Saying goodbye
To someone you love
Is like reading the final page
Of an amazing book.

As the last chapter ends
You begin to notice
Just how beautiful
And perfect
The plot always was.  

You appreciate the joy
And even the pain
As you read and thumb
Through every page.

Finally understanding
The moral of the story,
You realize you've reached
The end of this journey.

Although the last sentence  
Is the most difficult to read
Another great book awaits
Once you turn the final page.

Eventually you may stumble
Upon yet another great find.
Or maybe you'll return
To the book you left behind.

You may just discover
Once all is said and done
That this particular book  
Was your favorite story
All along.

thank You for loving me
thank You for never turning away when i did
thank You for never giving up when i walked away from You
and convinced myself that it’s alright, that i’m alright,
even when i woke up with a heavy feeling in my chest
and everyday was a struggle just trying to breathe without You

thank You for Your faithfulness
thank You for Your grace
thank You for Your presence surrounding me
even when i did nothing but spit on Your face
and curse Your Name behind closed doors where i thought nobody could see,
but come Sunday and i put on my best dress
and pretended to worship.

thank You for Your patience;
You patiently searched for me in ***** alleyways where You didn’t belong
where the enemy stripped me of my clothes and dressed me in shame
chained my feet
and told me lies after lies after lies
and how i believed him.

i sold my soul to sin and i thought i was shackled for life
but You came to me
and bought me with the blood of Christ
the price for my life was the death of Your Son,
and You said, “so be it, I will send Him.”

i can never thank You enough.

i will never fathom the depth of Your love,
how You sent Your Beloved to die
for someone so undeserving,
for a people like us.

thank You for Your love,
thank You,
thank You,
thank You.

my life is a gift for You alone, Savior King.

oh i can see it now, i can see the love in Your eyes
i can see it. i can see it.

thank You.

thank You.

thank You.

Transformation over time presents bounds and leaps
A different person back then, your conscious asleep

Moments pass and patterns arrange,
In the blink of an eye, it all changed

Planning ahead can be so ironic,
Being here now defies all logic

Please take off your shoes, you've entered into
The land of Nod Off And Forget
Where people try to get something done
But haven't done it yet

They forget why it is they're here
And nod off in between
They can't remember much of life
Because they sleep through the whole thing

They made for themselves a ruler
But nodded off during the vote
Forgetting who it was they chose
When it was they all awoke

So they wander around aimlessly
Not having figured it out quite yet
I'm not sure they ever will
In the land of Nod Off And Forget

To dream as a child
brings him to life
motivates his spirit
and fills his soul with hope

When those dreams are big
and seen as his destiny
they set his feet upon a path
that can lead to greatness

But the dream does not deliver itself
and the path cannot be traveled
without taking the first step

The second and third steps
must then follow
as the realization of a dream
requires dedication and work

This path is not for the faint of heart

To dream of tomorrow is not childish

I am the flower that didn't bloom,
The broken record, out of tune,
Oh won't you love me, please hear my plight,
Because you're the thing my mind plays at night,
A rich symphony in your right,
I give into you without a fight,
You fill my lungs with much needed air,
You can't go,
Don't even dare,
For without you, I fall apart,
And that unbloomed flower, left, with a broken heart.

A spiderweb cracks the sky
in oranges and reds
as I inhale deeply
the mountain mist,
I insist this place is Heaven.
Twenty minutes ago
the singing began
in earnest,
echoing off the white oaks,
those twisted hickories.
And in a frenzy,
Goldfinches
crack sunflower seeds
by the pound.
Oh the wonderful sound!
I love this place,
nestled near
the West Fork
of Wolf Creek.