Celebrating #14!

Yesterday we celebrated our firstborn on his 14th birthday!  14!  Where has the time gone?  As a special gift and because of our first major snowfall, the kids were all home because school was canceled.  As a result, we spent a portion of our afternoon watching old home movies, reminiscing about days past when the kids were little.  I admit to shedding a few tears while watching with the kids and having a full-blown bawling session while watching by myself this morning when the kids went back to school. 

As I sat and watched Andrew’s preschool graduation on the screen, I couldn’t help but feel emotional at how lucky I am to be his mom, what a blessing it is to have a front row seat to watch him grow into a young man of God and how quickly his childhood is going.  He is not a little boy anymore.  Next year he goes to high school and in just five short years, he’s off to college.  *sigh*

What a blessing he has been to our family!  I am so proud of who has been, who he is now and who he will become and I absolutely cannot wait to see what God is going to do in his life as he grows in his relationship with Him.

The day began with a sweet homemade card from his sister and a Lego set from his brother.  I love seeing my kids loving on each other!

We also couldn’t let the day go by without the ceremonial measuring of his height compared to mine.  We’ve been using the level for a few weeks now because he was so close to passing me up.  As you can see, my firstborn is clearly taller than his momma – a fact that he is extremely proud of!

A picture with my boy to remember his special day!

And the day ended with his name in lights!

My prayer for Andrew is this … “Now if you will fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands … then all will be well.” (1 Samuel 12:14)

A thankful attitude…

 

Jesus Calling:  November 22

A thankful attitude opens windows of heaven.  Spiritual blessings fall freely onto you through those openings into eternity.  Moreover, as you look up with a grateful heart, you get glimpses of Glory through those windows.  You cannot yet live in heaven, but you can experience foretastes of your ultimate home.  Such examples of heavenly fare revive your hope.  Thankfulness opens you up to these experiences, which then provide further reasons to be grateful.  Thus, your path becomes an upward spiral; ever increasing in gladness.

Thankfulness is not some sort of magic formula; it is the language of Love, which enables you to communicate intimately with Me.  A thankful mind-set does not entail a denial of reality with its plethora of problems.  Instead, it rejoices in Me, your Savior, in the midst of trials and tribulations.  I am your refuge and strength, an ever-present and well-proved help in trouble.

Habakkuk 3:17-18; Psalm 46:1

A lesson from a foggy morning…

I thought I’d share something that God taught me this past week:

Driving in thick fog can be a scary endeavor.  It’s never a comfortable feeling when you can’t see very far in front of you, when you’re crossing a lane of traffic and can’t see if anyone is coming in the other direction or when you don’t know what is in your path.  Driving a car in fog is a lot like flying an airplane through the clouds (or so I’ve been told!).  In either situation, you have to trust your instruments.

In an airplane, the pilot relies on a myriad of instruments to tell him if the plane is straight and level, if his speed is consistent and if he’s still on course.  Similarly, when driving a car through fog, the driver has to concentrate on things like the yellow stripes on the road, guardrails, even the side of the road where the pavement ends and the grass begins.

I’ve found that much of life is like flying through clouds or driving through fog – we can’t always see what lies ahead and that makes us uncomfortable and anxious.  And so we strive to control our world as much as possible because we don’t know how, or choose not, to trust our instruments.

Unlike the instruments in an airplane or car, however, that are capable of malfunction or user error, our instrument – the Lord, will never fail.  He will always lead us safely out of the fog to where we are supposed to go.  In fact, rather than think of the fog as an inconvenience or danger, we can be thankful for it because it forces us to trust God for the here and now as well as the future.

Keeping our focus on God’s presence in the present ensures that we not get so anxious about what we cannot see in our future.  Here is a recent example:

My oldest son has to be at the end of our driveway between 6:45 and 7:00 in the morning to catch his bus to school.  One day this week as we pulled out of the garage in the dark of the morning, we quickly realized that it was extremely foggy as well.  We proceeded down the driveway when all of a sudden through the dense fog, we realized that several large tree limbs and a large section of tree trunk had come down in the middle of the night and were now blocking our driveway.  Since it was almost time for the bus to arrive and my husband was still recovering from back surgery and was unable to lift anything, our only option was to try to move the tree sections ourselves.  After several attempts and with only minutes to spare before the bus arrived, we were able to move the limbs enough to get through.  We both got back in the van feeling rather exhilarated and proud about what we had just accomplished … we had encountered and obstacle in the darkness and fog and we had overcome it!

We talked about the situation several times throughout the day and into the evening, but I failed to see any powerful life application until the next morning when I opened my morning “Jesus Calling” devotional …

“As you look at the day before you, you see a twisted, complicated path, with branches going off in all directions.  You wonder how you can possibly find your way through that maze.  Then you remember the One who is with you always, holding you by your right hand.  You recall My promise to guide you with My counsel, and you begin to relax.  As you look again at the path ahead, you notice that a peaceful fog has settled over it, obscuring your view.  You can see only a few steps in front of you, so you turn your attention more fully to Me and begin to enjoy My presence.

The fog is a protection for you, calling you back into the present moment.  Although I inhabit all of space and time, you can communicate with Me only here and now.  Someday the fog will no longer be necessary, for you will have learned to keep your focus on Me and on the path just ahead of you.” (Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

I had personally never before seen much good in fog – the real kind that shrouds my vision and makes getting around difficult or the kind that clouds the future and makes me uncertain and anxious.  But now I see that fog can be a blessing.

Had that particular morning not been foggy and I had been able to see the large section of tree blocking my driveway, I probably would’ve become anxious and upset about how we were going to get out.  But because the morning was thick with fog, the obstacle was not revealed any sooner than it needed to be.  And in that moment when I was able to get a glimpse of what lay before me, there wasn’t even time to become concerned.  Instead I was able to instantly respond to the situation and work together with my son to remove the obstacle from my path so we could proceed forward.

Having my future covered in fog produces the same outcome.  It allows me to be fully engaged in the present rather than worrying about what may or may not happen in the future.  And it reminds me to trust in my God who will burn off the fog with his radiant brightness only when His timing is perfect.

I don’t think I’ll ever look at a foggy day the same way.  From now on, when I’m faced with a foggy morning or a foggy future, I hope that I will take that opportunity to thank God for the fog because I know that He uses it to protect me and teach me to trust Him more.

Braided Beauty

Just popping in to post a picture of my sweet girl all braided up (thank you Nana!).  Her Daddy actually captured this one just before bed last night.  Oh how I love this precious girl…

[untitled]

 

Jesus Calling … November 7

Your sense of security  must not rest in your possessions or in things going your way.  I am training you to depend on Me alone, finding fulfillment in My Presence.  This entails being satisfied with much or with little, accepting either as My will for the moment.  Instead of grasping and controlling, you are learning to release and receive.  Cultivate this receptive stance by trusting Me in every situation.

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.  Psalm 27:4

Our visit to Notre Dame

Joel and I had the opportunity to go to a Notre Dame football game this past weekend.  It was my first time to a game or on campus (or any campus of that size, for that matter) so we wanted to make sure we arrived early enough to walk around and see the sites.  Boy, where there a lot of people everywhere.  I completely underestimated what the campus would be like on game day!  It was crazy!  Regardless, though, we had so much fun walking around and imagining what it would be like to be a student there.

The highlight of the day, for me, was the marching band.  Apparently one school tradition is that the marching band plays on the steps of this building one hour before the game begins.  Since neither of us is familiar with the campus, we simply followed the crowds hoping to end up in the right place!  We did and weren’t disappointed.  Joel lifted me on his shoulders (bad back and all) so I could get a few shots over the crowds.

I’m thinking I’d really like to go back to the campus when there’s not so many people around because the architecture is really neat.  This is called, “Touchdown Jesus” and can be seen from certain, up-high seats in the football stadium.

A church on campus…

And the Golden Dome … another Notre Dame landmark

Most of the fall colors are about done around here, so when we came upon these stunning trees, they about took my breath away.  Gorgeous!

The view from our seats.  We loved the proximity to the field, but unfortunately it made taking pictures a bit of a challenge.  I ended up with a lot of pictures of yellow poles or field goal netting!  Not complaining, though, because it was great to be so close!

The Navy band…

And the Notre Dame band…

Notice anything missing from these pictures?  I took over 150 pictures of our time on campus but didn’t realize until we left, that I hadn’t captured a single one of either Joel or I.  I guess I was a little overwhelmed by all the people that it never even crossed my mind to make sure we got in some pictures!  Oops!

Pleasing who?

Hi!  My name is Lisa and I’m a people pleaser…

I don’t think being a people pleaser is an all together horrible character trait … unless of course, you find yourself striving a little too hard to win the approval of others … hard enough that you begin to lose yourself.

That is where I found myself recently.

Photography has been such a wonderful hobby for me.  What started out as a love for taking pictures of my kids with my little point and shoot camera, quickly became something that I felt passionate about.  When I “graduated” to my dslr four years ago, I set out to learn as much as I could about that camera.  Eventually my pictures started to improve and I started receiving positive feedback about my work, which felt good.  Very good.

Maybe too good.

You see, somewhere along the line taking pictures became a major part of my identity.  When I took good pictures and got lots of good feedback from other photographers (or anyone for that matter!), I was on cloud nine.  But if I shared a picture and got no (or very little) feedback, I was crushed.  The silence felt like rejection to me and it began to affect how I saw myself and my work.

And so I tried harder.  I subscribed to more photo blogs, participated in more photo challenges, commented on more blogs, and posted more often, here, on my own blog.  And it only helped a little.  For a time, I received a few more comments and for a time I felt a little more confident about my work.  But it wasn’t enough.  Compared to other photo blogs, mine was not even coming close when it came to traffic.  Even after my “improved” efforts, I still wasn’t marketing myself enough to garner the attention I thought I needed to build my confidence.  And that only made me feel worse about myself.

Thankfully about that time, God began a work in my heart.  As is so typical of my Heavenly Father, he graciously and gently invited me to go on a journey with him … a journey towards finding my identity in him ALONE.  One of the ways he did this was by placing devotionals in my path that spoke to this very topic …

“Instead of obsessing about other people’s opinions of you, keep your focus on Me.  Ultimately, it is My view of you that counts.”  (Jesus Calling, 10/28/11)

“To do things no one else is doing, we can’t do what everyone else is doing.  And our greatest triumphs in life are always our most solitary ones.  Every great victory begins on our knees.”  (Ann Voskamp, www.aholyexperience.com)

And my personal favorite, the one that started it all …

“Beware of seeing yourself through other people’s eyes.  There are several dangers to this practice.  First of all, it is nearly impossible to discern what others actually think of you.  Moreover, their views of you are variable; subject to each viewer’s spiritual, emotional, and physical condition.  The major problem with letting others define you is that it borders on idolatry.  Your concern to please others dampens your desire to please Me, your Creator.”  (Jesus Calling, 10/12/11)

That last quote just made sense to me.  Especially the part about how when I become a bit obsessed with what other people think of me or my photographs, I’m actually committing idolatry.  Ouch!  I didn’t even realize how much power I was giving others until those words hit me between the eyes.

And so I started praying that God would allow me the courage to let go of my need for approval, that the lack of comments would not consume me and that I would have the strength and ability to keep my heart and mind focused on Him and His presence and not my circumstances.

As I prayed those words day after day, something miraculous began to happen.  Gradually, the scales on my eyes began to fall off and I stopped feeling the need to strive for attention and positive feedback.  And with that weight lifted off my shoulders, I began to feel free.

I’m under no illusions that this is the end of this struggle for me.  Life is a journey and I’m fully aware that God still a lot of work to do in and through me.  But I’m on my way.  I’m finally letting go of the grip this particular issue had on me.

I may not compare to a lot of the blogging photographers that are out there … I may not receive the most comments … my pictures may not always be tack sharp or have perfect composition … I may never have my own business or be recognized for outstanding work, but …

My name is Lisa and I’m a God-pleaser…

[And that’s good enough!]