Pink hats and blood curdling screams! In the streets they riot for no reason it seems. The tall orange man stole the victory. Out from the hands of their savior he took it. It should not be allowed, burn it all down. He cannot do it not again. So they scream and howl like banshees caught in a holy place. On they rage, yes they are deranged.

I keep the curtains drawn and pull the covers back over my head. The sun peers through the window but I prefer dark skies. I have tried to medicate my pain away, but the numbness only makes things worse. At least with the grief, I know that I am alive. I walk around as if I am not with in my own skin. I see , I hear and know, but it is as if I am a spectator in my own life. I shuffle through my existence hoping that perhaps I will just quietly fade away like shadows of the day. I pass a mirror and I see the outer image of what the world sees, but behind the image I project, my eyes strain to hold the tears that are always present inside of me.

Drug needles lay in the streets while people live in the gutter. Neighborhoods fall apart as young men shoot each other over a street corner. A young teenage mother holds her child who is crying from hunger. Leaders bicker over petty politics while their is a civil war going on. People look out their broken windows at burned out buildings dreaming of a better life. Where is this hopeless place you ask? Just turn on your TV because this is America!

The alarm clock screams in my ears! The coffee *** hasn't worked in what seems like years. Is it my day or my spouse's day to take care of the kids. I need 5 more minutes please I wish I could have 10. I'm up and step into a cold shower because all the hot water has been used. I wipe to sleep out of my eyes and stumble down the hall through an obstacle course of toys that leaves me battered and bruised. I turn on the TV and there appears to never be any good news. My taxes are going up and the layoffs continue and then the weather concludes. More grey skies and rain oh, that's my everyday life. So I try to get some food down as my kids scream and holler in the background. I pull it all together and everyone heads out the door and then it hits me that the dog is still in the kitchen, I hope he hasn't done anything to my floor. So I get my house situated and drop the kids off at school on the Curve. Then someone honk a horn at me and gets on my last frazzled nerve!

Bark bark bark goes the dog with the cold nose. Pad foot pad foot as the k 9 walks along. Wagging the tail in happy refrain as a ball is chased on a sunny day. Man's best friend always wants to play. A loyal companion to the end, every dog has his day.

Snow flakes tickle your nose, but the blush in your cheeks is not from the cold. The howling wind bites at your skin, but you feel warmth from your head to your toes. Forget June and sunny days, ice crystals hang from the trees like diamonds in an exotic Garden. You look into piercing eyes as the mist of your breath can be seen in the air. A wedding in December with all white covering the Earth, two hearts joined as one. A winter spent in love.

I walked in sins darkness and didn't know the light. I was lost without hope and couldn't get it right. I was in a sea of forgotten people drowning in my shame. Then Jesus found me and I will never be the same. When I was lost in darkness he came to me, he called out to me and he set me free. Jesus broke the chains of sin , I was blind but now I see. In my heart I have Jesus and I will never be the same. Now I know for sure that he knows my name.