This was written because as many of you know I have been struggling this semester wondering if I am doing the right thing. I have slowly come to realize that while I may not attend the college of my chioce, in many ways I my prayers are being answered and somewhere along the way I will find a career, though I don't yet know what that is, I will have learned and expirienced much in getting there.

A Quiet Prayer
I slowly sank to my knees on a warm summer day
soflty closed my eyes, opened my heart and began to pray
In voice soft and quiet, yet sure, I spoke to an almighty man
Spelling out my carefully plotted, and well thought out plan
I asked Him to bless me to learn, to grow, and appreciate
Things I thought, that in time I would find good and appropriate
I plead with Him to help me find a true happiness within me
The type I knew, that so many around failed to ever see
I requested challenges to strengthen and face down
Thinking in my narrow mind that I would earn a noble crown
I knew at the time without ever questioning or doubting myself
That I could take on the world conquering quickly like a magic elf
And bless me He did in ways I didn’t usually see or recognize
At times the hidden blessings were simply the root of my despise
Loads of information and instructors that seemed impossible
Made me think my learning experience was highly unprobable
Pushing myself past a limit I felt I had previously met
I thought growth was coming, and a fast pattern I set
And when it got hard and I wondered where He might be
and why I couldn’t find the success I was certain was key
I slowly sank to my knees on a cold wintery day
Softly closed my eyes, opened my heart, and began to pray
I solemnly asked what had happened to my carefully crafted plan
I why did I feel that perhaps, now I had taken all a girl can
His answer came soft, like a calming whisper to the storm in my heart
I simply needed to open my eyes to see I was off to an excellent start
For the information was not all that He allowed me to learn
I found knowledge waiting at many an unsuspecting turn
And growth I soon discovered comes when a limit is surpassed
Something is gained, remembered, and that something will last
Things are only truly appreciated when they are strived for and lost
For it is after the, work, sweat, and tears, that we realize the cost
And in time the thing we want most if faithful and true we will gain
Looking back with a real appreciation for the struggle and pain
Happiness is found in the people and simple things that surround
These are the things that help keep me standing on solid ground
And my answers I got not in what I planned to become in my plan
But something much greater that this quiet all knowing man
Had carefully plotted and planned for a girl who is slowly becoming all that she can!

A man on a tractor in field full of dirt
Plugging away with sweat on his shirt
A good and honest life he strives to live
And the fruits of his labor he’ll unselfishly give

A world rushing around him looks down
And admires his work with a bit of a frown
Not knowing the extent of the mark he will leave
By standing for something in which to believe

The lines on his hands, considered unsightly
Are the marks of kind service, not taken lightly
The leathery wrinkles of his face, a map of time
Of happiness and sorrow experienced on the climb

The man never asks for anything much
Just the basics of hard work, love and such
Of the honor he deserves, he cares not
In the silent war for good he has unselfishly fought

He changes the world through hard work in the field
And through this creates an ever strong shield
For those he holds most treasured and dear
Will always have a safe place to be near

The man on a tractor in a field full of dirt
Plugging away with sweat on his shirt
Has touched the world in ways we cannot know
But in time the great things he has done will surely show

Clay In An Artist's Hands

Like clay in an artist’s hands
I am shaped by small unnoticeable strokes,
Large devastating blows, each simply creating.
Spinning through life, an ever changing shape

Like clay in an artist’s hands
I am in the beginning a lifeless lump
Turned, smoothed and slowly shaped
Into something beautiful and unique

Like clay in an artist’s hands
I am molded by the world around me
Layer by layer like the jagged rocks
Carved by God’s own hands

Like clay in an artist’s hands
Shaped by a power greater than me
For a purpose I cannot comprehend
By an artist’s vision I haven’t yet seen

Like clay in an artist’s hands
I must become soft and pliable
Before I can stand strong and unmoving
A creation of time worth smiling upon