Through the Lens of Worship - Week 3

Keeping it simple this week.  I was going to share a different experience but as I was looking for the scripture I was thinking of I ran across a section in Psalm 103 that reminds us to have an eternal perspective.  God is faithful and loves us SO much!  It's so difficult to comprehend.  I find peace and encouragement in these words.  With the photo I'm sharing, this makes more sense.  Blossums don't seem to last long once they've bloomed.  They're delicate and the slightest breeze can make a tree bare again. 

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father  pities his hildren,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

From In Sarah's Shoes

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.

And its place remembers it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children's children,

To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Psalm 103: 11-18

Through the Lens of Worship - Week 2

This last Saturday was a TTL of Worship photo outting.  Typically Rhonda, Diana and myself get together once a month to take photos together somewhere locally.  Unfortunately Diana was not able to join us this time around.  Rhonda and I went to two TOTALLY different places.  It was tough to choose a photo for today as I didn't really capture anything that illustrated the verse I had shared with Rhonda on Saturday, and I don't really have something on file that would work either.  I've been going through some trials and Isaiah 43:2-5 were some Scriptures I'd really been holding onto.  BUT... I spoke to my mom yesterday, she encouraged me and shared with me out of Psalms 16.  After we got off of the phone I looked it up and was totally inspired to do something completely out of the ordinary.  I really don't care for doing much post-editting, but I am pleased with how this one turned out.  The photo, for me, illustrates the verse.  So why not put the verse on the photo??  I added these to the Scriptures I'm holding onto during this time.  I know God is faithful and I am so blessed to be His child.

There are a lot more photos from the outting that I will put up later in a separate post.

FEATURED: Through the Lens of Worship

What a blessing!  My entry for Through the Lens of Worship - Week 1 was chosen as the featured blog post.  I am so glad to be a part of this group and the relationships that are growing from it as well as the way God is using it.  You can see my entry here on my blog and on Through the Lens of Worship. 

If you are a photographer, I encourage you to check out what we're doing and consider joining us.  We'd love to have you!  This Saturday we'll be getting together for fellowship and to discuss what God is doing in our lives and then heading out to take photos together in worship of God.  You don't need to live in Hanford to join us!

Through the Lens of Worship - Week 1

I cannot express how exciting this is!!  Welcome to my entry for Through the Lens of Worship - Week 1!  This is my entry for our first week as an official open community of photographers.  I'm thrilled to see how God is going to use this group. 

My husband and I recently went to Lake Havasu City, Arizona for an Adam Allen Photography Senior Graduate photo shoot.  We were thrilled to be hired out of state by someone we didn't know already!  (We get thrilled for those who know us and hire us out of state too... believe me!)  Anyway, one of the first things I noticed was the scent of chaparral in the air.  It is very distinct and reminded me of my grandmother.  She introduced me to using medicinal herbs and this was one of them.  It was not the best tasting tea ever, but the memory of it is a good one.  My grandmother also introduced me to the most important thing in my life... Jesus Christ.  God used her in prayer and influence to bring me to Him.  She passed away not too long ago, leaving behind a legacy that I desire to continue and am excited to see other family members also doing the same - whether consciously or not. 

Her legacy and my life's goal:  To follow hard after Christ Jesus and to show Him to others by being an example in Word and in Truth. To pray always for those who've yet to come to know Jesus and for those who already know Him.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35
 
This is a photo of our lovely client in an amazing Arizona sunset

 
Finally, a photo of God's glory!  I love the sky!

Through the Lens of Worship

I am so excited that this announcement is being made today!   The following link is to my friend's blog that explains something super meaningful that I've been a part of that has affected my relationship with God, friendships old and new and how He has used me creatively.  The vision for this group is amazing and it has been such a blessing to be involved from early on.  Check it out and pray about joining us!  We would love to have you-- whether by internet or on Saturdays here locally.

Exposing Grace Blog Post - Through the Lens of Worship

Oak Trees...

Are lovely!  I have wanted to take photos here for a long time.  As a teenager I drove by these trees daily for about 2 years.  This past weekend myself and two friends made a trip to meet God here and capture what He revealed to us.  There were also some great walnut trees and fantastic barley to wade through.  My pants were soaked up to my knees!

A Note on the New Year

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."  Isaiah 43:18-21

There are a couple of stories which will interconnect regarding the verse and this photo.  First the photo... This was taken during the week of Christmas of my Aunt's Christmas tree.  It was a very different Christmas for everyone involved.  My cousin Gabe passed away on December 19th, the Saturday before Christmas, to everyone's utter shock.  My husband and I were on vacation that week and had determined that we were going to go up and stay as long as we needed to.  My mom decided she would come out and arrived the next day.  We headed up the Monday before Christmas and were joined soon after by my other Aunt, to be comfort and support for my Aunt, cousin Jenn and Gabe's widow Elaine and son Matthew.  God did some marvelous things during that week.  So, this photo came to represent the week... there was pain and grief spotted with the color and the light of hope and joy and love and peace that was descending upon our family.  My Aunt and my cousin have expressed their appreciation and how blessed they were that we all joined them for their unique Christmas. Unfortunately, to end an already exhausting and difficult year filled with change in this way really took much of the excitement for a new year from me.  In reality I just wanted time to stop for a moment or for Jesus to return and whisk His saints away.  But that was not God's will, so I must continue. 

The verse... On New Year's Day after I'd taken my mom to the airport, a brief nap and sending my husband off to work I had the house to myself.  I was very sad, exhausted and not thrilled to begin 2010.  I felt like it would be just another year of difficulties and I would find myself a year later in 2011 more exhausted.  But this was not God's will either.  As I sat and cried out to God of my frustration and my petitions for Him to ease the trials, He met me in my living room on my couch.  I was enveloped in peace and heard "Behold I am doing a new thing."  My tears slowed and my breathing relaxed and I immediately grabbed my Bible to find this verse which I so well loved.  Through God's Spirit and Isaiah, God showed me His will for 2010:  I am doing a new thing!  I love that the NIV puts and exclamation mark at the end of that part because I needed that exclamation mark... I needed it to take me out of my slump. 

I realized that for over a year I had begun pulling away and closing myself off from things like ministry and service.  I was getting burned out and sick of people who just wanted to go to church and see a show and go home and not do anything about it.  I felt like I didn't really know many believers who were seeking and chasing after God whole heartedly.  (I need to interupt:  I just have to say that there are many believers in my life who are wholly serving God and seeking Him in and outside of Sunday mornings. God began to bring those people into our lives early 2009.)  Adam and I had only recently started to really seek God after a season of complacency.  I then grew complacent again and after beginning to attend a new church in spring, I didn't try very hard to get involved, which is not the way God made me.  I wanted to, but I had no vision, I felt little passion.  I realize now that an opportunity that was offered to me before I left the old church awakened in me something.  I love to design, I love to create, I love art in all of it's vast forms and I love that our church encourages that.  God is doing a new thing and I am excited to see what ministry and areas of service He will call me to.  A funny thing happened, our pastor talked from the heart about the vision of our church that Sunday and I was extremely convicted and convinced further that I was not alone.  I could not go home and not do anything about it!

The connection... this photo now represents 2010 for me.  My awakening, my epiphany.  January 6, 2009 God showed me and Adam that we needed to make some seriously big and seriously difficult changes and that we may not come out unscathed.  January 6, 2010, God showed me that there is a place for me in our new church family.  I serve an incredible God that I just can't praise enough! 

I hope that 2010 you find the color and light of God's plan and love and desires for your life.  God bless!