Through the Lens of Worship: Pretty Shiny Stuff

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

From Drop Box

In these verses Jesus is telling us to keep a heavenly perspective of sorts.  A perspective of the sort that does not hoard earthly possessions.  If we are to hoard anything, I suppose, it would be souls.  But not of ourselves, of course, but through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is a reminder that the things of this world will pass away, but the things of God are eternal.  The apostle John puts it this way:

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17

I like stuff... pretty shiny stuff... you may like a different kind of stuff, but truth be told, we all like stuff.  I don't hoard material possessions to brag about what I have.  In fact, I am just sentimental and many things in my home have a special meaning or a special person or story behind them.  Here is the twist, would I be upset if something happened to one of my pretties?  The answer is that you better believe it and not be around when it happens.

From Drop Box

Jesus and the apostle John's words remind me that the true value in this brief life we've all been given is not what I want or how much stuff I have or even who gave me the stuff or whether I bought it, not at all.  The true value is in God's will.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil.  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Check out more Through the Lens of Worship posts by clicking the button below:

New Name. New Website.

My husband and I have launched a new website featuring the new name of our wedding and fine art photography business...

Adam + Sarah Photography

A little history:

Adam started our portrait photography business under Adam Allen Photography.  He began with an amazing first engagement shoot and continued by adding high school seniors, families and weddings.  I have been along for the ride and have shot every wedding with him.  We had packages that did not include me shooting, but we both knew I would shoot anyway. 

Now what?

So Adam + Sarah Photography is born so that every couple the hired us would have two photographers to capture that special day.  We also decided to add the fine art aspect to the website to allow me opportunities to showcase and sell my photos.  Adam will keep Adam Allen Photography for high school seniors and other work not wedding-related along with his blog As I Am Learning.  I will continue to use my photo blog to celebrate God's glory in our creativity as well as through the worship group Through the Lens of Worship.  I will also be featuring aspects of our photography business and experiences with our clients as this business would not exist if it weren't for God and His amazing work in our lives.

Thank you!

Thank you to those who have supported, influenced and hired us and to God for how He works all things together for good for those who love Him!

Through the Lens of Worship - A Lamp to My Feet

From In Sarah's Shoes

To see the rest of this posting, click the button below:

Through the Lens of Worship - Natural Inspiration

 This post is in response to Isaiah 40 posted this week on Through the Lens of Worship.  Click the button above to view the Blog Post.

From Drop Box

Recently I began the process of making my yard a lovely sanctuary. I have really grown to love flowers and greenery and had some ideas for a lovely little garden space. Now, you must know, I do not have a green thumb. I am great at killing lovely plants and growing really huge weeds. In our new place, I'm trying really hard to be a good little gardener. My plants were looking terrible until my friend came over and diagnosed them for me. It turned out that some were being drowned and some were too dry. So hopeful as I was, before I even attempted at changing my watering habits, one of my dahlia plants that had NEVER bloomed since being planted busted out with flowers! I was super excited!

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

In response to Rhonda's post about whether I've been inspired by God's creation, I would like to take a moment and draw some parallels. In the same way that I put forth time and love and effort into caring for the needs of my newly planted garden, God puts all that and MORE into us...whether we believe in Him or not. Also, just as my poor dahlias were looking dead and bearing no blooms, in my patience and continued faithfulness to make sure they had what they needed, and then bloomed practically before my eyes... in this same way, God is faithful to give us what we need in the understanding that even though there is no "life", we can at any moment, while there is still breath in us, come to know Jesus as our Saviour and find a new life that we did not have before.

Simple but sweet. Thank you Lord for not giving up on us.

"But even though we were dead in our sins God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He had for us, gave us life together with Christ--it is, remember, by grace that you are saved--and has lifted us to take our place with Him in Christ Jesus in the Heavens."  Ephesians 2:4-5

From Drop Box