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Where Do You Look?

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The best thing we can share with one another is our stories. The Lord has written out each of our lives so that it flows perfectly with His plan. He made sure that we intersect in the right places with the right people. It is our own fault if we do not recognize them. These interactions give us juice to move on to the next stop.

The Lord has given me a wealth of family, friends and acquaintances. It is one of the things I love about Facebook. I can experience moments from their lives in a way I have not before. I have seen birthdays, weddings and vacations. One person is watching the Lion King on Broadway, while another is chasing water falls in the Appalachians. Watching people live everyday in spite of life inspires me. God knew that together we would build each other up, but He also knew we would console one another because their are also losses, frustrations and disappointments.

I love celebrating with my friends as they drop their kids off at college, some for the first time. I can’t wait to see the first day of school photos on Monday. I remember most of these kids from when they were babies.

I am inspired by the stories I see. I am also inspired by the ones I hear.

This week I got the opportunity to sit and talk with people. One of the best things I learned was a woman wanted a Sunday School class for women over 80.  She started it and now they have regular attendance by women in that age range.  Can you imagine the conversation in a room full of women over 80 years old? I have been blessed to have many older, wiser women in my life. Yet I have never had the opportunity to call on that type of wisdom.

This tells me that until you are dead, it is not too late to start anything.

Who inspires you?

Beating the Odds: Single Moms

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The role of single mom is one that has stretched me more than any one role in my life. It has taught me what pure joy feels like. It has also taught me about living with frustration and disappointment when things don’t work out the way you plan it.

Folks come to the role of single parent by different means, but you have to remember that God placed you there. He could have left Hagar with Abraham and Sarah, but He moved her away and gave her the means to raise her son.

I chose to be a single mom. I had no idea what God had in store, but I had a faith that wouldn’t quit. I was an educated woman with a nice job and thought I had a lot to offer a child. (Bhwaaaa!) I really can look back on this and laugh because my learning started as soon as I got the baby home.

{Some times I think God listens to all of our crappy prayers and decides to teach us that we really don’t know what we are talking about. When I say crappy, I mean those self centered arrogant prayers. I believe it gives Him a giggle. I believe He delights when we see the error of our ways and say “You know, I shouldn’t have prayed for that.”}

True to His nature, The Lord gave my introvert self an extrovert kid. Every moment this child was awake, she talked. Even when I loaned her to other people, like my sister or my mother, she talked. Somewhere around her seventh or eighth year of life she could look at me and see I was full of her talk. She would say “I will be back in a little bit” and give me a few moments of quiet. {And if they are talking to you they are not listening to anything you say anyway}

So all of the crap I thought I was going to give this child when I first ventured down this road is nothing compared to the great gift I actually gave her. {And it was God’s idea}  I am jealous for her because I did not get this gift myself when I was her age. My life would have been completely different if I had.

This year will be my daughter’s last year in the school program of BSF. She started in First Grade and will complete the Senior Level this coming school year. She has been given 12 years to get to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. I have spent 12 years telling her this is the most important thing you will do with your life. She had been learning God’s word and have it written on her heart. I was the vessel God used to reach her in spite of myself.

It is one thing to say He is a priority and another to live it. We have missed school programs and performances because they were scheduled on Bible Study nights.  We have missed parties, gatherings, tv shows, friends, families etc. We have not missed Jesus.

In Deuteronomy 11:18-19, the Lord instructs us to teach his word to our children. I have been faithful. I have done what He requested of me. It is pure joy to be able to do something you know pleases the Lord.

Statistically the odds are against children who come from single parent homes. But the Lord tells us that our days will be many if we teach His ways to our children.  There are many things we do not have, but we have the most important thing. Jesus.

If you are struggling with your child, it is time to let the Lord lead with them. BSF will start up in September. It is time to enroll them and teach them God’s ways. As parents, all we can do is tell them about God.  His spirit will do everything else.

Confessions of a Single Photographer

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Over the past weeks I have had the privilege of photographing couples. I have met young couples and old couples. Some married a few years, while others have been together for decades. Some with children, many without. Their children were grown and gone.

I learned a lot about the condition of their couplehood by the way they looked at each other. While many would have us believe that marriage is something that is on the way out, I have seen something that disagrees with that stance. When people get an idea of what it is really all about, they will embrace the idea.

As a professional photographer, I meet a lot of people. I can snap hundreds of shots in a day. Many people put on their “taking a picture” mask.  It is my goal to crack that mask and get to the real person underneath. Some days I am successful, some days not. While trying to crack the mask on folks, I learned something with couples.

After having couples do a few tradition poses for their portraits, I ask them to look at each other. This moment tells me what these two people think about each other. They can hide everything from me and the camera, but when they look into the eyes of their love, truth comes forth. In most cases this is where the giggling starts. He giggles. She giggles. We all laugh. The photo shoot is pretty fun after that.

Now there were some couples who looked at each other and nothing happened. (I am single so it did take a few times for it to register that there was something going on in that marriage.) I just smiled and moved on. I felt sorry for them because they were missing out on what the others had.

The only thing better than taking the photo was watching the couples look at the photos of themselves. I remember one woman repeated over and over “Look at me and (his name).” The sight of their love for each other surprised her. She was overwhelmed by the sight of it.

I don’t get tired of men telling their wives they are beautiful. I do get tired of women blowing it off. I watched a man badger his wife because he thought she was beautiful, but she didn’t value his opinion. Yet, I love watching the love stories play out.

The Lord has allowed me to see all types of stories played out. I have watched a curmudgeon turn to jelly at a glance from his sweetheart and a wife who was ill, reach up and kiss her husband out of love. They all had their role to play in the relationship. The ones that were most secure where the ones that knew what role they played in the relationship.

Moments like these make me wait with anticipation for the man God has for me. I want to giggle at the sight of the man who loves me.

Learning from Animals

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For the first time in my life, I dog sat. This year, I am really stepping out of my comfort zone. I am not a pet person, so I was quite amused by pet behavior. It was new to me and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The dogs were charming, irritating and funny.

I realized I am not cut out to be a pet person. Pets have too many characteristics of people but none of the reasoning capacity. They were much smarter than I imagined. They opened doors, threw fits and read me like a book.

I got amused watching the dogs interact with each other. Loulah, a Cathoula/Shepherd mix would tease the chihuahua, Roscoe, who was tied down with just a limited area he could roam through. The chihuahua was the newest to the mix and had not adopted all of the house rules, so he had to be limited. Loulah is a sweetie, but she has her moments.

Loulah

Loulah would get the squeaky squirrel dog toy and take it to Roscoe. She would walk around him, like musical chairs, while he  chewed on it and made it squeak. And just when he was comfortable, she would snatch it and run out of his range. She would take it to another room, them after a few seconds would skip back into the room with it, but careful to stay out of Roscoe’s range.

I got a kick out of watching. Roscoe fell for it every time. Loulah definitely enjoyed it.

That is what Satan does to us. He tempts us with something we think we want. We get to chewing on it and comfortable with it, then he snatches it from us and takes it out of our range. When we are good and dumbfounded by it, he skips back in with it between his teeth taunting us with it.

Needless to say, I am not amused when I am tricked by Satan in that way. Unlike, Roscoe, I have God’s word to guide me. Last month’s verse was Psalm 19.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul,

The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

If Satan is taunting or tempting you, there is a place you can go so that you don’t keep falling for it over and over again.

Each Moment is Precious

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If I had known it was the last time I was going to hug her, I would have hugged her a little longer.  I would have said a few other things. I remember wrapping my arm around her and greeting her. I remember she said some words to me, but seemed preoccupied. We were on our way to somewhere, so I didn’t investigate.

That is the great adventure of this life, not knowing if you will ever see someone again. Every encounter we have with each other should be treated as a moment we might not get to repeat. The headlines of the news are filled with instances of people who never got to say goodbye.

We feel entitled to the privilege of saying goodbye to the people we love. God did not promise us that. (John 16:33)

He promised we could live forever with Him in eternity if we accepted Jesus as our savior. When he planted the tree in the garden, He knew what kind of world this would become. As we are stunned each day by the atrocities, He whispers I have a plan in place for this. (John 1: 1-5)

He loved us so much that He sent the most precious thing He had, his Son. (John 3:16) He said if you believe in Him and accept Him as savior, you can join Him in heaven where you will not experience this type of misery ever again.  As sad as I am to lose a love one, I hang on to the promise that it won’t be the last time I see them. I know we will meet again in heaven and finish the conversation we didn’t have here.

Every year at the end of BSF we sing a song. We hold hands, hug and sing this song.  Many of us know it by heart because we have sang it so many times. It reminds us that we are parting, but this is not the end. I sing this song every year, but I never think that I won’t see my sisters in Christ again.

We memorize the verses. We sing the hymns. We do the church thing and all the other feel good stuff. Some days life calls us to live those words out. That is when it gets hard, but He promised He would guide us through it. He didn’t say it would be easy, or we would like it or we would even understand it. He asked us to trust Him. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Hold on to that. If you are in Christ Jesus, this is not the end. And you are not alone. He is with you. He has promised never to leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

God’s Plans

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Many many years ago, I took a class. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Some of it stuck. One of the rituals I do every years is make goals for the year. Physical. Emotional. Spiritual, Etc. If you don’t have goals then it is difficult to tell if you are making progress or being static. I try to plan out my year. Review quarterly to see what is working and what is not.

Sometimes the things that I want are not in line with what God has planned. I am learning to trust God. If something doesn’t work, don’t push it. I go back to Him and ask what He wants me to do. Most of the time He says “Be still.”

I set goals with long term planning in mind. I understand that I have plans but God’s plans trump mine. Normally I try to plan according to the guidance God has already given me. If He hasn’t told me to change, I keep doing what He has told me to do.

One of my goals this year was to lose weight and get off my blood pressure medication. I attacked this goal with the intention of it being a long term goal, taking 3 to four years. I increased my exercise and worked on my diet (but I do love fried chicken.)

Roughly three or four months into this year, I lost about 10 pounds. When I went to my doctor, I asked her if I could stop taking one of the medications I had been taking.  She said,”Sure, lets try it.” She was very helpful and encouraging. I was so excited. I had reached a goal for the year. Yay me!

This year has been one of the hardest years I have ever lived physically, emotionally and mentally. My mom passed in December. One of my aunts got sick in April and I spent many a days by her beside until the Lord took her home. I have found myself challenged at all points to where some days I was ready to fight anyone who got in my face.

But God blessed me.

He gave me the funnest job I have ever had, but it has come with challenges. When you face challenge after challenge it is easy to get discouraged, but my God always has something in the wings. I sprained my ankle on vacation and had to go back to the doctor.

Routine blood pressure found my BP so low, I could get rid of another medication and in addition to that I lost 5 more pounds. Praise the LORD! If my ankle wasn’t sore, I would have danced out of there.

Some areas of my life, God is moving like an out of control freight train going down hill on a track. Some areas are at a complete stand still. I am learning to find my contentedness in whatever my circumstance. He is so good to me!

This year He is teaching me to live Philippians 4:11-12.

Purpose and Passion

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Lately,  I get to meet some of God’s people and photograph them. It has been the kind of blessing your really can’t describe because you need to experience it yourself.

I have met a woman drowning in grief because her fiance was murder.  I met another woman who survived stage three colon cancer. In spite of their circumstances, these people have continued to trust God. I appreciate being able to contribute to their lives.

God has placed people in our path for a purpose. Every time you think your story has reached its worst possible conclusion, God introduces you to someone who has it worse than you. If you are feeling down, look up. There is someone who needs your encouragement.

Every day of my life I get to remind people that there is beauty in this life God has created, whether in photos or videos or books.

God has called you to something. What passion has He ignited in your soul?

Freedom Starts In Your Heart

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I started with one of my favorite scenes from the musical 1776.  Our founding fathers had to deal with just as much stuff back then, as our current administration does today. We are the United States of America.

I love the story of the American Revolution.  Men had an idea of what freedom meant and chose to pursue it.  They laid down ideals of what true freedom looked like and promised these truths to all men.  They declared that all men where created equal and had certain inalienable rights in the eyes of their Creator. They did not say “landowners”  “white men” “financially stable.” They said all men.

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Today we take these truths for granted because it seems like they cost us nothing.  We are standing on the shoulders of man who paid the price. Men like John Adams who scarified time with his family to help build a nation. A trip to a few national monuments will teach you the price that was paid. Our country does a great job of preserving our history and many of the tours are free.

Jefferson Rock

Recently I have been watching the AMC series TURN which tells the American Revolution story from an espionage position. It gives me a sense of the danger it took to be on the side of the revolution. On our most recent trip we saw a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Once the man signed it, he had sealed his fate as a traitor.  There was no turning back, because they had put an “S” on their chest making themselves targets for the British Military. But there was an ideal they believed in and it was worth dying for. A vote for independence.

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I have spent some time traveling this great land of ours. It is an amazing country from the mountains to the plains to the beaches. The only thing better than the landscape are the people who make up these United States. Whether they are sitting on a street corner in Harlem selling goods or dressed in period clothing in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia explaining history to tourist, they make up a great nation.

We are the experiment of what happens when you bring a little bit of everyone together and allow all of the cultures to combine. We do not know where one culture ends and another begins. We have created a culture that is unique to US.

If you took our DNA, you would find that we are all fifth cousins and our ancestors started in Europe, Africa and Asia. If you took our picture, you would find that we are as different as our personalities and that is the way we like it. If you tried to take our freedom, you would find yourself in for the fight of your life because it is something we take serious.

It is difficult to understand if you are not born here, but the desire for freedom starts young and stays. Whether you are black, white, yellow or red, it starts in our hearts. God created us with a desire for freedom.

Happy July 4th.

My last song comes from Les Miserables. (I know it is not about the American Revolution) But I think the song captures the sentiments of our founding fathers. They needed men who would stand with them and fight for independence

Half Way Through 50

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I knew my 50th year of life would be monumental, I just had no idea of what God had planned. He did right by not telling me His plan because I would have tried to help Him.

This year He has taught me about love and loss. He has taught me how fragile our hearts and lives are.  He showed me good friends will hold your hand at your death bed and pray you into heaven. He showed me strength in the Godly women I worship with. He has shown me Himself in a new and brilliant way that I have never seen before.

I have finished projects that I did not think were possible. I have written stories, I didn’t know where in me. I have honed my craft as a photographer by the sheer numbers of portraits I have taken this year.

When life got crazy, I always remembered my passion. When it has not reflected my dream, I remember His promise. My greatest reward is in heaven. My number one passion is Jesus Christ. He is my source, everything else is a resource.  When I didn’t have the strength, He had the strength. When I didn’t have the inspiration, He was the inspiration.

Here is what I have for you:

The other night in bible study (I am attending a group that is studying Beth Moore’s Daniel) the story was told of the Israelite building the temple. Because they could not cut the stone onsite, it was done somewhere else and sent to the site of the new temple to be put into place. One stone arrived that was too big and did not fit. They rejected it and put this stone to the side.

When they were finishing the building and needed the capstone, they sent word to the stone cutters that they needed the capstone to finish the building.  They sent word back that they had already had it. It was the stone that they had rejected earlier.  It was now the stone that was needed to hold the whole thing together.

Even though some of the things in your life don’t fit right now, rest assured that it will all come together just as He has planned. Remind yourself of your true passion and hold on to it. Jesus is my center.

My Observations from Vacation

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One – salt is not my friend. After walking an average of 10,000 steps a day with these crazy women my ankles would swell up at the end of the day. (soda and chips)

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Two – Everyone has a role in the group. We all have something to do, whether it is driving, co piloting or sitting little, reading maps, looking up locations, finding outlets so phone can recharge…

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Three – everything needs a little construction work every now and then, even us.

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Four – Surprise of the day. I got passes from Nancy Pelosi’s office to visit the House of Representatives Galley. For me, it was the coolest thing. I never knew I could get access by asking. (Now you know)

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Five – We have the best government and access to the process and it is only a question away. I am an average American who can say I have sat in a Supreme Court Session, a House of Representatives Session, a Senate Session and toured the White House. This is something that is available to all Americans. You only have to ask. It is an incredible experience.

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