9/21/06

This may be a long post. lol I wanted to share my devotion that I did with the teachers this morning at school. I compared my love of photography with our walk with the Lord. I thought the Lord gave me some neat points. Here is a picture I had shared, too. I hope it gives you something to think about, too!

Viewing God through a camera lens

The details of God’s Creation can easily be overlooked in our lives. We are so busy that we fail to look around and observe how God has designed the different things in the world so beautifully. What we may see as weeds and creatures/things that are ugly are actually parts of His creation that He saw was VERY GOOD at the end of the Creation week. Their purpose may have changed because of the sin that entered into the world, but they are still beautiful in God’s eyes. How can we view the world differently? How can we magnify on what God has created?

Psalm 34:3 – O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Revelation 4:11 – Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Psalm 104:24 – O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

How taking a photograph compares with our walk with the Lord:

1. You have to be still to capture the moment. Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. We have to be still and allow God to show us what he wants in our lives.

2. You have to focus on your subject or it will be blurry. Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. We must focus on the Lord to show us the correct path or the correct way to do things.

3. What you see through the viewfinder may not be what you get! I Samuel 16:7b – for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

4. You need a flash or the shutter has to stay open longer in dark areas to allow more light. Matthew 5:16 – Let your light so shine upon men that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven. Are we allowing our “shutters” to stay open long enough for people to see the light of Jesus in us?

5. You can get some of your best light from the sun. John 1:1-5 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6. Just when you have your camera ready to take the picture, your subject moves! Genesis 12:1 – Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. Just when we think we have it all figured out, sometimes God moves us out of our comfort zone!

7. A tripod is needed at times for steadiness. Psalm 18:2 – The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. We need the Lord to hold us up when times are hard.

8. Looking through a telephoto lens gives you a narrow depth of field. When we look to God’s Word as our base of what we believe we aren’t caught up in what is all around us. Psalm 16:11 – Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

9. Have an understanding that you won’t get a “perfect” shot every time.
II Corinthians 12:29 – And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. We need to remember that we aren’t perfect and we’ll make mistakes, but God can use it to teach us something.

10. In order to be used, a camera has to have fresh batteries, be turned on, the lens cap taken off with film/card inside. We have to allow the God to give us life so we can be alive to show praise to Him. Psalm 36:9 – For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light. Proverbs 8:35 – For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.

I had a lot of people tell me they enjoyed it. I wanted people to walk away with a different "view" of a camera and give them something to think on everytime they took a picture. :)

Today and yesterday have been BEAUTIFUL here. It has been in the low 70's and BLUE skies each day. I am excited about fall and the beauty it brings. (Makes me want to go back to Washington, DC to try my hand at my pictures again....the monuments against that fabulous blue sky. Amy, I am jealous!!!)

Anyway, just a wonderful afternoon and the kids had a blast playing outside after school. When Steve got home he taught Wesley how to drive his "old" John Deere. He put it on really slow speed and then taught him how to stop/start/back up with it. It was the neatest thing and he was SO excited on it. Mikayla said she was following on her bike. :) Here are some pictures I took this afternoon.

Tonight Steve and I are going to go see The Lion King and I am excited! I am glad to be able to go with Steve, too. It will be a nice treat for us. :) I took a mini nap this afternoon so I could stay awake during the whole thing! I'll let you know how it goes!! :) Have a wonderful day!