Where Am I Going?

 

 

Here we are at the beginning of a new day.  In a few days we will begin a new month.  A new season is nearing.

 

 

 

In each of those we find opportunity.  We all hope to walk through today, next month, Spring.  And even beyond.  Yet, I find myself asking, "Where am I going?" 

 

 

There is a path before me.  There will be choices along that path.  How will I turn? Who will I meet? In what way will I make an impact?

 







I must choose. Will I take the right path? Will I make the right turns? Will I spend time with the right people?  Will I make the impact that I was intended to make? I pray so.

"And you know the way I am going."

John 14:4

 



A Quiet Day

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;

Isaiah 14:7a

 

 

 

Enjoy the beauty and solitude of this day.



What Does The Day Hold?

But He replied to them, "When it is evening, you say,

'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.''

And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today,

for the sky is red and threatening.'

Matthew 16:2, 3

 

In our neck of the woods the weather predictions are for snow, up to 7 inches.  We've heard the weather forecasters sound the alarm before.  Sometimes they have been correct, sometimes they have been totally wrong. Sometimes we have listened, sometimes not. The sky this morning is red. Will it snow today? I just heard one forecaster say, "You may get 7 inches of snow here, you may not.  It's not like we have no idea of what's going to happen."  I wonder.

 

 

 

Isn't that like life.  What does your day really hold? More importantly, who holds your day?





Who Do I Believe?

The naïve believes everything,

But the sensible man considers his steps.

Proverbs 14:14

 

 

Last week I watched an online video photography class by an "internationally renowned" wedding photographer.  One of the things he said that stood out to me was, "I always shoot at 1.8, maybe 4."
Now I know that may not mean much to some of you so let me explain.  Those numbers are related to how much light the camera allows to flow through the lens and onto the sensor.  They also affect how much of the picture is in focus.  Look at the picture of my daughter's bridal bouquet.  The flowers are in focus but her hands are a little fuzzy.  That's 1.8.



f1.8

So, after watching that class, I decided to watch another "internationally renowned" wedding photographer.  Guess what?  He sets his camera at 11!  That is very different from 1.8.  Look at the picture below of the Civil War reenactor.  Not only in he in focus, but also the flag behind him is in focus.  That would not have happened at 1.8.

f11

 

 

So what am I to do?  I want to be a better portrait photographer.  I want to learn from these famous, and very talented professionals.  Who do I believe? 

I also take a lot of landscape pictures.  I have read some articles saying always shoot landscapes at f22.  Others say f13 or even f11.  But wait, that's for portraits!  Or is it?

f22

In photography, just like in all of life, I must consider everything and then decide for myself what is right and what is not right.  I have to evaluate every scene, every person, and then choose an aperture setting. Sometimes that will be f1.8, sometimes it will be f11. I have to choose what I think is right.



A Good Thing

It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

Psalms 92:1,2





Give thanks as your day starts. Watch the sunrise as I did hear at the pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. 

 

 

Sing praises all through the day, even to the setting sun. This one is also on the beach in Nags Head, North Carolina.

 

 

Cling to His faithfulness during the time the night draws around you. You may not always see the stars but they are there.  This image of the milky way was made near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.



Make Today a Gift

 

 

One of my favorite places to visit and take photographs is the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky.  This historical site was once the home to over 400 followers of the Shaker faith.  Not only do I find multiple scenes to photograph, but also I find a great peace and solace there.  There is just something about that place that calms and restores me.

 

 

 

 

The Shakers were men and women of great faith.  One of their tenants of faith was that all things you do are acts of worship.  There is an old Shaker saying, "A man can show his religion as much in measuring onion as he can in singing hallelujah." Therefore they worshipped as they worked.  Whether making brooms, growing crops, or cooking a meal, they were in worship.

 

 

 

In the multiple buildings of Shaker Village there are thousands of pegs.  These simple pegs line the walls of almost every room.  They were used to hang clothing, foods, and even furniture.  Each peg was made by a member of the community.  And, each peg, when it was completed, was offered as a gift to God.  I find that most encouraging to me as I walk through my days.  I too should seek to make every thing I do an offering to Him who created me.

 

 

 

 

How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,

Who seek Him with all their heart.

Psalms 119:2



 

As you walk through this day, seek to see Him, seek to offer all that you do as a gift to Him.

 

Make me understand the way of Your precepts,

So I will meditate on Your wonders.

Psalms 119:27





Hope!

Surely there is a future,

And your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 23:18

 

 

There is a song that begins with the line "In the bleak midwinter".  Many of us can relate to that today.  The wind howls, the snow gathers, the temperatures plummet. Will it ever end?

 

 

 

 

Yesterday as I drove home from town, I noticed jonquils blooming on the side of the road.  That was such an encouragement to me.  Spring is slowly approaching.  There is hope.

 

 

 

Before long we will be in the midst of the newness of life that Spring brings.  Hang on, it's coming.

 



We Have Today!

My wife's aunt passed away yesterday.  She was 105!  In all the years I knew her the one characteristic that stood out to me was that she never got in a hurry. She took each day, over 38,000 of them, and lived it to the fullest.  Some were hard, some were not, but she took them in stride.

 

Now I don't anticipate living for 105 years, but I do seek to live as she lived.  Take each day and make the most of it.

 

Cold days, warm days, sunny days, stormy days - each is a gift.

We are never promised tomorrow. How will you live this day?

 

This is the day which the Lord has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118:24

Transformed

And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

Romans 12:2a

 

 

The transformation of a butterfly has intrigued many of us.  It starts out as one thing, a caterpillar, and ends up something totally different. 

 

 

 

There are two characteristics of the butterfly that are required for its life cycle to be completed.  First, it must submit.  If the caterpillar never submitted itself to spinning the chrysalis, then it could never undergo the transformation to become a butterfly. 

 

 

Second, at the time the butterfly exits the chrysalis, it must persevere.  That shell which has held it doesn't just fall off.  The butterfly has to work, and work very hard to extract itself.  Then is has to stretch its wings and allow them to dry before it can fly.



How many times in our live do we have to exhibit the same two characteristics?  Oh, how I often resist change!  But, if I am to grow and be what I should be, do what I should do, then I must submit to the change.  And, more times than not, facilitating that change requires work!

 

The rest of Romans 12: 2 says "so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." More than any time in my life, I see the need to avoid being conformed by the world.  I see the need for seeking to transform my myself to the will of God. Do you?



Trees

I really enjoy photographing trees.  I've seen all kinds.  Backyard trees, majestic Sequoias soaring hundreds of feet into the air, pine trees, trees battered by the weather, snow covered, blooming, covered in the glorious colors of fall, they all peak my interest.

 

Sometimes I wonder how those trees survive in the places I find them. 

 

 

 

 

Trees tolerate a lot of harsh conditions.  They do so by doing two things.  One is putting down deep roots.  Arborists tell us that the root system of a tree is often bigger than the part of the tree we see above ground.  The second thing that trees do to survive is learn to be content in all circumstances.  Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall - each season brings different challenges to a tree. 

 

 

 

To thrive the tree must adapt, concede, put on new growth, remain dormant. And, during all of those it must remain steadfast to the goal of life. They overcome floods, drought, heat, cold, and wind.  Yet, on they grow, steadily toward the sky.

 

I pray that I can be more like a tree.

 



I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

Dreamer or Visionary?

For the vision is yet for the appointed time;

It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

for it will certainly come, it will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:3

Playhouse, Oak Hill, Berry College, Rome, GA

As a young girl Martha Berry had it all going for her.  She lived in a large mansion on a very large plantation in North Georgia. She never wanted or needed. She was well educated and had the promise of the full, happy life of a Southern lady.




Possum Trot Church and School, Berry College, Rome, GA

As a young woman she began to meet with local children who had a vey different life situation.  They lived in meager circumstances and did not receive any formal education. Martha Berry had a vision.  She began to teach the children on Sunday afternoons.  Her first Sunday schools were held in her "playhouse" near her plantation home.  Later she established a school at Possum Trot Church.  That vision grew and expanded to become Berry College and Schools.  Over the years Berry Schools have offered education from 1st grade through post graduate degree programs.

Ford Buildings, Berry College, Rome, GA

From the beginning Martha Berry's vision was to make education available for those who might not have the financial means to pursue college.  Many students completed their education at Berry on the Work-Study program.

Berry College continues today to provide educational opportunities to young men and women from North Georgia and all over the world.

My question for the day - What is your vision?

Seeking Riches

Bodie, California is a State Historical Site located on the Eastern edge of the state.  It is often called a ghost town.  The official web site describes it as " town frozen in time in a 'state of arrested decay'.  

William Bodey discovered gold there in 1857. He established a mill and by 1880 there were 20,000 people living in Bodie. All of them came for the riches! What they got was a town so rough that everyone's morning greeting was "Have a man for breakfast?" meaning, "Did anyone get killed last night?"

Life in Bodie was harsh and the money was soon squandered in saloons, brothels, and opium dens.  One young girl, about to leave San Francisco with her family, is reported to have said, "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie."

Almost as quickly as Bodie grew, Bodie declined.  The gold mining diminished and the Standard Consolidated Mine closed in 1913.  By 1920 the population was listed by the US Census Bureau at 120 people.

 

 

Many people walked away empty handed. 



 

 



 

Why do we seek riches? Why do we chase after that which will diminish in value? 

 

 

For riches are not forever,

Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

Proverbs 27:24



On Cleansing

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity

And cleanse me from my sin.

Psalms 51:2

 

David wrote those pleading words after he had sinned with Bathsheba.  He cried out for cleansing.

 



 There are times in my life when I must cry out to God to cleanse me.  And, just as the waters rush overt the rocks in a stream, His Spirit will flood me and make me "whiter than snow."

 

That cleansing is only the first step.  Later in Psalms 51 David implores the Lord to "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalms 51:10 He knew, and we all must know that once we are cleansed, we must change our heart and be for steadfast in our future.

 

Today, and every day, I pray that I will seek to be cleansed and purpose to create a new heart.

 



Taking a Walk

As we walk through life we always leave footprints.  We leave footprints in the environment and we leave footprints in the lives of those with whom we come in contact.

We also leave footprints in our own lives.  They may be footprints of joy or despair, peace or discontentment, triumph or tragedy.  I am not talking about the things that life throws at us. I am talking about our reaction to those things.  We have to make a choice about how we walk through the ups and downs of life. Those are the footprints we leave.

What kind of footprints are you leaving in your life and the lives of those around you?

in that I command you today to love the Lord you God,

to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments

and His statutes and His judgments,

that you may live and multiply,

and that the Lord your God may bless you

in the land where you are entering to posses it.

Deuteronomy 30:16

 

The pictures today are from Zion National Park in Utah.