Get Like Me

I am unique;
The one and only.
You can't copy me.

My traits are unique;
Nobody can take my personality;
Or share my passions.

But they can pretend to do what I do.
Terrible singing, anybody can do that too.
Posers try to be like me;
Or feel the way I feel when angry;
Or sad.

Nobody can walk in my shoes;
Or feel my pain and passion.
Nobody can hear the tune I hear.

I stand alone;
You can't duplicate my sounds,
I create my own language.

Anybody can speak when they're mad;
Anybody can repeat what I say.
Posers try to be like me;
They envy me;
But wish they were me.

~My 7th Grade Class @ Crossroad Academy Charter School (Quincy, FL)~

Your Future

Your future is what you want it to be;
I use to deal with it;
Letting my life pass by me,
Enclosed in my own.

I saw my opportunities;
Where my life seemed bigger to me.
My heart burning with passion;
To discover this world.

I overcame my obstacles;
I went into the world to experience my life;
to concur life with all my might;
With determination, courage, and confidence.

~My 7th Grade Class @ Crossroad Academy Charter School (Quincy, FL)~

Naughty By Nature

Right projects out like a sore thumb, however it wears camouflage in our eyes;

We intend to do right in the midst of this life, but we are defeated in our tries.

Attempting over and over to walk on the straight and narrow;

But in this complex life, the target never embraces the arrow.

Explanation and answers never seem to align with the truth;

Actions speaking louder than our words are always viewed as uncouth.

Supporting what is right is only presented in a silent avenue;

Standing firm on our beliefs has no longer been considered a virtue.

We take the road travelled by many in order to grow in our ranks;

Never taking the journey travelled by less, for we fear to walk the plank.

The only time we complement is to cover up the many lies;

For we left behind the residue of our two-faces, and formed artificial allies.

Why is it so hard to live a life within the parameters that are correct?

Instead we take negative routes, and to all alternatives we neglect.

It appears that we are creatures of habit, and embrace the common side of failure;

Sadly enough we continue these paths, for we are all naughty by nature.

The pen just had to testify!

You Must Not Know Bout Me

"I don't know how I am gonna make it." "I have bills due, just where is the money coming from?" "I am so depressed and I cannot find a release." These are all statements that we speak from time to time. Overwhelming experiences arise, and it is almost as if we forget all the knowledge that we have acquired from the Almighty God.

In the word, we are told of many accounts where God made a way when it seems that no way could be created. Daniel found himself in the lions' den...God made a way. There was a lady with the issue of blood...God made a way. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace...God made a way. What it seems like however, is that God's grace and mercy had a time limit on it. To explain that further, we feel as if God doesn't work in the same way in this present day.

It is so amazing how when problems arise in our lives we seek other options first. Friends, family, significant others, even psychic hot lines, trying to find answers to the problems we are having. Why not try God first? It amazes me how we can trust so much in man made things that fail us over and over, however when it comes to God, we have many apprehensions. The doctor gives us drugs to take, we ask and say nothing, pull up to Walgreens or CVS and get them, then we take them. All of this, with no questions asked. We go to a restaurant and order food, we don't see the chef prepare it, nor the server walk it to us, and we intake the meal with no issue. So, why when it comes down to a man that is perfect, a man that knows all and sees all, and a man that wants us to cast our cares on Him, and we are hesitant? Think about it.

In life, there are gonna be pains, heartache, disappointments, and obstacles that we don't understand. It is apart of life. However, just as these negatives appear, so is God. The only thing we have to do is ask, and have faith that He is going to provide. 1 Samuel 15:29 Tells us, "He who is the glory of Israel, does not lie or change His mind; for he is not a man that he should change his mind." Just because man fails you after giving a promise, and just because we have many Indian-Giver type individuals in life who renege on promises, doesn't mean that our God will do the same. He wants the best for us, and wants us to succeed. All we have to do is ask Him!

So you said you don't know how to make it; the bible tells you in Psalms 25:9, "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. YOU MUST NOT KNOW BOUT ME!

You said that you have bills and you don't know where the money is coming from; the word tells you in John 15:7, ""If you abide in me and my word abides in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you." YOU MUST NOT KNOW BOUT ME!

You are depressed and you can't find a release is what I heard you say; well, the bible tells you in Psalms 34:17 "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delievereth them our of their troubles." YOU MUST NOT KNOW BOUT ME!

Try God; I promise you will not be let down. God works in His time, His way, and His methods because He knows what we need and when we need it. Beyonce gave us the highly known single, but in all actuality many of us must not know about God. The point to remember is that, Beyonce could find another him. In the case of my God, you can search far and wide, but you will never find one like the Father. Try Him for yourself!

The pen just has to testify!

He Changed Me

He healed me from the breath I took--
inhaling air that contained much poison;
Touched me from my innermost entities freeing me of all corrosion.
Within me He covered;
For me He suffered;
Around me He altered;
Through me He doctored.
Held hostage only by limits created individually;
Finally analyzing it was indeed a sin to me.
The Solution = He changed me.

The Pen just had to testify!

Resist Because He Exists

They scandalize your name, much like Paul Roberson explained with a melody;
They cast you out with no reason at all, like the innocense of a man possessing a felony.
They drag you through the dirts and muds of life without even having to hesitate;
Much like a wolf to human flesh, they sit and watch you as they salivate.
PREying to tear you down;
But fear not, our PRAying is more profound.

The pen just had to testify!

Distance From God

Being awake, yet having motions mirroring REM;
Anticipating light’s uprising, however, embracing the dim.
Challenging the inevitable feeling it will secede;
Then realizing all negativity, and watching it impede-
Impede the mind, impede the heart;
What happens when God, and we are two worlds apart.

The pen just had to testify!

Addicted

I'm ADDICTED...I admit it, I'm addicted to you.
But can you blame me? I
t's just something about the way you do the things you do.
Now, I know I sound like "The Temptations" with the words that I speak,
But it is something about your touch;
So strong, yet so meek.
Wondering many nights how I could possibly fit closer into your matchless arms;
However, not knowing that on your bracelet, I already assumed the position as a charm.

I'm ADDICTED... I admit it, I'm addicted with a strong measure.
Realizing I obtain more than the riches, powers, and the most abundant treasure.
Why reach and grasp more than what I already possess;
Much like participating yet again, once you've already won the contest.
Visibility becomes clearer to the state I reside in,
Listening is achieved to the ear I constantly confide in.
Warmth is ever present within the embrace I allow;
(Humph) I was once addicted, but it's even stronger now!

I'm ADDICTED...I admit it;
I'm addicted, with a feeling overflowing;
It's just like a chill that overtakes my insides,
And the weather doesn't even present snowing.
The roads I travel become plain, and all mountain-like obstacles become low;
What other type of addiction exists that would allow my intellect to grow?

I'm ADDICTED...I admit it;
I'm addicted with a strong emotion;
Much like the parting of that body of water, I can see through life's seas and
oceans.
Reversing the commonplace, and replacing the commonality;
I have become so infatuated with this entity, since my much needed transforming.
Realizing there would be no me if it had not been for him;
Understanding that I had been awakened where life once made me dim.

I'm ADDICTED...I admit it;
Don't try to save me from this state;
This doesn't require a scientific study, nor a genetic mapping trait.
I do not need the drugs, the counseling, nor a self help assisting course;
And please do not try to save me, or send to me your remorse.
A 12 step program has no place to where my addiction stands,
Because this addiction that I possess exists, due to only one man's hands.

The pen just had to testify!

Proverbs 16:9...In God's Time

I've learned that in life, when things are ministered unto us we must continue the cycle.

I was riding through the city of Tallahassee, and of course there are numerous advertising boards throughout the limits. But as I headed home, I saw a sign outside of this church that stopped me in my tracks. It read: Proverbs 16:9. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Someone should have thanked God for this passage because I know how it feels to have question marks in life's paths.

In this life we all have dreams, and aspirations for ourselves. Sometimes we are so driven that when we hit rock bottom, or fall below the "success line" that we've individually set for ourselves, we fall apart. The thing we must understand is that it's not a mistake; God creates the paths for us to travel, our job is to just walk.

Take your mind back with me for just a moment. If you have ever gotten a house built, the builder builds the house from a blueprint. That blueprint is a guideline that he must follow. It gives him instruction on the "How's" and the "In what ways." Just as this blueprint guides the builder, God has set out a blueprint for us to follow in this Christian journey.

Proverbs 3:5 tells us to "Trust in the Lord God with all thine heart and lean not into our own understanding." Often, we may lean into our understanding in spite of what the passage instructs us to do. Because of the decisions we make, we find ourselves lost and confused. However, if we remain steadfast, and allow God to move, we will never fail.

God is the potter, we are the clay. Never have I seen or heard of the clay telling the potter how it chooses to be created. Therefore, simply put, know your place!

I thank God daily for His plan of perfection. Although we may not see it when we are in our waiting state, God has a plan for us. Understand that He will give you the desires of your heart, however He also knows when and where they are to be granted for the best results. Just as vegetation has seasons to be planted, and seasons to present harvest, Christians have seasons. Stay planted in God, for your harvest will be reaped with abundance.

Finance...pluck it up!

School/Degrees...pluck it up!

Healing...pluck it up!

Deliverance...pluck it up!

Whatever you need and desire- plant it in Christ, wait, and Pluck it up!

Peace and love, the pen just had to testify!

So Close, Yet So Far Away

The tiresome struggle is evident; Repetitious turmoil prevalent.

Tears excessive much like the fountain of youth;

Awaiting and gaining, however missing the truth.

Relinquishing built up callouses that steadily borders the heart;

Thinking the race is almost finished, however someone pressed restart.

Nights mirroring midnight, no existence of the day;

Thinking we were almost there, however, we are so close yet so far away.

Madness presenting itself much like a bed of ants in a stir;

Much like Langston Hughes' question "what happens to a dream deferred?"

It is a relative issue in the midst of this life;

Being placed in the face of opportunity, however, being embraced with the strife.

Traveling in a circle, no directions to convey;

Thinking we were almost there, however, we are so close yet so far away.

Relentless, yet the effort fails, and there's fear to try once more;

Feeling like the gap is closed to even up the score.

Never-ending selection of a mind's negative permeation;

Often receiving less of nothing, excepting the degradation.

Trying to escape the past no matter what people say;

Thinking we were almost there, however, we are so close yet so far away.

Meeting at a fork in the road; left is Salvation, right is redundancy;

Standing at where they meet, we wonder "which way is the one for me?"

Pondering with limited time to make the decision;

Knowing if we fail this time, we'll fall short in the division.

Being placed in the opportunity to escape our spirit's decay;

Thinking we were almost there, however, we are so close yet so far away.

The pen just had to testify!