And I Quote...

"We begin an argument with: 'I wouldn't believe in a God who would...' Who would what? Do you ever consider the possibility that maybe the Creator's sense of justice is actually more developed than yours and that maybe His love and his mercy are perfect and you could be the one who is flawed.
  
When we make statements like: 'Well, God wouldn't do this, would He?' Do you understand that in that moment you are actually putting God's actions in submission to your reasoning. You are in essence saying: God wouldn't think that way or act that way because I wouldn't act that way or think that way."


Does it ever enter your mind that maybe He (God) knows something you don't?"

-Francis Chan

Pretty in the Abstract

One field of purple and yellow wildflowers

plus a high aperture setting

plus some creative focusing and cropping

equals pretty, painting like photos!

I love this technique, it reminds me of Monet, one of my favorite artists.

You Capture: Pretty

Ferruginous

We took a hike at a local state Saturday to an abandoned ranch.

There were a lot of buildings to explore, barns, sheds, mechanic yard, etc.

 Matt had been before and knew I would like it,

 since I have an affinity for the old and rusty.

 There was certainly many interesting old things,

 and definitely a lot of rust!

Fun Photos

I have had several people wonder what kind of effects I used to get this photo:

 This is the original:

It was taken at a children's exhibit at the Getty Museum in L.A. There were a lot of mirrors attached to a wall at different angles. I took a picture of my reflection, just like I would in a normal mirror, but this was actually much harder. There was a lot of guess work in getting the camera positioned just right. Focusing was difficult too, partly due to low light, but mostly because I wasn't looking through the viewfinder and didn't know exactly where it was focusing.

This photo wasn't as sharp as I would like, so I touched it up a bit in the editing program I use, Digital Photo Professional. It's a fairly basic program that is easy to use and has the ability to edit RAW images. It does white balance, sharpens, and removes noise as well as the typical, saturation, hue, cropping, contrast, etc. It's a really great program that I'm happy with most of the time, the only problem is that it can't do any fun editing. No filters, overlays, or actions.

When I want to do some fun editing, I use this free program, Be Funky. It has so many neat free effects! The one I used on my picture was holgaart #4. The only down side is that with the free program, you can't save very large file sizes. For me, this is not a problem. Most of my pictures only go on the computer, I the ones I do print are often 4x6, which is about as big as you can print to get a decent quality. Of course, if you pay for it, you get more features and the ability to save larger files.

So that's how I did it. Pretty easy and really fun! Give it a try!

And I Quote...

"The secret to life is death. When you finally die, the pressure is off. When you truly realize you are crucified with Christ, you won't exalt yourself, protect yourself, or be concerned with yourself. The secret of the Christian life is to die to self, to get your eyes off yourself and to quit wondering why you're discouraged, why you're depressed, why you're not happy. The way to abundant life is not to seek to be blessed, but to seek to be a blessing to others; not to seek to be understood, but to seek to understand others; not to seek to receive, but to seek to reach out to others." -Jon Courson

Busy

Busy.

Who isn't these days?

There's always some where to go,

something that needs to be done,

someone who needs something.

Errands,

soccer practice,

house cleaning,

laundry,

piano recital,

work,

dinner to make,

email,

facebook,

lunches to pack,

homework to check,

children to put to bed,

and the list goes on and on.

And then there's the things that you want to do,

and try to make them fit some where in the busy schedule.

But don't let busy become an excuse.

We need to take a bit of time to slow down,

enjoy today, not miss those little moments,

moments with our spouse,

with our children,
and with our God.

Busy is fine, but

it's important to step away from the busyness

and just be.

Be silent.

Be still.

Rest,

and go to the One

who rejuvenates the soul.

You Capture: Busy

Seeing Red...

at the Getty Museum in Los Angelas.

Mayflowers

iheartfaces

Reflections on Thirty

Today I turn thirty years old. A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me how I felt about turning thirty and I said I wasn't sure. I've always joked that you weren't a real grown up until age twenty-seven, and that you were old at thirty. I didn't leave myself too many years to be an adult with the hindrances of old age, now did I?All joking aside, I have spent some time reflecting on leaving my twenties behind and beginning my thirties.

My twenties were hard: there was the stillbirth of my son, which I've never written about here, maybe someday; the challenges of starting a new ministry, then having to leave that ministry and being lied about and rejected for doing right; I've spent time in fire and time in storms; there have been times of financial uncertainty; difficulties with my daughter; and family drama.

My twenties were good: they brought marriage to my my soul mate; a beautiful daughter who brings me joy; I have learned lessons in Christ likeness; learned that instead can be better than what I gave up; that mom has died; God has given us a new ministry; I have discovered friends who will stand by me no matter what; I have made new friends; we attend a church I love; there have been triumphs and times of complete amazement at the goodness of God, and really, I could go on and on about the good things.

As I begin my thirties, I've discovered something: life and ministry are just beginning. Joseph was thirty years old when he was made second in command of Egypt, David was thirty years old when he became king of Israel, and Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry, so the way I look at it, thirty is the start of something great!

Sacred Calling

      As mothers, we have been entrusted with one of life's most sacred callings: the shaping a molding of  little hearts. It's a calling that brings me intense joy and equally intense frustration, this training of a young life. I feel the weight of this responsibility heavily at times. I only have one child to raise, they're not going to be a chance to gain the experience that comes from raising several children, to do things differently with the next one. She's it, and like most other parents, I want the best for her. I don't want to make any mistakes.

      That, of course, is impossible. There is no perfect parent, but by the grace of God, I will be the best mother that I can be. Children are one of God's greatest sanctifying tools. It is through their helplessness and need for constant care that we learn lessons in selflessness. How many times did I not have time to properly care for myself when Gemma was little, because I was too busy caring for her? Too many to count. Being awakened in the middle of the night evokes no anger over lost sleep because we are overwhelmed with compassion and worry for the sweet little fevered brow that calls out for mommy. All the work of the elaborate birthday party with lots of noisy, wild children that I spent so much time preparing and then resulted in a disastrous mess in the house is worth all the extra trouble and effort because my daughter had such a wonderful time and feels so loved and special. Children teach us to die to ourselves.

      Because of my daughter, I work on developing my own character. What I want her to be, I must first become myself. Little eyes are watching, little ears are hearing, little hearts are learning. If I am impatient and rude, allow harsh words and criticism to flow from my mouth, those things will soon come pouring out of my daughter's mouth, but if I model grace and love, am a woman given to prayer and seeking after God, my daughter will be likely to follow.

      It would seem that the best way to fulfill my most sacred calling, would be to imitate a Most Sacred Life. I will walk in the footsteps of my Savior, learning to love like He loves, do what is right in the face of adversity just as He did, and I will die to myself, just as He did. And hopefully, there will be a little eyes watching me, little ears listening to me, and a little heart learning from me to follow her Savior too.

You Capture: Motherhood

Confessions and Quirks: Part Five

1. Every time I see kittens, I want one... or two... or three... or all of them.

2. I aways have too many projects going on at once. I have at least four sewing projects I'm working on, several canvases that are in process, a pile of old silverware waiting to be used for yet another project, and the list goes on and on.

3. Besides the list of projects that have been started, I have five times as many, at least, that I want to do and haven't gotten around to starting yet. I have too many ideas and not enough time, even though, really, I do have a lot of free time!

4. I love to take naps, and do at least twice a week.

5. Also, whenever I take a nap, I take my two cats with me. If I snap my fingers in the afternoon, they both come running, 'cause they know it's nap time.

6. I will turn 30 in less than a week. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

7. Word pictures created by something I read get stuck in my head, but never movie scenes.

8. I can't study or write with music playing. I need silence. Kind of odd, because I grew up in a noisy house. You would think I would have learned to tune things out a long time ago.

9. I like my bagels toasted and dry, no butter, and certainly not cream cheese. I hate cream cheese.

10. I have gray hair since I was still in my teens and had to start dying or getting it highlighted when  I was twenty-two years old. Both my parents went gray young. I'm the only one of my siblings who seems to have inherited this trait.

And I Quote...

William Carey : "Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God."

Thinking about this today...

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."

Psalms 19:14

Tulips

I've always loved tulips. They're such happy, springtime flowers. These have finished blooming now, due to some rather warm weather here. I was glad I pulled out my camera the other day to take a few pictures before the flowers wilted. I even pulled out my macro lens. These were actually sitting in my dining room, but I took them outside to have better light for photographing.

I'd like to save the bulbs and replant them for next year. Does anyone know anything about that? Can I leave them in their pot? If you have any information, please do share!

You Capture: Outside

Random + Photography = Randomography

Taken at a historic fire station in the L.A. Olvera St. area.