Lent in Pictures (2/28) Earthly

Strong roots run deep...

Lent in Pictures (2/27) Hear

Weiskirche Organ, Steingaden, Bavaria, Germany

Sometimes we hear with our ears AND our eyes...

Lent in Pictures (2/26) Lift

Lent in Pictures (2/25) Cover

 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, 

for love covers a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8 

Lent in Pictures (2/24) Vision

Chihuly Glass Museum and Garden - Seattle, WA

Blown glass balls of all sizes - piled in a boat and sitting of a pool of mirrored glass... 

A visual feast ... the darkness of the room highlighted the beauty of the scene... 

It was almost overwhelming, but calming at the same time...

What an amazing gift of art to the world.

Lent in Pictures (2/23) Live

"... And why do you worry about clothing? 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; 

they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, 

even Solomon in all his glory 

was not clothed like one of these." 

Matthew 6:28-29 (NRSV)

Lent in Pictures (2/22) Spirit

This was the sunset on the evening my mother-in-law died.

We felt God's Spirit in a tangible way as we stood at the window together.

It would be hard, but we were not alone.

Lent in Pictures (2/21) Love

When informing your spouse that you are moving 
for the third summer in a row,
bring flowers... 
never take love for granted.

Lent in Pictures (2/20) Evil

Dachau Concentration Camp, Dachau, Germany

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: 
God will not hold us guiltless. 
Not to speak is to speak. 
Not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Lent in Pictures (2/19) Wonder

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, 

through which God speaks to us every hour, 

if we will only tune in."  ~ George Washington Carver

Lent in Pictures (2/18) World

Baskin Robbins, Moscow, Russia (2005)

The world seems really big...

but it's also really small.

Lent in Pictures (2/17) Settle

Move # 11... in 18 years (2012)

I've become somewhat of an expert at settling in...

it takes time...

and help...

and sometimes it looks worse before it looks better...

but then it's like you've been there forever.

Lent in Pictures (2/16) Injustice

Injustice

There are some Google ads that lure people into calling for assistance

and tell them they can unlock their email and "clean up" their computer

for $99 per computer... shame on them... 
Beware the Pink Box on Google...

Lent in Pictures (2/15) See

See

Sulpher Pool with clay and bacteria...
Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Do you see what I see?

The face of man... with his eyes closed...

he looks sad...

Lent in Pictures (2/14) Return

Return

18 years ago we had these shamrocks at our wedding rehearsal dinner.

Every January they look like they are about to die.

But by the middle of March, they come back, full and lush and beautiful, 

just in time for our anniversary.

Lent in Pictures - Ash Wednesday (2/13) Who am I?

Who Am I? 

Wife, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Niece, Pastor, Military Spouse, or Friend... 

I am always my better self when living in community with others.

Lent in Pictures - This Year's Discipline

Lenten Photo-a-Day Challenge - Click here for full details...

Lent Photo a Day Challenge

About a week before Ash Wednesday, the discussion starts at our house about what Lenten disciplines we are going to observe  this year.  For many years, it was easy to just do the same thing.. give up chocolate or fried foods or soft drinks... one year I even gave up meat, but only once.  But after a while, I knew I could  do those things... and after Easter I went back to my old ways, enjoying those easily sacrificed items.  There didn't seem to be any real change happening inside of me, and a few years ago I decided to do something different.

That was how this blog was started... I posted every week for the whole Lenten season, and was pretty faithful about posting at least monthly and sometimes more often.  The change came in how I thought about the joys and the challenges of being a person of faith and on being a military spouse.

Last year's challenge involved exercise... and I'm proud to say that I continue to exercise for an hour 4-5 days per week.  I am healthier, lighter, and just feel better.  Recently, I have even noticed that if I don't walk or swim or go to the gym, I feel pretty crummy.  I'm just happy that I took on that challenge... I've achieved much more than I ever imagined I could.  How is this a faith issue, you might ask?  God wants us as our best, I think, and it's hard to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, if the we don't have the strength to go the places God would send us.

So it's fortuitous that I was reading some emails this week and found this Photo-a-Day challenge at RethinkChurch.org - the social networking arm of the United Methodist Church.  And the more I think about taking this on, the more I realize that it will be a real challenge.  I'm not going to worry about taking a new picture every day.  I have lots of photos that will really fit well with the topic of the day.  But I will be carrying my camera around, and looking for ways to capture the spirit of the world around me... to see God in all of the places I go and in everything I do.

Several people have expressed an interest in joining me in this challenge... It's going to be a very interesting journey, I think.

Peace, Deb


"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."  ~Ansel Adams 

"The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer."  ~Author Unknown  

(2 Timothy 1:6-10)  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.  Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.  He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.