Yesterday Nicky and I shot a wedding for a wonderful couple in Findlay. We had a gorgeous church and a beautiful day just ripe to take some pictures at a nearby park. What's better than a sunset, a wedding dress, and a tux all out in the middle of a park with a small waterfall, trees blowing in the breeze that picks up the veil and tosses it around, and park benches begging to be lazied on while gazing into each other's eyes? I can't think of anything
I was jazzed!
Taking well over 400 shots at the park, we figured that should be enough (but if I have to admit I could have worn the bride and groom out! I was loving it!) and headed over to the reception. Receptions are where Nicky and I get a chance to sit down and rest for a few minutes. And when we do, it is customary for us to offload the memory cards onto the laptop and start perusing our captured memories.
This is where horror struck at this photographer's heart.
I plugged in the card that held those park captured memories, the veil in the breeze, the subtle kisses, and the waterfall. All of it, nestled safely, or so I believed, on this little one inch by one half inch memory card. The software recognized the card and started downloaded images. That is until it abruptly stopped and said to me...
Items 100-499 are not readable and were not imported.
Literally, my gut turned every which way possible and I felt a wave of nauseousness roll from the tips of the hairs on my head to the toes of my feet. What on earth am I going to do?!?!?! How can I explain this to the couple, this sweet couple?!
An amazing thing happens when that sort of panic sets in. All common sense, if you have any, goes out the door like a bag of stinky diapers!
I regained composure and started running through my head what to do. Worst case scenario is to simply be honest with the couple and beg for mercy. I also thought of a magic land where these guys in white clean suits repair such memory cards in clean rooms and then send you a bill of $1000 bucks for putting data back together bit by bit.
Common sense started to take over again at this point. The thought of spending that much money can bring common sense back to a man.
I ejected the card, plugged it back in and prayed (literally I laid hands on it) that the computer would see it. It did and I was able to browse the card. Immediately I clicked as fast as my little computer fingers could go and just did a straight copy from the card to the computer.
This is where I learned a lesson from God.
You all have watched enough progress bars go by while waiting for a computer to do something, whether it is a Mac or a PC. With Mac, I get a countdown of each item being copied. I will honestly say that with each time the counter went down a number and successfully copied a picture from the card to the desktop, I rejoiced and praised God that I got one more image off that card. We must have looked silly to those sitting around us as we watched the number of files slowly decrease as our praises increased! I didn't care! Heck I'd of ran around that place acting like a chicken if I'd knew that it would make all the files copy!
Thankfully God spared the guests from having to see that!
As it got closer and closer to 20, then 15, 10 I knew that God was blessing this thing. Each passing image copied I praised God for that blessing.
This made me think of all the things I can take for granted in my life that God blesses me with and I fail to praise Him for. Such as each time the car starts or each time it rains and my roof doesn't leak, or for each belch after a good meal (hey, it's a compliment in some parts of the world!), or for each morning I wake up, or each night I lay down. Moreover, I think of each time I fail and he lifts me up, dusts me off, and sets me back on the path.
Paul says in Philippians,
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Speaking for myself, I need to think on these things more, giving them more consideration. Think on those items often overlooked, but are praiseworthy. In doing so, I find yet another connection to the Father that I can easily make at any point in my day.
Just as I counted down those numbers and praised God for each one, this week my desire is to look for missed opportunities to think on something that is praiseworthy and fire that praise toward heaven, knowing that my Heavenly Father is intently listening to each one.
My challenge for you...do the same!
To round this entry off, I wanted to share an image or two from the portion of the shoot that I thought I had lost. I'm still praising God for each one!
In our Sunday School class these past two weeks, I've learned so much and I just wanted to share a little bit of what God is doing in my life. That is what follows plain and simple!
Life is complicated. But I don't believe it was ever meant to be. I believe that life in fact is pretty simple and it is us that complicates it.
John 10:10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). AMP
Jesus came so that we could have life abundantly. What's that mean? Does that mean we get all we want?
Nah...that can't be right. Try this out sometime...Someday, give to your kids every want, does it ever satisfy them completely? Doesn't my kids and I'm betting it won't yours either. When the newest thing loses it's luster, something else will catch their attention. We are so much like that it's not funny! Getting all we want isn't the abundantly Jesus is referring to. Getting what we want (car, house, wife, husband, kids, job, etc) won't every completely satisfy. I go back once again to His statement of life more abundantly...life to the full.
I think there is so much more to this. It goes deeper, much deeper, into an abundance that words probably cannot aptly describe. It starts with surrender. Remember Jesus in the garden before being arrested, beaten and crucified? He prayed an amazing prayer to His Father. It ended with a cool statement:
"Not my will, but always yours be done." Jesus was surrendering His will to the Father's will. An amazing thing happens when we do this. We gain freedom. We gain freedom in surrender knowing that God is in complete control.
God wants the best for us and NOTHING…absolutely nothing happens outside of His control. No other force, no one person exercises control outside of God. Jesus knew this even as he was in the garden praying that very prayer before facing the repulsiveness of the world's sin and the cross.
This sort of surrender is no small task or one decision made…it's not like making a change to read my Bible everyday. Living in a constant state of not my will but God's will is a way of life decided each moment of the day. And although it sounds daunting, scary, and maybe even impossible, remember this: We receive unimaginable peace when we submit our will under God's in knowing that NOTHING happens outside of His hand and control. I am free to live life to the fullest, free of anxiety of what's to come or what may happen. I am free to live a life that is full, safely enveloped in the Father's love and will for my life. I don't have to control it...Someone much wiser than I is in full control and I am safe in his will
This reminds me of one of my favorite verses:
Rom. 8:28 We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. AMP
This brings up one interesting note. What about crappy things that happen to us? What about the lost job, cancer, divorce, bills, cars breaking down, broken relationships? The list goes on and on. Fill in your struggle right now. I propose that all of these things are under God's will. They may not feel good. They may be divine discipline, teaching us to live the way He desires. And they may be challenges God is giving us, to grow us, to mature us, to make us more into what He desires...to be more Christ-like. In light of these things, I can say that whatever happens to me, I know and believe that it is all within the Father's will. I am safe inside His will even though bad things will happen.
I am again reminded of another favorite verse in the same chapter of Romans:
Rom. 8:38 For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom. 8:39 Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMP
Remember, nothing, not one person or thing exercises control outside of God. And if we can claim Romans 8:28 and believe that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, and believe in verses 38 and 39, then we gain life abundantly, life to the fullest. We gain such a peace that the world cannot understand. We gain such a rock solid peace that when life does get complicated, we can choose to leave it to God to un-complicate it and surrender our will to His, trading our sorrows, our complications for His peace! What a deal!
WIth all of this, I want to remain in a place where God is challenging me to grow, knowing that whatever comes, it's in His will and cannot separate me from His love.
Lately I've been running differently. Instead of a set number of miles, I've been challenging myself to see how far I can go in a set number of minutes. You see, if I don't ever try to stretch beyond what I know I can do, I'll never discover where those limits are. And I've discovered that I have new limits, new times and new distances opened up to me because I've challenged myself. With running, though, eventually I will hit a wall, I'll hit a physical limit that I simply won't have the speed, agility, or endurance to go further.
God transcends far beyond those limitations when He challenges me. There simply is no limit to how deep this thing called a relationship with God goes. Let him challenge me! I don't want to live a complacent life, but one that is vibrant, alive and...
Introducing the couple that introduced us to the amazing city of Nashville TN! Now, I am not a fan of country music and it's probably safe to say that I'd rather listen to ANYTHING else, but all that being said, we are already planning our trip back! Heck, I'd still go even if I had to listen to country music...Yea, it's worth the pain!
At any rate, check out their video from their wedding!
Someone wiser than I once told me I was a wealthy man. I looked him straight in the eye and said...
"Yup! And not in the financial sense!"
I'm certainly not independently wealthy financially speaking. I have a good job, a successful side business and I can pay my bills, taxes, and all that. God has blessed me beyond what I truly deserve.
But where I'm most blessed is where true wealth is. The wise man that was speaking to me was not referring to finances, but the three girls and the wife standing beside me. This gentleman fully realized that true wealth doesn't reside in a bank account nor does it sit in a 401k, but in the relationships that are closest and the time spent building those relationships.
Proverbs 13:11 states that
Prov. 13:11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears;
wealth from hard work grows over time.
The writer of this Proverb is saying,
"Look, anything gained by scheming will fall through your hands like sand, but real wealth grows over time from hard work."
While here he speaks of financial gain and loss, I look at this verse and it speaks so loudly to me the need to invest in wealth that will grow over time...namely...my children. My children are an investment that I will always get a positive return on. Never will I lose when I invest in them. I will always see a return from the hard work, and it is hard work with relationships. Nothing worth having comes easy.
At this point in my life, this verse sticks out with the wise man's words spoken to me. While I need financial provision from God to purchase needs for my family and pay the bills, more importantly, they need a father and a husband who has enough energy to invest in them. Not one who is worn out at the end of working 9 hours a day at the office and then turns around and works a few more into the late hours only to go to bed exhausted and wake up the same. Jesus promised me life and life more abundant. I don't want to work it away.
I am therefore faced with a tough decision. To completely leave our business, close it down...for good, not any of this only doing a few things because I tried that....didn't work. Or start putting together a business plan and model to leave the day job and run a business, not on the side, but completely.
In this decision Nicky and I sit. Financial wealth is not what we seek in this, should it end up being the door opened. Meeting physical needs and paying the bills is what we are after. What do we gain then? True wealth. More time spent in a family business. Being able to pick up my kids from school. Being able to say, I've got nothing scheduled this afternoon, lets all go to the park! Being able to work with my wife as a team. Being home more, stressed less, and rested more. Having white space in my calendar again. To me, *this*, sounds like a wealthy and rich life.
I certainly don't give Satan the credit he deserves. Give him just enough of a pinkie toe hold and he'll run with it. If I am not on guard at all times, then, and this will sound insanely obvious, I leave parts of myself unguarded, weakened and left open for attack.
Most often, this happens by process of thoughts - little ones at first, just enough to wear you down a little, get you used to the idea. The thoughts become more persuasive as you give into their demand for your attention and you dwell on them. I know I've said this before, what a person dwells on, if dwelt on long enough, finds its way from concept to reality within the heart. It becomes grafted in as if it always belonged there.
This happened to me this week. Leaving my Bible aside for the past week, I focused almost all of myself on getting media ready for Easter. And although important, I don't believe it trumps my relationship with Christ. A flower bed can become a weed bed in just a few days if left uncared for. Our lives can either be a fertile ground for Christ to grow, or a fertile ground for Satan to grow.
That choice belongs to us. It belongs to me. And I choose wrong this past week and neglected.
I cannot stress the imperativeness of reading God's Word and spending time with Him. Obvious statement with profound effects on our lives. Boil and reduce down all the profound theology and what's left is the most important thing. And what's most important about that is that it remains the most important thing!
Imagine not eating for several days. If you've never fasted, try it just for a day. Take note as to how you feel physically besides being hungry. You'll be quick to realize that after 24 hours and no food, your body will start to feel weak. Daily activities that normally wouldn't be much of a pull physically, slowly become challenging. You start to feel a bit weak, your mind isn't as sharp, and you tire quickly.
Simply speaking, your body needs fed. To have the strength to endure a typical work day, your body needs minimum of 1800 calories a day. That's a desk job and not much else. The right foods need to be eaten to provide the body what it needs to avoid a weakened state. And, at the end of the day, it needs recharged. And we sleep.
Our minds and spirits must be also be fed through daily connection to our spiritual source of strength. We aren't meant to fight the devil on our own. That struggle requires daily contact with our God and that happens through His Word, through prayer, through taking time to just be with Him, on purpose. If we neglect what our spiritual side needs, we leave it weakened and vulnerable and prime for an attack as the spirit tires quickly without the strength of God flowing through His Spirit. If I am not in that flow, then it's me that's caused that. I've stopped feeding on what keeps me in that flow.
I am standing on the other side of something no one else knows about...and they don't need to. I fought a serious spiritual battle and won...not on my own strength, but through His.
Repeatedly God told Joshua to be strong and courageous and to not forget His Word, but to meditate on it day and night. For me to be strong and courageous, I must not neglect meditating on His Word and making a connection with the Living God.
I've rambled enough. Point is this: Do not neglect your time spent with God outside of church. It is absolutely vital to a Christians survival!
On a completely different note, Nicky and I had a wonderful time with the girls this Easter. We intentionally left Sunday open to whatever and had our Easter dinner with Nicky's parents Saturday evening. Dinner, I must humbly say, was a-mazing! I decided to cure and smoke a fresh ham this year for Easter in lieu of buying one from the store. I will never go back to buying already cured and smoked hams. Wow, was the ham ever good! Ok, maybe I'm not being as humble as I should be, but it was really good...and fun to do.
After dinner we colored eggs which is always interesting. It seems to me that when one child desires to color an egg a certain color, they all must then have that color as well. They absolutely cannot choose out of the seven other remaining colors, but must fight over the ONE color. I don't ever remember being like that as a kid...just ask my mom and she'll tell you I was an angel...ok, don't ask her...ask my grandmother...She'll definitely say I was an angel!
At any rate, eggs were colored Saturday night and Sunday after church and naps we took the girls out to the park to just goof around, followed by ice-cream. It was a blessed day. Check out the video to prove it!
Ever been baffled by something so simple? Perplexed by something that seems like there should be more to it, but it is exactly what it says? You try to add to it, make it more profound as if to say,
"God must have meant something more complex here, I just need to figure it out."
Ok, well maybe I am the only one who's crazy enough to think that way and if there's someone else out there like that, then join me in this little trip.
It will be short, but I believe powerful.
Reading the Bible today I found myself baffled at this simple statement made by Elizabeth at the sight of Mary when they see each other pregnant for the first time.
Luke 1:45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Can it be just that simple? Is it that simple that the result of the blessing is directly united, dependent, and contingent on something as simple as...dear me...that I simply believe that God will do what He said He would do?
I am blessed because I believe.
I've felt sometimes that I'm not blessed, although nothing has really changed. I have my job, I can pay my bills, I have food, shelter, clothes, a great Sunday School class and some really good friends, an awesome church and church family...and I still have four gorgeous women at home!! Now...I know you've just got to be asking yourself,
"How does *this* guy have four gorgeous woman at home??"
That's easy!! One of them felt sorry for me and the other three are my daughters, who right now don't have much of a choice but to stick with old Dad.
My point is this; nothing in my life has changed. That is why I am seeking to understand why I don't feel blessed. In this endeavor, I have read this simple fourteen word passage over and over, savoring it like prime rib, extricating all the flavor the verse had to offer. Then...
Instant face-palm! You could hear the smack of my hand contacting my face from three offices away. How could I have missed this? Read it again...
"You are blessed BECAUSE YOU BELIEVEDthat the Lord would do what he said." God said he would provide all that I need,
Matthew 6:26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
2 Corinthians 9:8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
Philippians. 4:19 And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
The blessings are always there! They fail not! God always provides them. It is not God that removes the blessing from the provision, it is I that removes it. I fail to see the blessing in God keeping His word, in believing, not so much what He *will* do, but what He *is* doing ~ what He said He would do in the first place. Let's put this another way by restating that verse the way I was living it.
I am not blessed because I did not believe that the Lord would do what he said.
While I don't think it's a lack of faith, I do believe that it is indeed a case of "familiarity breeding contempt" - taking these for granted. When I stop and think that God has hand crafted what I have for today, just for me, I am blessed in that thought because I see an Almighty God taking an interest in someone like me. God prepares each day just for me! And He does the same for you. Open up your eyes to see God keeping his word and when you see Him doing so, I promise you will be blessed!
My future - secured. My fate - sealed up in the Lambs Book of Life! Am I blessed...YOU BET!
Today, I challenge you, be vigilant and awake, desiring to see God keep His word. Just watch! You'll see God do exactly what he said he would do. And when that happens...you will be blessed!
