Category Archives: Photography

What Does It Say?

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Icicle Creek

A cold day on Icicle Creek

What does this scene say to you?

For some it doesn’t say anything but burr.

My hope is that it speaks to your heart of God’s glory. That you hear echoes of His love for us. That it reminds you of God’s perfection that He wants to share with us.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world….
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19

Thoughts to Warm Up a Cold Day

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Oregon Coast

A cold lonely day

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies. Psalm 118:6-7

The Lord is with me; I am not alone.
The Lord is with me; He knows my way.
The Lord is with me; His yoke is easy and His burden light.
The Lord is with me; He will never leave me, nor forsake me.
The Lord is with me; I shall not want.
The Lord is with me; He restores my soul.
The Lord is with me; His goodness and mercy will follow me forever.
The Lord is with me, and He is the victor over all including me.

Thank you Jesus.

Open My Eyes

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The others were hardened, as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes so that they could not see
and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day.” Romans 11:7-8

Lord, open the eyes of my heart.

This first picture is what came out of the camera. Pretty dull why even bother.

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Snow in the Woods

This second picture is after some color processing. Brings it closer to what I saw with my eyes. A little better and more exciting.

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Sunrise in the woods

The third picture is what I saw with my heart—Heaven’s gate.

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Heaven’s Gate

My Plans Gone Awry

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The Cascades break through the clouds

To get the full impact of this picture you need to know how it came about. Due to weather conditions my late night flight home had been canceled. I had to wait till morning to catch the next plane. I must admit to being pretty grumpy and upset. Then on the morning flight the clouds parted and I saw this scene. One glimpse made it all worthwhile, and I started to praise God for His weather delay.

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Thank you Lord for determining my steps.

The Greatest Gift

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Blackbird Island

Psalm 36:5

Show the wonder of Your great love,
You who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in You from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye.  Psalm 17:7-8

Even in the cold, God’s love makes us warm.
In rocky places, love gives us a soft place to lie.
His love gives us courage and protects us in truth.
When we do wrong love forgives and leads us to forgive each other.
When there is no time left, there is time enough for love.
Love brings hope even when we are hopeless.
When our lives fill with painful noise, love overcomes with a song.
When we trip and fall, love covers the hurt.
A mountain of anger will yield to love.
When life is empty love will fill the void.
There is no dark place that love cannot reach.
When life appears worthless, love makes it worthwhile.
Fear must leave when love comes in.
Love makes death a brief cry.
Love produces endless joy in the lover and the loved.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Merry Christmas

Morning After Nightmares

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Awaken to the Morning

Sunrise against the clouds

I awaken just short of being devoured.
The fear lingers on.
My mind is stalked by the night terror.
I call out to Jesus and He comes to hold me like a mother holds her child.
Together we review the truth,
The verses of His compassion and faithfulness.
The depths of his love explored.
The nightmare cannot come it is left outside.
I am made ready for the day.

Coming Before the Throne

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Before the Throne

At Heaven’s gate

Trying to write, but I am so uninspired and sleepy.
Trying to pray for a good friend who has terminal cancer, but I am so lifeless in prayer.
Trying to live for my Lord, but I am so weak and easily tripped up.
How wonderful is my great high priest who sits enthroned at the right hand of God.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

My soul soars to His mercy seat and I fall before Him in thanksgiving.

Flying Through the Morning Mist

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Morning Mist Along the Wenatchee River

Flying through the fog of fear

Life is like this scene along the Wenatchee River—shrouded in fog. I am often unable to see clearly to know what lies ahead. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Christians at Philippi, encourages us to to move forward not letting our past sins and fears bind us and prevent our advance.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,…” Phil. 3:13

So I made my own list of the things I need to forget:

Past sins and failures that have been forgiven.
Past ugliness and pain.
Fear that I don’t have what it takes to keep going.

Trouble is to forget I need to replace my fears with something that encourages, and clears the fog of uncertainty as I move forward. This is why I also need to remember:

Jesus Christ died for my sins, and now I am new in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Jesus loves me and is my faithful shepherd. (John 10:11)
God is building me up in Jesus to do good things. (Ephesians 2:10)
Nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39)

When you can’t see ahead moving forward depends on what you let your mind dwell upon. (Phil. 4:8)

Link

Autumn Along the Wenatchee

Autumn along the Wenatchee River

This scene was beautiful but short-lived, the next year a second fire burned through this area. Life is like this landscape: beautiful for a time, but things happen. That is why I love John 14:6

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – Jesus

His compassion is new every morning.
He forgives me and helps me forgive.
He gives me a new heart.
He opens my eyes to see, and my ears to hear.
He is my strength and my self control.
He is the good shepherd watching over me and my family.
He is my shield.
He is my hope that conquers fear.
He is my peace and security––my Rock.
He loves me with an enduring love.
He promised to come back and take me home with Him.
No matter what happens He will never leave me nor forsake me.
He is just what I need for life.

Life is not life without Jesus.

Letting in the Sunshine

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letting-in-the-sunshine

The light of day

In this current culture of obscuring the truth with words (e.g. locker room talk, boys will be boys), I need to reflect on the truth found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Lust wants to possess, to force.
Love hopes for love’s response.

Lust wants to rule, to conquer.
Love brings freedom to the lover.

Lust wants to be served, and uses others.
Love wants to serve.

Lust is self-seeking.
Love seeks for good in the one loved.

Lust lies to get what it wants.
Love rejoices with the truth.

Lust becomes angry when it doesn’t get its way.
Love is patient and kind.

Lust leads to self-gratification.
Love leads to self-sacrifice.

The one who lusts becomes like the purveyor of lust.
The one who loves becomes like the author of love.

I may not have stated it all quite right, but I want to point to the one who came to proclaim the truth of God’s love.