One day I'll fall in love.

I'll fall in love with his eyes

And the way they look into mine.

I'll fall in love with his name

And the way he says mine.

The way he holds my hand

And I feel safe.

How he protects me,

Even when I don't need it.

How he reads my mind.

How we run together.

How we run towards the cross.

I'll fall in love

With half my heart

And together we'll finally become whole.

One day I'll fall in love

And it will be wonderful

Because he is.

It will be magical

Because he is.

It will last forever

Because love is longer

Than the one day you fall into it.

I saw this list
And it had all these ways
To build endurance.

It was all about being healthy,
Said you should stop drinking
Carbonated drinks,
Do more reps than you did last time.

But if you asked me
How to build endurance?

I'd say first
You pray.
You pray and pray
And ask for God to
Teach you
Endurance-
Which is basically asking
For trials and troubles.

And you enjoy
Every flower
And smell
Every rose,
Because
Endurance is about
Savoring the good times
While you're in the bad.

And endurance
Isn't one of those things
You set out to build.

It's one of those
Build it
Or be broken things
And sometimes
Build it
And be broken.

Because you never know
How much you can endure
Until the weight of the world
Is on your shoulders.

So if you asked me
How to build endurance,
I'd say prayer,
Trials and troubles,
Savor the flowers
In the middle of a hurricane,
Remember tomorrow
Will be a brighter day,
And drink carbonated drinks-
Because you never know
How long it'll be between.

What does a name tell you
About a person?

Because my name's Analise,
But at first glance,
It doesn't really seem to say
That much.

Analise means
"Grace,
Or devoted to God."
And if there is one thing I am not,
It is graceful.

I lisp and I stumble,
I'm awkward
And my temper can explode.

I should show more grace-
I've always heard
That it's receiving something you don't
Deserve.

So I guess
My name is a grace.

Because it reminds me,
Every time I sign it,
Of what I am not-
Graceful-
And what I should be-
Devoted to God-
And I don't deserve those reminders.

Because I do read my Bible,
And I'm not a horrible person,
But I lose my temper
And I say things I shouldn't,
Do things that would be best left undone.
But I'm still being refined,
And still being renewed.

I'm learning to exercise grace,
I'm learning to live up
To my name.

I'm learning to be graceful
And devoted to God.

I'm learning to be Analise.

“I’m an easy crier,
But sometimes I cry the hardest.
And my laugh doesn’t sound too pretty,
But I always laugh the loudest.

I’m a fast talker,
But I don’t lisp as much anymore.


I chew my lip,
I can’t tell you how many smiles
I’ve faked,
And if “I’m fine” is a lie
I’ve lost track
Of how many lies I’ve told.

Because I wear my heart on my sleeve,
I’ve earned quite a few battle scars,
But my heart’s always been for
The underdog.

I’m misunderstood,
Sometimes I laugh when I shouldn’t,
Sometimes I speak when I should only be seen.
I’m thin-skinned, not exactly loud-mouthed,
But if you gave me the choice
Of whether to whisper
Or shout,
I’d scream for all I’m worth.

I mess up,
I freak out,
I have nervous ticks,
Sometimes I use cop-outs.

I worry too much,
Sometimes I overthink,
Sometimes I don’t think enough.

I should be more careful,
I should be more selfless,
I need to practice grace,
Be less worried about my face.

But all these things
Make me
Me.

And yeah,
I need to be more selfless,
I need to not be vain,
But I’m going to have my struggles,
And someday they’ll be my past,
But I have good qualities too,
And they’ll always be part of me.”

I say "sorry" a lot.

I say it when you're sick.

"Sorry! Hope you feel better!"

I say it when I mess up.

"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have acted like that."

I say it when you say you're bored.

"I'm sorry."

Sometimes you say I say it too much.

"Sorry, " I shrug.

Then I catch myself.

"Sor-oh, wait."

I say it when you complain.

"Sorry."

I say it too much.

And I'm sorry about that.

One day someone said

They hated that word,

Don't you dare say it around them.

"Sor-wait. My apologies?"

I say it too much,

Maybe I should just not mess up.

So I'm sorry I mess up,

I'm sorry I say sorry,

But I have to admit,

I'm not sorry to say

I love you.

Someone started to call me
Different,
Caught themselves,
"You're unique."

Ma'am, with all the respect in the world,
Everyone's unique,
But not everyone's different.

Because unique
Means that you're you.
Which isn't bad.

Different means
That not only are you you,
You're the hero in your story,
You've climbed mountains,
Sailed seas,
Saw a million sights unseen,
And dream in colors
No one else has thought to create.

Unique means that you're
Different from other people,
But to the same level they are.

Different means that you
Broke every mold,
Nothing about you is reminiscent
Of someone else.

I am my own person.
I have my own life.
I dance to my own beat.
I color outside the lines.

Don't try to be polite
And label me unique,
You won't hurt my feelings
By saying I'm different,
In fact,
You might make my day.


So unique is good,
Different is good,
But remember,
I'm different,
And that's not bad,
In fact,
I rather like it.

So don't think of different as bad,
Think of a green apple
In a bushel of red apples,
Think of the first autumn leaf,
And then,
Think of me.