Author's Note:

Hello my fellow homeschoolers and friends! After a very long unintended hiatus, I have returned to AP! I certainly missed writing for this site and I hope to not spend so much time away from it again! My life has taken quite a few crazy turns in the past few years, but I have also been mightily blessed! I finally graduated from college (again!) and have been working quite a bit. I am sorry to those who had to wait so long for me to post something. I have had a bit of a poetry drought during these past few years, but I hope that is ended now!

What does it mean
To grow in the Lord,
To conform and reform,
To press towards the mark?
What is the high calling?
I feel like I'm falling,
Not able to grasp it,
Asking "Why, what if..."
Unable to rest in,
Grow in, progress in
The knowledge,
The teachings of the Word.
My faith is fleeting;
My trust is so flimsy,
Yet my heart is ready
To say "Here am I!"
I need to run, to kneel
At the cross, and feel
The love that poured down,
To see the crown
Of thorns that pressed

We're on the way to a rally to hear our freedom ring.
To protest for the truth my heart will joyfully sing.

Though truth is the minority,
My God is the majority,
This my song shall be:
"May God's freedom ring!"

Now I will stand up, give my answer to the call,
And with God to hold me up by His grace I won't fall.

Though truth is the minority,
My God is the majority,
This my song shall be:
"May God's freedom ring!"

Who gives you your song
As you go along,
Through pain and strife,
On the road of life?
What brings you joy,
When you your songs employ?
Is it grace you portray
As you go on your way?
Why do you sing
On the first morning,
Or in the new day,
As you your chords play?
Who gives you your lyrics?
Father? Son? Holy Spirit?
Did God endow you?
Tell me please, is it true?
Do not in silence progress,
The answer is yes!
For if God is your song
As you go along,

[this piece has been redacted for publication in my school's literary journal!]

Wonderful counselor, almighty God;
Beginning and ending: creator of time.
You are the comforter and the rod;
Yet your punishment is deserved by far.
Your grace reaches farther than I imagine,
Your truth will be upheld through trials.
Though your truth threatens my life
I will remain true, by your grace I will stand.
I want to feel Your peace, know Your love,
I want to understand Your grace,
To use my life for Your glory; to save a life,
Lay down my liberty, if I need to.
When I think of the murder of babies,

i would say

i would say that this house is
too chilled in the winter air
and that i'd really just prefer
a really strong cup of coffee

but i'll take the tea all the same

i would say that you never
really told me why you picked
up your things and left
without any words

but i wouldn't understand anyway

i would say that this line is
taking too long--do you really
need to get that five cent
discount on hot dogs?

but it wouldn't accelerate the process

Love is patient, love is kind,
It is not a word, not a mime.
Love is not a feeling, big, or small,
It's something more, if I recall.
There is no greater love than this:
What?! To die? Not give a kiss?
T'was with a kiss Christ was betrayed,
Soon before He His true love displayed.
It was on a cross that my Lord died,
T'was His love for me that pierced His side.
God sent down His only Son,
And He the victory has won.
The dove was the sign sent from above;
The sacrifice was His destiny of love.

Our salvation is free: not cheep;
The blood and the water run deep.
Why do I hang my head and cry?
Because for sin did Jesus die.
In Christ we are a sacrifice;
It is His blood that sanctifies.
He has purged away our sin;
In our hearts He entered in.
It was not me that was smote,
Time forgets; please God I won't.

Father Son and Spirit three but the same;
Christ is my God: He knows my name.
He knows my name and He gave it to me,
Before He made the skies, the earth and seas.
His name is love, forgiveness, and grace;
He knows my name, It's stamped on my face.
The name of Christ is written on me;
Signed with blood when He died on the tree.
Joy, oh joy, in heaven I have a place!
I know that someday I will see His face.