Blurry Blessings

The other day my youngest daughter found an old point and click digital camera and was taking pictures left and right. Asking everyone to pose for her. (At odd times I might add!)

I was trying to give her tips and hints to help her take better pictures.

1. Hold still. When you are moving, the picture will be blurry
2. Take a breath before pressing the button
3. If it’s dark, and you don’t have the flash on, your picture will not turn out well
4. When you are taking a picture of the sunset, it never turns out as beautiful as the real thing

Just a few things I learned over the years whilst taking pictures.  I suggested those things more than once and she probably got tired of hearing me.  She just wanted to explore with the camera and take pictures.  To experience life through the camera lens. Here I am trying to guide her and help her, and she doesn’t want to learn.

Is that not like us with God?

1. We just want to go through life just running and He just wants us to be still and know that He is God. Psalm 46:10
2. Not everything has to be spoken. Take a breath before speaking. Words aren’t always required. If they are, let’s make them safe.  “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”  Proverbs 15:4, “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” Proverbs 21:23
3. How often do we listen to what He is saying when He is trying to help us and shine His light to show us the best picture of love? Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
4. I am so concerned about how I think things should look for others to see, that I forget that He has laid that plan already. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

My picture of the “Sunset” doesn’t look like His!

I don’t have to know everything that is going on to live.  I just need to rest in Him.  He has this!

There is a flip side to that for the parent in me… Sometimes it is OK for a picture to blurry.  It is a reminder to me to just let her experience life.  Not to be worried so much about a perfect picture, but just to let her have fun. Be a kid who is playing with an old camera trying to figure it out.

It’s really ok to have blurry photos.

There is a lesson (blessing) here as well.

How often do I overlook what she is trying to tell me because I am in such hurry to get to where we are going?  Maybe I am working on something that doesn’t really have a deadline, but I just want it done now. I need to show her love in the every day things. The things that seem like they aren’t as important as what I am doing, are just as important to her. I need to hold still for her. Look through her lens and enjoy the blurry blessings that unfold daily.

So let’s take a breath, hold still, and remember the Son is right there holding us. Painting the sunset or sunrise.  His pictures are just more beautiful than we can comprehend, yet He is ever so patient!

This photo I took while on a fishing trip with my husband. It is nowhere near as beautiful as it was in person. 🙂

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Be Still

As I view this photo, it takes me back to the chilly fall day I had taken my daughters to Guadalupe River State Park.  It was too cold to swim that day, but in my mind’s eye, I crawled over the gnarled tree roots as I had done many times before.  Carefully and slowly I made my way to the water.

I was barefoot and anticipated first touch of the water on my bare toes. They tingled as I slid my foot into the water, big toe first testing the temperature.  It was cool against my skin. I placed both feet into the bubbling, gurgling river as the water fully surrounded me. Making room for me. Welcoming me.  My feet sank slowly into the sandy, murky mud that enveloped my feet completely.  They have disappeared into the bed of the river. Every now and then, if I wiggle my toes, they reappear above the mud.

Small minnows ,dart to and fro, between my legs, tickling me with their tiny bodies as they search for their next meal.

Water, aimlessly floats and meanders lazily, as I bask in the sunshine not wanting the quiet solace to end.

I am overwhelmed by the many colors that my eyes behold. I am thankful as my senses are fully ignited by the beauty surrounding me, engulfing me, protecting me, shielding me. I am relaxed in the beauty of God’s creation.

I am still before Him. I know that He is God.

Thankful for His Beautiful Creation.

Painted skies

Sunrise through the trees

Beauty in my backyard

Psalms for the soul part 2

Sunrise and Rainbows

 

I was getting the kids ready for school and one of them yelled, “MOM! GET YOUR CAMERA!” So I did. 🙂 This amazing little surprise is what I saw after I took the sunrise shots!.

 

Have patience

 

 

Sometimes it is hard to wait. Sometimes you feel like ya just gotta get deeper into the hole just to try to figure out…

There is nothing there. Just a hint of what you are trying to gain.

In the end, you are right back where you started.

WAITING.

Let us wait on the Lord. Trust that He will provide all that we need.

Psalm 27:14 (GNT)

Trust in the Lord.
Have faith, do not despair.
Trust in the Lord.

 

 

 

Let everything that has breath…