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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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)
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…
Three – everything needs a little construction work every now and then, even us.
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)
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.
My day started when I got up and prayed. I made my to-do list for the day. Lord bless this list. Change it where you need to.
One of the stops on my list that I thought would take hours took about 15 minutes. Praise God.
I went and walked afterwards. As I was heading to my car at the end of my walk, I ran into my cousin. (the one that is 30 years my senior and I can’t keep up with.)
I decided to do another lap with her.
My bible study time:
It made me wonder how many of you will I see in heaven. And I also thought about what it would be like when you first see Jesus ( Rev 4, Isaiah 6)
As I was knocking other things off my list, I got a call that interrupted my progress. I tossed everything to the side and went to the call.
I spent the afternoon with my aunt who is fading fast. She had on an oxygen mask, so we couldn’t talk like we have been the last month. We watched the Rangers lose. Sad I know.
A few hours later, other family members poured in. We sat, talked and waited.
I decided to leave. I needed to go home and check on my family.
But in the parking lot, a few of us started talking again.
I went back in.
This time it was my aunt who is fading fast, her best friend and me.
(This was one of those life changing moments so I don’t want you to miss it. Cause I almost missed it, but I listened to God and went back in.)
My Aunt’s best friend took her hand and began to pray. She prayed a prayer the reminded my aunt of all the things God has done in her life. Reminded her of all the amazing moments in life they had experienced. Reminded her of God’s faithfulness, mercy and His grace.
At the end of this woman’s prayer I heard the struggle of wanting your friend healed and wanting your friend to see Jesus.
When she finished, I prayed Lord, I want a friend like that. Someone who will remind me of your faithfulness.
After the prayer, my aunt kept looking up. See, she is looking for Jesus.
Like he said in the video, I know it is going to be an amazing experience.
He knows what’s coming. Allow Him to order your day.
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah got the opportunity to see God in a whole new light. The fact that Isaiah hung on to the death of something in his life showed he had experienced great loss. There was something valuable to him that was there no longer. But what he gained was bigger and better than he ever thought possible. God gave Isaiah a glimpse of who He really is. Once you get a glimpse of who God really is, nothing else matters.
Isaiah needed that moment with God to fill his emptiness.
Once God filled it, Isaiah was ready to minister again. “Here I am. Send me.”
Like Isaiah, I have experienced great loss. I have nothing left to give. God has emptied my coffers so that all there is is me. But all the takers in my life are still trying to take. They are frustrated when there is nothing there to take. They want more of what they were used to getting, but there is nothing. He brought me to this season for a reason. God is my only source, and I have learned contentment. (Philippians 4:11-13)
In my 50th year of life, the Lord is teaching me how to fear Him. It is the beginning of wisdom. Once you get a good picture of who you serve, it puts everything in perspective. I don’t think that it is a coincidence that there are lots of thunderstorms and earthquakes in this area. God shakes our foundations to show us we don’t control anything.
The same God who loved us so much He sent his Son, is also the same God who turns up the earth in quakes and sends us running for cover in tornados. I serve a mighty God and trust Him with all areas of my life. He shut the mouths of lions for Daniel. He kept the fire from the 3 Hebrew boys. Ain’t nothing out there can touch me, less it go through Him first. If He brings me too it, then He will bring me through it.
If Noah had brought other people on the boat, they probably would have jumped off after 20 days because they didn’t trust what God was doing with Noah. He got to experience God as a destroyer of mankind and as a provider for his family. I know that when this season of life is over for me, I will be like Isaiah wanting to share all that He has done for me.
God is in control. He knows what He is doing. I believe that His children will not be forsaken.
I used to kick “Share Night” to the curb. I had made it through another year of bible study, so I was gonna sit at home and relax. Skip listening to other folks talk about what God had done during their year. I had collected all my points all year by going to class, doing my lesson and even sharing on the personal questions. That was good enough. I was in my 30s and didn’t get it.
Share night is the last night of the study. The whole group meets to hear what others have learned and experienced during the study. There are questions designed to prompt this sharing.
Needless to say, I did not do the last lesson which caused you to reflect on all that you had been through that year. I was so stupid, but God didn’t tell me that. He just continued to nudge me forward. I did not stay stuck on stupid. I did start to attend “share nights” and discovered the Living God working in the lives around me. When you are wrapped up in the media, you can miss what God is doing right in front of your face.
Share night puts God in your face.
One of my favorite share night memories comes from the South Fort Worth class. A majority of the women who got up to tell what God had done in their lives, first thanked Judy Brewington who invited them to join the BSF class. Judy takes the study of God’s word serious an shares it will all who comes into contact with her. She is an incredible woman of God.
Through the years of Share Nights, I have laughed and cried with many woman. Through this journey God prepared me.
What I have learned this year in Bible Study Fellowship through the study of Moses’ life is that taking time to reflect on your journey is a good thing. Whether you know it or not, you are on a journey. And all of the people who are travelling with you are not experiencing the same things as you, but you can still journey together. God will entrust you with a vision that not everyone will understand or comply with. Moses had to bury all but Joshua and Caleb in the desert because they did not understand God’s plan.
During the study of Moses I experienced the most loss I have experience in my life at one time: my mom, my job, some good friends and more. As God revealed the mortality of things on earth, he revealed the immortality of heaven. The joy is that God does not get old and frail. He does not become forgetful or weak. He can be all of the things we have lost. He has taught me He is the one thing I cannot do without.
My overall principle was He was with me. The Third Day song Spirit hit the nail on the head. When all else failed, His presence was always with me. He would always be my guide.
This year I prayed show me what He wants me to know and protect me from what He doesn’t. I choose to know Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is enough for me.
My pastor is preaching a series on serving others. His theology is God knows you are serious about putting Him first if you are serving others. He defines serving others by doing things for people who can’t reciprocate. Dr. Tony Evans said that others’ special needs are designed for divine intercession, it allows God to teach us about Himself.
I have had an amazing walk with God this week sitting in hospital rooms. Sometimes I got to sit quietly, while other times the rooms were filled with conversation and laughter. I have the best family. These people will show up and stay when you are in need. I got to see a compassionate God who cares for us in our weakest moments. We are all heading for that moment. Oh but for grace that will meet us there.
Last night I worked at the Tarrant Area Food Bank with a group of good friends. It was a blessing to be with folks who gave their time unselfishly. We had a good time doing something for someone who could not pay us for the work. God revealed what unconditional love looked like through these people.
That is what I love about God’s word. He gives us examples to live by. We know that if we serve others, we are in His will. If we are selfish, we are not in His will.
I know who I am in Christ. I know my strengths and my limitations. This week I got to be His hands and feet to the point of exhaustion. When I scheduled the Food Bank, I had no idea the other events of this week would take place. I am confident that I am in this season of life for this purpose. My confidence is from Christ and His power at work in me.
For Lent this year instead of giving up something, I added something.
Every day I told the Lord I loved Him. I mean He already knew, but through this process I learned some things.
Here are some of my take aways:
His love is consistent. He tells me everyday He loves me whether I hear it or not.
He trust us with moments
He protects me from things I don’t know. I don’t need to know everything.
He continually reveals Himself to me.
I am learning not to fight when the day doesn’t go the way I schedule it. I remember one morning He woke me very early to spend my time with Him and do my bible study. I ended up spending the rest of the day at DPS renewing my license. Instead of leaving cranky about how slow DPS was, I was in awe of how God ordered it all.
Even though we think we order our days, plan our paths, control our destiny He showed me that He can shut humanity down with some ice and water. While we were trapped in our houses, I watched birds gather pecans like nothing was happening.
My favorite is the adventure that comes with a life dedicated to Him. Some people think their lives will be boring if they follow Jesus. Over the last month and half I have heard the President speak live, had my film accepted into two great film festivals and had the chance to visit a site from my family history.
Life is not always so full and fun. I think of the incident yesterday in Kenya. New stories said four gunman divided the students between Christian and Muslim. They killed the Christians. In my safe little world of Fort Worth, it is easy to say that I identify with Christ. But I wonder what would I say if there was a gun to my head. Whenever I think I am sure that I would stand up for Jesus, I think of His disciples who chose to run on a day like today. Are you confident of what you would do? If not:
Keep allowing God to work your muscle of faith.
Be confident like the three boys in the furnace.
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver usfrom Your Majesty’s hand.But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3: 17-18.
I am assured that when those babies entered heaven yesterday that Jesus was standing at the right hand of God welcoming them home. They had passed the most important test.
