A Picture a Day keeps the grouchies away

A Picture is worth a thousand words--or so I hear.  And as a photographer, I believe it.  And I've even made resolutions to take more picutres, but until now it's just been awfully complicated.  Oh, I've got my camera and lenses all in one always-packed bag, but who wants to lug all that around.  It's great for "serious" photography, but sometimes a girl has to be in the mood for all that.  I just wanted to take quick photos and record my (fabulously interesting) life for posterity sake.

Enter Iphone (which I love for many, many reasons).  It has an 8 megapixel camera (which is almost as good as my "serious" camera), and it's handy.  No lugging anything around.

So I did it.  I signed up for a photo-a-day project that I've seen other friends do.  And so far I love it.  I worried that it would become for me "just one more thing" but it's been a great experience.  It's helping me keep my eyes open to beauty and love that is all around me, and record the things that make me happy.  I'm again noticing things like the way the light dances, or the exact smile on my puppy dog's face. I'm finding a way to tap into my oft-ignored creative side, which will hopefully lead to other creative endeavors in other parts of my life.  You can keep up with my project here if you'd like.  But if you can't stand to wait for the time it takes to open up the page, here's a preview (mostly from my blue-sky day sort of walk this afternoon.)

With what shall I come before the Lord?

"How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil?  Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin?" (Micah 6:6, The Message)

There have been days, lots of them to be exact, that I've wondered what would impress God, or what God required of me.  There have been days when I've missed the mark...badly. But today, as I've had a week "off" (though most of it was spent doing continuing ed-- in the beautiful mountains-- poor me!) and I've had a chance to collect my thoughts and do some things just for me, I realize that the things that God asks of us are to live "holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth." (A Brief Statement of Faith--PCUSA).

I spent the morning cooking for the week. (We're trying to quit eating out so much-- and cooking ahead and freezing are the only way we can achieve that.)  I even baked bread, using a recipe that my grandmother used to make--and made it with her mixer that my parents gave me as a wedding present. But there was a holiness to all of it, a holy luxury of just having one task at hand.  Then DH and I sat outside, enjoying a fire in our firepit.  I did some knitting and some reading (for fun! how bout that?) and then went for a lovely walk in the cornfields.  I watched my doggie smile as she ran and ran.  Then DH and the other doggie came out to meet us, and the light was magical--I took some great pictures (that at least make me happy).

And that is how I come before the Lord, at least today. Covered in the remnants of a very good day that fed my soul and gave me a few opportunities to see God in my midst.  "With what shall I come before the Lord?" the prophet Micah asks.

I come before the Lord with knitting and baked bread and a greatful heart, having stood on holy ground, having been made joyful at the presence of God in my midst, waiting to see what God is up to in the days ahead.

Home is where your tree is...

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Where we are isn't really home, but we've planted our feet here for a while.   But when I see this tree-- and it's absolutely huge-- I feel home, in much the same way that I feel home whenever I'm in the mountains.   The tree guards my comings and goings between the house and the cornfields, and it seems to provide a stopping point for the beautfiul hawk that we see on a regular basis.

It makes me happy to see this picture.  It was taken on a blue-sky day, those rare days when everything seems to be in harmony with everything else, on a day when heaven and earth seemed to be one.

Everyone needs a tree to sit under and watch the day go by...