His Goodness - a thankful thursday

364: the way He loves me so...

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

- Psalm 27:13

355: the joy in our Church - an april fool's joke played on us all by the pastors, "who's turn to preach?! not mine!"

356: Briella Mae, the way she practices her violin and makes it fun...
357: Marcia Anne, the way she wears her heels all over the house, just so that she can be taller than everyone else...

358: Mother, the way that she spends long hours in the sewing room, a labor of love to make a little girl feel special...

359: Jared Clark, the way he grins so proudly...

360: Grandma Jane, the way her hands tell the story that she labors long in the kitchen - making it always smell good and stay clean...

361: Grandpa Verlin, the way he is always willing to play a game, making great memories with checkers, wizard, and would you rather...

362: Daddy, the way he thinks of others, laboring in love...carrying wood in by the armful so that I don't have to do it

363: Titus Henry, the way he makes us all laugh, ever the cheerful entertainer

"The gift list is thinking upon His goodness -- and this, this pleases Him most! And most profits my own soul and I am beginning, only beginning, to know it. If clinging to His goodness is the highest form of prayer, then this seeing His goodness with a pen, with a shutter, with a word of thanks, these really are the most sacred acts conceivable. The ones anyone can conceive, anywhere, in the midst of anything. Eucharisteo takes us into His love."

--Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

Psalm 103

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

Who pardons all your iniquities;

Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit;

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

The LORD performs righteous deeds,

And judgments for all who are oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the sons of Israel.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

He will not always strive with us;

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His lovingkindness

toward those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

For He Himself knows our frame;

He is mindful that we are but dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

When the wind has passed over it, it is no more;

And its place acknowledges it no longer.

But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting

to everlasting on those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children's children,

To those who keep His covenant,

And [who] remember His precepts to do them.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens;

And His sovereignty rules over all.

Bless the LORD, you His angels,

Mighty in strength, who perform His word,

Obeying the voice of His word!

Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,

You who serve Him, doing His will.

Bless the LORD, all you works of His,

In all places of His dominion;

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Why I Blog

Helping a friend set up her blog and discussing her purpose in blogging had me thinking about why I blog. Reading the article on pages 8-20 of Setapart Girl kept the wheels spinning...so why do I blog?


Let me start off by saying why I read other people's blogs. I read them to be encouraged, to be inspired, to grow in my faith and photography. So then I write my own blog to encourage others, inspire others, and to help others grow in their faith and photography.
My faith is my relationship with my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ is my life-Colossians 3:4. My blog is about my life--a life worthy of the Lord.

...you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. -Colossians 1:10-14

So this is why I blog. 


Honestly, this is not how I started out blogging. But I am not the same as I was nearly two years ago--I've changed. I look back at some of my first posts and want to smack myself...but by mistakes we live and learn. I've made mistakes--many of them. I've lived--nearly two more years. I've learned--why I blog now. 

Channels Only

Seeing the Source

"Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father." John 14:9

Should a man see only popularity, he becomes a mirror, reflecting whatever needs to be reflected to gain acceptance. Though in vogue, he is vague. Though in style, he is stodgy....

Should a man see only power, he becomes a wolf--prowling, hunting, and stalking the elusive game. Recognition is his prey and people his prizes. His quest is endless....

Should a man see only pleasure, he becomes a carnival thrill-seeker, alive only in bright lights, wild rides, and titillating entertainment. With lustful fever he races from ride to ride, satisfying his insatiable passion for sensations only long enough to look for another....

Seekers of popularity, power, and pleasure. the end result is the same: painful unfulfillment.

Only in seeking his Maker does a man truly become man. For in seeking his Creator, man catches a glimpse of who he was intended to be.

God came near.

--Max Lucado in Grace for the Moment II