Trial of Book Embedd Code

I have just one more post that I want to try out before I leave this blog. If it works after I give this book to my family I will put it on my new blog.  This is a book I made on shutterfly.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

New Blog

I decided that for a while I would switch to a new blog. I may come back to this one, but I wanted one that would be easier to layout and edit. I also decided that I wanted to try to put up a picture in every post. I am using weebly. If anyone ever reads this blog then come here:
Through My Lens

Wonderful Wicked Weekend

This weekend we went to see the musical Wicked in Atlanta. It was a truly wonderful weekend. It was one of those weekends that changes you and you remember forever. It was so full of good things and everything just seemed to be so full of meaning on so many different levels.

The center of the weekend was this wonderful musical about so many things but mostly about friendship. Elphaba and Glinda are two very different people who start out hating each other but learn to become friends and appreciate the best qualities in each other. The climax of the play is this song they sing to each other called "For Good". Below is a YouTube video with the music and the lyrics.

These are beautiful words. It made me think about all the friends that I have had that have left "their handprint on my heart," as the words in the song say. Of course the one that I thought about the most was my dear friend, Mary Charlotte, who went to be with Jesus almost a year ago. I also thought about how I want this to be my legacy, that someone would say that I have made a difference in their lives for good. In my devotion time I read from Acts 10 about Barnabas who became that kind of friend to Paul. I wonder what would have happened if he had not had the courage to convince the other disciples that Paul was truly changed after meeting Christ. God does put people in our lives who make us better, even though those relationships are not always easy, just like the relationship between Paul and Barnabas had difficulty when they disagreed about John Mark. Later on you see Paul mentioned Barnabas. I think that there must have come a time when they apologized to each other and forgave each other, just like Elphaba and Glinda.

I was also so grateful again for Matt and his family. We have been so blessed by them in just the short time we have known them. It was Brian and Sheryl who made the original plans to go and invited us along. It was such fun to be with them and I think we talked the whole way to Atlanta and back.

It was also good to get to see David and Lizzie who joined us for supper. So for one wonderful meal at the wonderful Italian restaurant, my family, both old and new were together. A special, special time.

Raspberries, Thorns, and Mosquito Bites

I had this place in the flower bed that wraps around from the front of the house by the front porch to the side of the house where I couldn't get anything to grow. It is in the corner of a brick wall of the house and the porch. I tried roses and other heat and sun loving plants but nothing. weed didn't even grow there. So last summer I saw raspberry bushes on sale at the end of the session so I bought one. It actually produced a few raspberries last year. The instructions said to cut the branches that had fruit at the end of the season. This is literally all I have ever done for this plant. I haven't even watered it this summer. And it has grown like magic. So tonight this what I got.

So here is what I learned tonight. Raspberries have throns. But you can see them and they really don't hurt that much. They really don't make it that much harder to pick raspberries. We have thorns in our life, but we can usually see them. At least we know they are there are we can prepare ourself for them. So tonight I didn't get hurt by thorns when I picked my raspberries. But what I did get was Mosquito bites. I didn't see the bugs who bite me and I didn't know it was happening when it did. I only felt the itch and sting when I went inside. Lord help me to think about things that I don't see that can sneak in and cause damage. Help me to remember to protect myself like I should have with a little bug spray. Help me to use your word to deal with the thorns and bugs in my life.

Oh Yes! Thank you for all the gifts you give, like raspberries, that make life a little sweeter.

My Daughter is Married and Other Good Things!

Our family has had a very wonderful and very full summer.

The summer began with the wedding of our dear friend's daughter. Kara married Justin. Meredith and I, along with Robin and Stephanie, did the bridesmaid's luncheon. Meredith was a bridesmaid and I directed the wedding. Three years ago when Donna's son Kevin got married she told me that she wanted to direct Meredith's wedding. She took a class and taught me everything I know about directing weddings. It was wonderful to share in that family's joy. Over the years we have shared so much; graduations, soccer games, church, and camping at Fall Creek Falls.

So when it was time for Meredit's wedding, three weeks later, Donna did the same for us. Kara was a bridesmaid for Kara and Donna directed Meredith's wedding. She, along with Pam, did the bridesmaid's luncheon. This has been a wonderful thing - to have a friend know exactly what you are going through, to share so much in each other's wonderful day. This made the weddings even more special. Weddings are very emotional things - answered prayers, happiness, joy, knowing that your family is changed forever, knowing that your children are grown.

Another special thing that happened at the wedding was that we got to meet David's girlfriend, Lizzie. She was wonderful and I am so excited for them, for they are falling in love, too.

So after the wedding things suddenly game to a stop - the focus of planning for a year was over. The kids and all their friends and family that filled our house and life were gone and it was just back to the two us again. It is interesting how it felt different this time. We have had an empty nest since Meredith left for college in 2006, but somehow it was different. At first it was sad, but as we get used to it again we are actually talking and spending more time together. This is a good thing because school starts in a week. It seems like teaching and work was much more longer ago since I didn't have time to do much of any schoolwork this summer.

Now of course we had to go to Fall Creek Falls for our anniversary. This time we spent 8 days. We were in one of our most favorite campsites, 211. Clark and Shirley were there of course and there was dominoes with Curtis and Gertude and Ken and Judy, the other regulars who usually seem to be there when we were. We also did some different things this time like a trip to Burgess Falls and a night hike on the golf course.

So that was our wonderful summer. I thank God for his presence in our lives these many years for these blessings are from Him.

The Love of My Life

Recently I got Michael W. Smith's new album Wonder. It has two really wonderful love songs. At first I thought of my daughter and her fiancé who have found new love. The longer I thought about it the more I thought about the great love of my life. Thomas has loved me for 29 years now. Love songs are not only just for people who are beginning to love but are for people who have loved for many years.

Here are the words to his song Forever Yours.

I’m swept away in this moment
I feel your heartbeat next to mine
My hands are trembling
It’s overwhelming
A whisper breaks through the silence
A vow to test the breadth of time
“Until forever, I’ll be forever yours”
Not just tonight
I’m by your side
For all your life
‘Til death comes between us
And the heavens steal you away
I’ll stay yours forever

Don’t you worry, don’t be afraid
The heart can shift like a shadow
The deepest passions start to wane
Stay ever tender
Never surrender
Come waltz with me through the twilight
And we will dance as seasons pass
We move together
I’ll be forever yours

So hold me tight
Say you’ll be mine
For all your life
Come what may
So all we have is this moment
But moments come and go so fast
Until forever
I’ll be forever yours
There is no other
I am forever yours


So thank you, dear Father, for the great love of my life, Thomas. Help me to not ever take that love for granted. He doesn't sing me love songs that I can hear, but he loves me with so many actions. He constantly thinks about how he can help me solve problems. He shows me his love in many wonderful ways. He sings his love songs with his actions, with things he does for me everyday.

Until forever, I'll be forever yours.

Thoughts about Earning Approval

One of the things that I have struggled with for a long time is trying to be good enough. This goes by several names - self-image, identity, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-acceptance. It is something that I think all humans struggle with. A lot of my study and prayer life has been focused on this issue over the past several years. If you look back at my memory verses a lot of them were reveal things that God was trying to teach me.

Recently I came across a sermon that really made me think about this and put some ideas together for myself. It was a podcast by Dr. Timothy Keller. My daughter first got me reading and listening to Dr. Keller and his books and sermons are wonderful. One night I came home from my night class and Thomas was at a recital and I was by myself. As I sat down to eat supper I thought I would just listen to my iPad and so I randomly picked one of Dr. Keller's podcast. It had a very unusual name that if I had searched for it I would never had chosen it, "The Sickness Unto Death." But I listened to it several times. I told just about anyone who would listen about it. I played it again and took notes. You find this sermon on iTunes by searching for Timothy Keller podcasts. You can also find it the link for sermons from the church that he pastors in New York City, Redeemer Presbyterian. Here is the link: http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/sickness-unto-death


Based on the words of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 9 and the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 and Galatians 6, it is as wrong to be concerned about the approval of others as it is not to care about the approval of others. Paul said, I don't seek man's approval, I don't even seek my own approval because I don't need either one. Christ has done everything I need to win approval. I need to focus on how much he loves me and the more I think about this and the more his sacrifice become a reality in my life the more my old nature and ways of trying to seek approval will fade. I won't think about what I or anyone else thinks, it won't enter my mind to think about those things.

This is just a small summary of the ideas from that wonderful sermon. I urge everyone to listen to it. We are God's children, loved simply because we are his children and not by anything we did.