In the morning
I bend my listening ear,
And I'll hear the voice of God
Coming near, coming near.
I'll hear His precious call,
And I'll set my every move
To follow the Lord through all.

I know He loves me,
I know He cares,
I know He hears my needs,
Listens to every prayer.
I'll follow in His footsteps;
Follow where He goes,
He knows my every motive,
My joys and my woes.

Freedom is like a tree that has been growing on the street-corner ever since I can remember. It was tall and green when we moved in, but it gradually had more and more dead branches. Nobody noticed that it was dying until one day when it fell over.
Our freedom has been gradually taken away from us, but nobody has noticed because the government has been taking away one little seemingly unimportant right at a time, and nobody will notice how restricted we are until we are all in chains.

Wake up, America!

I hate Amerika, but I love America.

Always reforming, never done;
To be like Jesus, the Holy One.
Pray without ceasing,
Answers increasing,
Grace all-surrounding,
His love all around me.
Peace He will impart,
He's loved us from the start.

Life keeps running on and on,
Will it ever stop?
I keep singing random songs;
I'm spinning like a top!

Dishes here, and laundry there,
Children crying everywhere!
Never peace and never quiet,
Life is running in a riot!

I feel I'm juggling like a clown,
Science and History going down.
Math and Spanish twirling;
Oh! My brain is whirling!

Tommy, Dick, and Harry,
Amy Sue and Carrie,
I think I'm down to the wire,
My! But I'm getting tired!

"Because I'm obsessed with you,"
She says, we all laugh
"No, just kidding, that's Erin
I'll leave you two alone now."
And I am so grateful that you just
Let it roll off like you didn't hear her
Even though you probably know
She's right.

A river of tears flows from My eyes;
Because of your sin do I cry.
You do not heed Me, and often fall,
But I am still your All in All.

I will give you life
And
I will give you peace
And
I will be your comforting Hand.

I will be your strength
And
I will be your shield
And
I will be your own strong tower.

A river of life flows within Me.
The blood and the water run deep.
I will cherish you and wash you clean;
I will not judge you unjustly.

Picture a small child standing at your side, anywhere from eight to fifteen years old. Their arms are shrunken, and their belly is bloated. Their face is toneless and unimpassioned. Yet, these are not the most exceptional things about this child. Rather, grasped in their malnourished, clenched fists is a gun.

I’ll never forget the moment
I first told you that I love you,
thinking you’d be happy—
as happy as you’ve made me.
I can’t forget the fear inside,
watching your face fall instead.
Now you’re pushing me away,
telling me I shouldn’t stay,
telling me I shouldn’t love you,
that I’m better off without you,
certain I’d no longer love you,
If I only knew...

1. Unnecessary Sharing
He slides his eyes sideways to capture my reaction
I work hard to keep my face unchanged
It’s okay, no big deal
I didn’t ask for his opinion anyway.

2. Emote
Your face is an open book
You can transform into someone else
In an instant
I’m getting tired of trying to keep up
With your mood swings and changes
It’s too hard to help somebody
Who is so far gone.

FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK, ARIA WAS TAKEN IN BY THE TOWN’S physician, Cad had followed the town’s sheriffs the whole way to the physician’s house. His hands kept shaking and he cursed every time he’d ever fumbled for an arrow. Aria, Cad wondered. How could she have learned all of those fighting techniques? She’d never shown me those… But then again, why would she? Cad glanced at Silas who was walking nervously next to him.