There are lights, strapped up tight, on the tree, I can see. Presents with bows, wrapped in red and green, make a beautiful scene. Merry Christmas to all, and have fun at the mall.

I was sitting at the dinner table, trying to force the last carrot into my mouth. I despise carrots with all my heart and soul. Hezekiah and Thomas, two of my brothers, were sitting across from me, vying for the last orange root. I wondered at how they could actually fight over such a disgusting vegetable. Mother absentmindedly reprimanded them; she being busy trying to get baby William to eat his mush. Whilst he was sparring with Hezekiah, Thomas accidentally jabbed my little sister Miriam with his elbow. She let up a piercing wail.

I am Christmas
I wonder what brought that big bright star
I hear the angels singing
I see a baby in a manger
I touch the warm soft cheek of Him
I speak softly in His ear
I dream of the baby asleep on the hay
I am Christmas

This is a little bit personal but a poem that can be sung as a song.
___________________
THe snow has fallen
It's only a few days
But something's not right
About what's happening

I'm going through a change
And somehow Christmas doesn't feel
Like it's felt before.

But at this time of my life
I'll learn to love
And I'll learn to smile
Cause it raises me up

And I'll learn this time
This time of my life.

Chapter One

I will be nineteen years old tomorrow.
This past year has probably been the most intense year of my life... Me and myself at eighteen have been through a lot together - both brokenness and beauty. Such beauty...

O You who have loved me into life
will You catch my fall?
do You promise You will be there
if I give up the ground
and dare to drop
from the heights my heart has climbed to?
such a long way down
from self-possession
Hope, hold tight my heart
in the dark between the leaping
and the everlasting arms
the half-second fall
holy in-between
when the world holds its breath with mine
hanging by a hope
something larger than my life
O You who have walked this way before

I was thinking the other day, and I just realized that I have a whole lot of obscure knowledge. I know alot about various and sundry things...that most people don't know, or would even care about. Flax, for instance. Did you know that Flax is one of a number of plants that are used to make linen? Most of what we call linen today is made from the flax plant.

Sitting in the sanctuary,
I close my eyes;
Anticipating the rush of song,
that is sure to come.
Right on cue,
The choir starts singing.
My skin tingles as a soprano
soars up to an exceptionally high note,
And as a bass,
goes so low;
The room seems to vibrate.
Estatic, I lean back futher, half asleep.
I am suddenly jolted from my reverie by the
sound of thuderous applause.
The concert is over.
I struggle to my feet clumsily,
Joining into the clapping.