Context is King

So when you look at the image below what comes to your mind? Beautiful snow capped mountains....great skiing....great view.......wish I had some cocoa?

.

How about the words bleak, frigid, stark, dangerous, or lonely?

.

.

It is so very easy in life to get selectively focused on portions of our existence and lose sight of the larger context in which we are living. The Holiday Season is a time when we can be particularly susceptible to being narrow, maybe even a bit selfish, in our focus.

.

The Holiday Season is also a great time to pause, step back and view our lives in a much larger context. As a follower of Christ the way we live out our lives over the next several weeks may be the only witness for Christ that some people see. The exhausted single mother and cashier at the grocery store, the sales clerk struggling with family problems and irate customers, the neighbor next door who I have not made acquaintances with just yet, a co-worker struggling with children making unwise choices.....the list goes on and on of the people we interact with everyday whose only experience with Christ may be a kind word and a sympathetic ear from a believer.

.

So if you will; please pause, step back and keep stepping back until your view of your surroundings and the people around you includes God.

.

And the beautiful mountains above... the view from a fire base in Afghanistan.

Forward Operating Base Airborne, Afghanistan Nov 25, 2009.

.

Grace & Peace

Thanksgiving Homecoming

"To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter." - Euripides

.

With both girls in college Tammy and I cherish even more every moment we get to spend with them. It was great having them both home for Thanksgiving.

.

Thanksgiving 2009

.

Grace & Peace

Thanksgiving 2009

Not everyone will be having a Norman Rockwell experience today but I do believe there are a lot of thankful people around the world who will today, if only for a moment, pause and give thanks.

.

Lunch in Afghanistan Nov 2009

.

So just what are you thankful for today?

.

To whom are you thankful for?

.

Did you express your gratitude?

.

Shalom

"The Amen of nature is always a flower." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

.

"Why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal ships?" -

W. D. Richter

.

I recently purchased a new Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. Being partial to Canon products I bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i EF-S w/ 18-55mm lens. I was also able to purchase another lens, an EF-S 55-250mm telephoto, as part of a really sweet combo deal through Amazon. I have thus far shot about 200 pictures and I am quite impressed with the camera. I am truly amazed at the detail captured and the ability to zoom in when viewing the images on my computer. I think I am going to enjoy this for quite some time.

.

Hibiscus flower

.

Digitally enlarged by Picasa

.

Digitally enlarged by Picasa.

.

"The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." - Genesis 2:12

.

Grace & Peace

Veterans Day 2009

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." - Cynthia Ozick

.

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. ~G.K. Chesterton

.

.

Camera Quest

"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed." - Ansel Adams

.

Well, my Kodak Z885 point-n-shoot digital camera broke last weekend. I discovered that the game of kick-ball could be hazardous for electronics or maybe it was the fact I sat on my camera. Regardless, I think I am finally going to purchase a Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. I purchased a Canon EOS 650 back in the late 80's and enjoyed for many years. Most of the pictures I am in the process of scanning were taken with that camera. While it has only been a week I realized very quickly that I miss having a camera handy to snap pictures and I have realized after scanning old photos that I really enjoy the capturing snippets of life through a lens.

.

Halloween 1990

.

Fall 1990

.

Shalom