Fall

on a warm summer day many trees were planted

enough for an entire forest
all were evergreens except for one-an oak tree
a lone oak tree

over time the forest grew,
the oak tree and evergreens alike, lapping up the suns rays
however, there was a big drought, and a lot of the trees in the forest were weighed down with such worrisome leaves. the evergreen trees did not realize the weight however. they thought they could manage the weight all on their own.

the oak tree knew, though, that it needed to lose its leaves. it prayed that fall would come so that it could lose its burden.


come fall did. the oak tree's leaves began to fall off, one by one as fall worked its way into the core of the tree. soon, all of the leaves were gone and fall knew that the oak was ready for winter.

the others did not see things that way. they viewed fall as a death and they kept their leaves on. they always saw the leaves as life-without them how could they give shade?


but the oak tree knew- it know that it needed Fall to remove it's leaves in preparation for winter, and soon winter came too. every remnant of that long drought filled summer soon disappeared, and Oh, how refreshed was the oak tree! the evergreens were still blind to their burdens. they began to scoff at the oak tree and thought how foolish it was for the oak tree to give up its big leaves they called beautiful.

soon, however, another season arrived for the oak tree. fall and winter had done their work, and spring had finally come to give new life to it!big, beautiful buds formed on the oak tree as it began to grace the earth with new refreshing life. all of the other evergreens still had their same green leaves. and they began to hate the oak tree, but the oak tree had a much better relationship with the seasons than it did with the other trees. it soon had newer, greener leaves that it ever had in the past, and seeds too!

someday, the seeds would spread out all over the world and also grow to love the seasons. how great are the seasons for trees, if only all trees realized the power of Fall!

poser.

I am so tired of faking it.

"How are you, Ashton?"
"I'm great, how are you?"

This is my life. i wake up, work out, go to school, go to tutoring (which is sad because it's only the third week of school and i am already behind), go to practice, rush home, take a shower, off to this or that with maybe a meal, rush home, do homework, and finally, retire to sleep. and amazingly enough, it's all good! everything is great. i know exactly what to say and how to act so i can fool everyone and hopefully myself that i am a-ok.

And then sunday comes... I'm ashamed because I havent been reading my Bible and getting close to my precious Savior all week. I finally found a family( church family) that truly loves me and wants to know how I am. They are the only ones I can share my true feelings with. The problem is, all week long i have grown colder and colder, and its hard to thaw out long enough to be real.

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

"stained glass masquerade"
casting crowns

O Mirror

O mirror

Why do you look at me this way? Without any mercy or kindness.

Why do you focus only on my ugliness and forget about my beauty?

You have the worst way, O Mirror.

You never saw anything in me. I looked in you and couldn't find anything at all. Only a hole.

We didn't have a very friendly relationship with eacother did we?

I wanted to be your friend, but you mocked me.

I saw you every morning, and we came in contact quite frequently throughout the day.

I could not look at you without being miserable. Why do you hate me, O Mirror?Why do you have such a cold in your eye?

Will you not see that things have changed? Will you not see that the ugliness has been washed away?

I have a new face that Someone made me, and you will not let me see it.

I wonder why I look at you sometimes anyway. Why I focus on you so much at all anymore.

I should focus on The One who made my new face instead of gazing at a reflection of my old one.

Why can't you see that everything is different now? I am not tied down to you anymore, my chains have been set loose. Yet here I am, again, failing to focus above and sitting here staring at you. When will I realize it's not about you?