i. those eleven-degree mornings when the world is silver-plated and diamond-studded in sunrise light.
ii. the wonder of learning and developing as a photographer.
I’m in the middle of a distance-learning professional photography certification course from the New York Institute of Photography right now, and though some of the reading can get a bit dense, I can’t believe that I get to call it my job description to seek out beauty and portray it honestly for hungry eyes.
This is a photo I took for my first course project. I don’t consider it representative of my style at all—I think it’s the first time I’ve ever consciously stopped my aperture down to f/32! But part of learning is trying new techniques from every angle.
iii. opportunities to teach.
I am beginning to realize that along with a love of learning, I find tremendous joy in teaching. On Sunday night, I spent an hour giving a presentation to my church about my experiences in Israel, and my favorite part was teaching about the culture and Biblical history there. On Monday, I got to take my little sister riding and teach her how to control my horse. And this morning I got to teach her how to diagram sentences in English while Mom was gone. :)
iv. horses—pure power, beauty, and speed packaged in a form of delicate legs and huge muscles.
v. quiet, lonesome morning walks.
I walk every day—because I can’t not. It’s when I get time to breathe, to pray, to think—without having to be doing. It’s the time when I can, for three-quarters of an hour, just be.
vi. words:
I found these words tucked inside this gem of an article. It was a timely and convicting reminder.
vii. music:
Listen, and breathe in the reality that He can redeem you from anything.
viii. Bible:
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
In all honesty, this has been a hard post for me to write this week. Some of the blessings I’m listing here really were “wow” moments, but as the week wore on they faded into a noisy background of stress and worry and fear.
Fear. It is the antithesis of trust, the opposite of joy, and the father of many wicked children—discontentment, worry, covetousness, and the horrific stress that they cause. It is the subconscious statement of the heart: “I do not believe that God is with me, that God cares for me, or that God is in perfect control of my life.”
And there it is.
Reading between the lines of my anxious heart, I find a painful truth.
The reason that I so desperately want control over my life is that I truly do not believe that anyone—even God—loves me as much as I love myself.
Ouch.
I admire your ability "to read between the lines of your heart."
ReplyDeleteI hope the days become less stressful for you.