Friends Facing the Future

This is a message for my dear friends, John, Jill and Josh, who read my blogs regularly.

You know our God is Mighty, and has Power beyond all knowledge. You trust in our Savior, and testify of His love and mercy in your lives. There are no sermons that can adequately address all that is happening in your lives at the moment. There are no words that can 'fix it' for you.

BUT, there is Love from the "Father of Lights" that surrounds you and, amazingly enough, comes by means of God's people on occasion. That we can be a little help to you in your need gives us joy beyond words. Our church family is hovering over you in prayer as you face the illness (and related issues) that God has allowed you face at this time in your ongoing relationship with Him.

Don't give up. We love you.

Norway Fjords

This is a haunting shot of the Fjord trip we took in Norway. Another example of digital magic. We had an absolutely beautiful day on this trip, and our host, Irene, said the weather is not always as cooperative. Hope you enjoy this shot.

Peter's wedding.

My oldest son, Peter, and his lovely bride, Kristin, as I officiate at their wedding.
What a joy and privilege for me!
These pictures are from a very talented young lady who gave the photos the sepia treatment. Very well timed photography. Not to take away from the beauty of the occasion of the Wedding of course.
This was a wonderful, magical wedding that was very different than any other wedding I have taken part in. Peter and his bride are very happy together, and they will be a huge blessing and encouragement to those they will reach out to in the future.
What a beautiful couple! What a beautiful wedding.

digital photos

Sunne, Sweden.

An incredibly beautiful little town.
What amazes me is the quality of photos that you can make with the small point and shoot digital cameras! I can remember the days when you had to wait to see if you got the shot... and in the process snap off about a dozen photos at 40cents each hoping one of them might be a 'keeper' . I deliberately left this one 'raw' with no digital monkey business! My camera for this shot: Fujifilm Finepix Z5... with up to 6 meg. Anyway, I love this picture and it brings back many good and happy memories of our trip to Sweden to visit our friends there.

If you are wondering, the church in the background, tying the composition together is the State Lutheran Church. The Swedes take their "church" seriously. In fact we were told that before a new town is established, the government builds a church first before anything else. (Don't know if that is fokelore or not).

I became interested in photography at the age of 10 or so. I learned darkroom processing when my parents bought me a complete set (second hand). I never really perfected darkroom techniques until in college when I did most of the photography (from camera to yearbook). I could never afford good equipment, but did the best with what I had.

I remember telling myself, when digital cameras first came out, that I would NEVER go digital. Well, my first digi was a Nikon Coolpix, the first generation. After I started seeing the results from that 2Meg camera, I virtually stopped using 35mm cameras. Say, I have a really well-kept Olympus OM system, complete with original Olympus lenses... if you want the set, let me know... make me an offer I can't refuse. (I am so 'sold' on digital, I have no real desire to shoot 35 anymore- something I thought would never happen.)

Exercise

Exercise is not easy. When you see people exercising you mostly observe the pain on their faces that is caused by exertion, and usually redness in the face from the effort. It doesn't look fun. However just about everyone I speak to who exercises to exhaustion tells me the same thing... it is worth it! And the benefits are both short and long term... so why don't we do it? This is not a forum for excuses, so there is no point giving rationalizations. Diet and exercise are vitally important to being a well-rounded (no pun intended) individual. Without divulging my own lack of discipline in this area (you can guess it exists), I think it's important for us to stick together and get back (if you need to) into that discipline.

Over the years I have come to fully understand that this subject is deeply spiritual, and it affects every part of our lives. Years ago I remember counseling training that addressed 'life dominating habits.' The concept is that we compartmentalize our issues and want to think that one area of our lives has no effect on all the other areas of our lives. Which is false! We think we are getting away with stuff, and we are affecting our entire soul, spirit and body. And that is a sobering thought when we choose to actually think about such things.

OK, let's do something about this and get back into a positive, God-honoring lifestyle that puts us on the path to better health.

That way, we can serve the Master better.... and probably longer.