.
As I close the pages of my "brand new" quad
I sit and I ponder the blessings of G-d.
He's brought me so far in this past year,
The mist and the fog are starting to clear.
I'm grasping the rod with all of my might.
The path is rocky, but the tree is in sight.
I know the people in that building over there
Are laughing on the outside, but are filled with despair.
They only "pretend" to be happy and gay.
It's my duty now, to show them the way.

Words are just vapors that vanish like the colors at night,
But my actions are solid and as visible as light.
They will be watching, this I know to be true,
Picking apart everything that I do.
I'm an ambassador for Christ as I cling to this rod,
I've taken on the name of the Almighty G-d!
He's watching too, and He's counting on me.
There are so many souls that long to be free.
They are all mired in the mud of Satan's deceit,
He is the foe that I must defeat.

This race that I'm running began one night
As I sat and I stared at the flickering light,
I saw a commercial and longed to know more.
In short order two missionaries knocked at my door.
They pulled me up out of the miry clay
and set my feet on a rock that day.
So when I see a building with a foundation of air,
I'll stand squarely on my Rock and His name I'll declare!

We all came to mortality with one desire:
To conquer temtation and the Satanic mire
So I must look past the mocking and jeer,
I must be bold and mortify my fear.
This gift of the truth that I have been given
was not ment to be buried or saved for Heaven.
We all start "fresh" at the beginning of a race,
The easy part is accepting the gift of G-d's grace.

But remember the story of the tortoise who won-
the rabbit was fastest when the race had begun.
But his great flaw was in this point that he missed:
"Victory only comes to those who persist."
I didn't pull this idea just "out of the blue",
Paul spoke of this race, and he finished it, too!
So never forget when you think you're too tired-
To whom much is given, much is required.

Author's note: I dedicate this poem with gratitude and love to the very special people who guided me to the truth that inspired it...the missionaries.