If I have a loving family--a devoted husband, And well-behaved children Maybe a pet or two In a nice cozy house, But have not Yahweh, I have nothing. If I have a rewarding job where I make a difference, Have a future, and good benefits, A nice salary with options, And a convenient location, But have not Yahweh, I lack all. If I have all the things--a big house and car, Vacations every year, All the latests conveniences, And money to spare But have not Yahweh, I am only temporarily enjoying what can never last. Yahweh is righteousness, Yahweh is joy He is peace, love, and the light in the darkness Yahweh is everything! The first and the last, everlasting to everlasting Yahweh never fails! But where people are fickle and things disappear, this One thing remains Always there is Yahweh, the Greatest Above Anything.

How far did the Wise Men travel Over desert, mountain, sea? How much did they spend To outfit their caravans, And purchase the gifts three? How long did it take them to come? A year or two at least. To find the Child that was prophesied To be the King of Kings? These men who studied and found In books that He was to come Could they do more Than those of us Whose spirits have been awakened? Could we give up years of our lives Or everything we own Making enemies of other men To see Christ in the full? But I will lay my life down Like the wisest kings of old Like the drummer boy who gave his toy To the One who deserves all. And I will live my life For the glory of my God For He is all And more than that: Greater than words can say in a poem.

When your Father asks something of you You comply When He says "Let this go," You let it die When He asks you once again To let Him come deeper in You say "Yes and Amen" And welcome life. When your God says, "I am faithful," You believe When He says, "You are capable," You agree. When He says, "It's time to go," You stand and you know That it's time for deeper flow And say, "Watch me fly!" When your King says, "Come and worship," You enter in. When He says, "I am worth it," You simply grin For that you always knew Deep inside of you This immutable truth In day and night. When Yahweh says, "It's time," You say, "I'm ready." When He calls you out to shine You don't hesitate For His Word is what will be So now everyone can see The glory that He brings: Everlasting light.

To the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" (for my students) Do You Want to Go to the Office? Do you want to go to the office? Or will you get to work? We’ve got some learning to do now It’s classwork time, c’mon don’t be a jerk. We used to be best buddies, but now we’re not You’re getting on my last nerve! Do you want to go to the office? Or you can behave and stay out of the office You decide. Do you want to go to the office? Or do you want to stay and learn Be a productive member of our class Get skills that last, and my respect you’ll earn We could work together, or we could not And in the office they’ll make you cry Do you want to go to the office? Or you can be good and stay out of the office You decide. Listen can you hear me? I am talking to you You’ve been making some bad decisions now But you can change how Your behavior makes me think of you You can sit in the office until the bell rings Watching

I wake up feeling low, like I could do no right The candle's burning dimly, can't illuminate the night All mistakes and guilt swirling in my mind I just want to feel like I'm enough this time And so I ask myself What have I ever done to make you hate me so? Why do you not think I'm worth defending? Yeah, it's getting better, but sometimes I feel low Like I'm not worth the price Yahweh is spending Then I hear a voice, a whisper in my mind It says I made the choice to leave my life behind To put my faith in Yahweh and every Word He speaks And just because I do this, I become complete And the voice replies You have never done anything to make me hate you so. You're worth defending I died for you, you know I have faith in you, in all that you will be Simply because you've put your faith in Me. I don't for one second regret dying for you In you I've placed all Heaven, that you I can shine through You will be my glory, you are

In a world where the blind lead the blind What responsibility have those of us with sight Can we choose to settle back and in the shadows hide Or shall we stand in front of crowds and let Yahweh's light shine? In a world unable to hear, can we show the way Allowing Yahweh's spirit to lead, lighting the path each day Or will we in the darkness cower, afraid we're not enough Not knowing that it's Yahweh's power working in and through us? But I will stand, though my knees tremble, knowing this to be true How can one to whom light's given keep the light from you? And how could I, loving my Father, and knowing what He's done Keep from Him the joy He saw when He gave his firstborn Son? So now it's time to step on out, no longer in shadows to hide No longer will I walk in doubt and hide the light inside For I have more than many people, the Word of Yahweh in me, And in showing it to these many people, I give them grace to see.

Narnia Peter took the sword, held it in his hand “Take your family and go” was the witch’s demand But Peter wanted more than just to be safe He wanted to be part of something really Great He was given a choice, he was given a Mandate He could shake his head and run Or in fighting he could stay But what if I’m just a boy, a child in my own eyes What if I cannot stand and win against the lies What if no one hears me or cares what I have to say What if I am just a child, not a King in any way I want to make a difference, but how could this be? That I can change the world and help to set it free. Susan took the arrows, the horn to make a call Gentle in nature, she could outshoot them all But though she cared so deeply, she wondered if she could Climb a mountain so steep and reign from whence she stood She was given a choice, she was given a Mandate She could take her life and run Or in fighting she could stay But what if I’m just a girl

I am awesome Beautiful Wonderfully created Loved by my Father Glorious Walking out my purpose Faithful Joyful Free And confident My Father is pleased with me Because He has empowered me to please Him. Cassondra Shining before man. Just as I was called I am me!

I want to know that I am loved That no matter what I do or what I think Or what I feel or what I say I am unequivocally and irrevocably loved. I want to know that I'm important That no matter what happens around me I can make it better, make a difference Not with striving or struggling But just by being me. I want to know that I am valued That other people see the treasures that Yahweh hid inside of me And they want to make a draw on them, So they can have them too. I want to know that I can see That the way I see the world Is rightly aligned with the way the world is, The way Yahweh made it. I want to know that I can change the world That my purpose will be fulfilled to the fullest And because I've lined up with Yahweh, Things on Earth will never be the same And Yahweh's Kingdom will be a little more manifest In this natural realm. I want to know that, even if I make a mistake, Yahweh's got this. He saw before time the plans He laid out f

Man used to live to be 900 years old. Now our days are but 120 years. But what if the human lifespan were only twelve hours? That by the time the twelfth hour rolled around, you were already like a 90 to 100 year old man or woman? What if you were born at 7:00 p.m. in the fall? Just as your mother was giving birth to you, twilight was approaching. Your first view of the sky held streaks of yellow-gold and purple, but it quickly disappeared, and your memory of that time is dim and vague. But by the time you were one hour old, the sky was already dark, a midnight blue with only pinpricks of lights therein. You are old enough, now, to wonder, to ask questions. Why do we live in a world of inky black with only small points of light to guide us on our way? Your mother, who is already middle aged by now, tells you that the pinpricks are stars and that there is a time when a greater star comes out and illuminates the entirety of the sky. The whole earth shines in its splendor and the sm

There is something to be said For a nice, rainy day When I don't have anywhere to go Rest For tomorrow, we work!

I love words, how they form worlds How each word has a world of meaning inside I love How the Hebrew word for heart Leb Sounds like a heartbeat And the Name of Yahweh Sounds like a breath I love How the root word of Identity Means "oneness" Because only in being One with Yahweh Can we know who we truly are I love how the Spanish word For butterfly Mariposa Rolls off the tongue And flies away in the air with a flit of its wings Just like the creation it describes And it leaves behind an impression of beauty After it has flown I love how words can take on new meaning While still preserving the old How legit sounds so new And legitimate so old But both have to do with righteousness, Meaning "lawfully begotten" at the root. I love how sound and meaning Come together in a word To create a new thing, a good thing When words are used properly. The sheer power of creation Overwhelming in its ability Living inside my mouth, on my tongue

My heart beats with a passion The rhythm of the hills The wind blows with a fury It's never standing still I move on with a frenzy Blowing across time I dance here in a corner Letting the light shine But I know that the flow is coming And I know that the waters roar And I know that the day surrounds me Like it never did before And stand here in Your Presence Where I never used to be And I find You waiting And you whisper to me Shine on, My love, for I have made you a light Let's go, let's run, let's leave all fears behind And you'll see the visions that I've laid out for you And I'll see My glory as the visions come true And the wind blows across the face Of the land that You made From the tops of the mountains To the depths of the lakes And all around the universe Throughout all space and time We can hear the echoing Of the Words of Your design And I stand here in Your Presence Where I will forever live And I wait here f

A sound It begins softly at first, A whisper, a lullaby, born on a breeze And then it grows louder A wave on the shore, a heartbeat The sound of your blood rushing through your ears A CRASH! It's positively resounding Your head vibrates with the frequency of That sound, that voice It started as a whisper But it grew And it grows still Like a plant in the Earth that started as a seed But is now a mighty oak tree Like a savings account stewarded faithfully As month by month something was added unto it Like knowledge, fearfully and wonderfully gained Through painful experience and exquisite delights. It grew, this sound Into a mighty rushing wind, A tempest And then, then it crescendoed until it was so loud Your whole body thrummed in time with the rhythm of the vibrations Your heart beat in sync with this sound, this word, this voice And it is all you are and all you can hear and you throb With the sound until you think you will vibrate Shake Right off of

Once upon a time there was a burning desire Deep down To stick my hands in something, Move them and CREATE To mix things together in a new way Colors, scents, flavors, sounds In various proportions To make something A new thing A thing that's never been before To speak a Word, Decree what is What has always been And will always be And see it become right in front of me Manifest Substance Creation. Oh to be! Marvelous How marvelous it is to make something new.

How amazingly beautiful To walk in purpose To know who you are Where you are Where you are supposed to be And that you're there. How amazingly beautiful To see a harvest To know that the results you see Are the seeds You began to plant Long ago Sprung alive Into glorious plants Bearing their own seeds: Fruit! How amazingly beautiful To shine To know others can see What Yahweh has always seen To finally be able to see it in yourself To walk in the world, the place Yahweh has made for you And make Him And His Kingdom Known to the Earth! How good and pleasant it is to dwell with Yahweh How amazingly beautiful it is To live. HalleluYah! Yes and Amen.

The World Is a poem Written by the Hand of Yahweh, Spoken in His Voice Creation His Joy Let every man see May all know The Beauty of His Ornaments He set it in His majesty And we shine for His Glory For we are His Poetry.

The bird flew over the century, Drifting through the sky and looking down unto the ground To peer at things gone by. A great city there, With giant buildings, Cars and trains galore A horseless carriage, A single man knocking on a door A farmhouse small Alone it stands surrounded by open space The first one built upon this land By a man with endless faith A pioneer in  a wagon comes With little to his name Surveying the land, He calls it good And so he stakes his claim. And so the city there was built As he drove spikes into the ground Foundation laid and city made Though no one was around.