Photographer Debut (And I don't mean me)

This is Kevin. Kevin is three.

Kevin has recently developed an obsession with cameras, and pictures, and using a camera to take pictures. He wanted to take a picture, and my seven year old sister Anne and I decided to take advantage of this and attempt to get our picture together.

Key word - attempt.

at·tempt –verb (used with object)
1.
to make an effort at; try; undertake; seek: ex. The stubborn determined three year old attempted to take a picture without murdering either the camera or his sisters

Well the results were funny, and I have wanted to post them now for a couple of weeks.

This was Take One -

Not quite, but of course it takes practice.
Getting closer, almost but not quite! Next he got bored with us and decided to go with his own self portrait:

And again:

Disconcerting images, yes. This was when Anne and I decided he needed a little more coaching, and he snapped again as we were on our way to help.

Oh dear. Finally he took a perfect one, and we weren't ready:

No, it was not a pose. And, no, I don't know exactly what we were doing either. :)

And:

Finally! Last but not least, the photographer got stuck...

Stuck, but happy. Not a bad way to be. :)

Death to Beauty

"Every twig was tipped with
gold, each leaf was edged
and veined with gold from
the gold-flooded west."
-Christina Rossetti

I've been enjoying the vivid autumn colors. Each day as I drive past the beautiful trees I tell myself to remember my camera the next, and it hasn't happened yet! I suppose I will have to do with a thousand words instead - and that was fair warning! :)

Early this fall I was admiring a display of leaves that were only just beginning to change, and it struck me, that the beauty is in the dying. It's true, the leaves are dying, and that is when we can fully appreciate their beautiful colors.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you"
-Colossians 3:1-5a

Put to death what is earthy in you - it's dying to self. It's when our true beauty shines. It's giving up our sin nature in exchange for righteousness. It's death to beauty.

And one of these days before it's too late, I will take pictures of the fall colors!

What I've been up too... :)

(Note the grape stain on my shirt :) )

Lots and lots of grape jam! Years ago someone must have planted grapes here, and we enjoy the benefits now...



I'm finished canning grape juice and jam now until next year... now how long it will take for those purple fingers to be a normal color again. :)

Are We Men or Are We Mice?!!

I used to be terrified of mice. When you live in an old farmhouse in the country, mice can be a real threat, and I used to fearfully lie awake at night if I heard the tiniest scratch. Thankfully, we haven't always had to deal with mice, yet once in a while a little mouse does make an appearance - like last night, for instance.

At times I am tempted to consider how far I have come, say in the fear of mice, for instance. I'm not nearly as afraid of them as I used to be - at least that's what I was telling myself.

Then it happened.

In one instant I was stepping out of the shower, and a tiny flash of fur and a squeak zipped past me. The very next instant found me in a very different position... in specific - crouching on the bathroom counter, cold, shivering, dripping wet, wrapped in a towel, and afraid to lower one foot.

Ah, yes, ridiculous, no? Far-fetched it is, but none the less true. I was actively terrified of a little mouse that is a percentage of a fraction of my weight and size.

Oh dear.

I suppose I missed out on some of my farm girl training??!! ;)

Interestingly, following this incident I came across a verse I had copied.

"Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind."
-Job 12:9-10

Whenever I had read this before, I applied it to my own life. As "in His hand is the life of every creature" -----> therefore my life is in His hand. It's an important application to consider when up against tough circumstance. Our lives are in His hand - it sounds so much more secure than being at the mercy of whatever life happens to throw in our way. Yet it does say every creature. So I would expect that every creature, most likely would include a tiny little mouse that throws me in a panic when stepping out of the shower.

Silly isn't it? For me to be frightened of a mouse - His creature, who's life is in His hand - when my life is also most assuredly in His hand.

It does give a new perspective. :)

"Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;
it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds.
He gives showers of rain to men,
and plants of the field to everyone."
Zechariah 10:1

"Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you
the autumn rains in righteousness.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before."
-Joel 2:22-24

Interesting how the showers of blessing follow the storm clouds, isn't it? First the storm, the dark clouds, thunder and lightning, and then finally the rain. I love the scripture passages on rain. Rain is shown as a blessing and a promise. It's easy to see this allegory as rain as a blessing when in the middle of a drought. During a dry season the ground thirsts and cries out for rain, yet He sends it in His perfect time.

We've had a lot of rain this week. It's a good thing, since we were in a drought for so long. I like to listen to the rain on the roof at night and curl up with a book. Rain during the day is somewhat of a different story, when everything is sloppy and cold and wet. I don't enjoy it! Yet the rain has its own beauty...

I love the way it is phrased in Joel - "Autumn rains in righteousness." When I think of autumn rain, I think of the clean fresh rain-washed look against the lovely colors of fall. On the other hand, when I'm caught in the middle of a rainstorm it's not as easy to see the beauty! It's the same with life, it's sometimes hard to see the beauty of His working when we are in the middle of a turrent.

Funny isn't it. We long for rain, and when it comes we wish we were elsewhere. We pray for His refining, and we cry out in pain when He does.

He who has promised is faithful. Those blessings He has promised will come to pass, in spite of our faulty vision. The beauty of His promise will be revealed, whether presently or in a time to come.

I'm enjoying the autumn rains... that is when I am safe and snug indoors! :)

(Kevin really wanted to go out in the rain! I asked him to smile and this is as close as he would come. :) I think he looks like Christopher Robin in his boots and raincoat.)