnolias are soft, beautiful and alive- steel is hard, cold and unmoving. Steel magnolias are women who appear radiant and lively (possibly fragile), but their minds are strong and independent. They are women who know what is important in life and strive to live for these things. My two favorite classic southern movies, one with this phrase as its title, and the other Gone with the Wind, are packed full of steel magnolias. Scarlett O’Hara, the most infamous of women, was beautiful and strong. She would do anything for what she wanted. While many of her tactics were questionable, all she wanted was to live her life with passion and keep the land she held dear. Her sister-in-law, and complete opposite in character, Melanie Hamilton, was also a steel magnolia. Sure, she was fragile in health, but it was her strength in mind and passion for family that won over her husband, Ashley Wilkes. The movie Steel Magnolias is populated with strong southern women. Sometimes the life of passion and strength got the best of them physically, but they had a life well lived. I’m not saying that a move to a southern state automatically creates a Steel Magnolia, but as part of my move, I am exploring what it means to be a woman like these characters. I will not be seeking strength inside myself, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to be a woman of beauty and life, but someone that knows what she is living for and has the strength to make life happen. I don’t want to be a woman seeking a man. I want to be a woman that men seek. Not necessarily for my outward beauty, but for my spirit within.

You know who else was a steel magnolia? Belle. She had her own way. She didn’t follow what others expected of her. Her beauty drew in the most powerful man in her town, but she didn’t fall to his standard. She was an independent woman, seeking more than the life she was given. Love happened upon her because she looked past her circumstances and lived life, giving new things and new people a chance to open her eyes.