For this week's You Capture assignment, we got to choose between photographing 1) chairs, 2) hands, or 3) green. I had a really tough time with this assignment! I couldn't decide on what I wanted to do, and my camera wasn't cooperating (thanks to me tampering with it, oops!), but by chance I ended up with 3 "green" pictures. Here's Oliver, wearing shorts in his favorite color (green!), playing on a playscape.
I really like this picture. I'm not sure how the crepe myrtles in front ended up fuzzy while the background is in focus, but I like it!
And this picture didn't come out too well because I was too far away, but I like it anyway! It's not too often that I get to take a (sort of) closeup picture of a baby deer. :-)
Who would ever think that a $2 set of goggles and dust masks would make a 3 year old boy so happy?
Lately, Oliver has been very interested in going camping. So it wasn’t all-too-surprising the other day when Oliver announced after dinner, “I’m going camping!” And he proceeded to pack his backpack with all sorts of things that he would need for his trip: binoculars, a race medal, a stuffed dinosaur, a comb, a stuffed frog, a Black & Decker flash light, a pair of crab sunglasses, a necktie.
We decided to go “camping” at the playground, so we all got our bikes ready to ride. Biking to a shady playground seems almost like the perfect way to spend the two hours between dinner time and bedtime, right?
Well, it didn't quite go that way! First, Buttercup fought wearing her bike helmet (as usual). Then Oliver fell off of his bike and skinned his palms. Then my bicycle chain started clicking every time I pedaled faster. By the time we got to the end of our neighborhood (a little longer than 1/4 mile), Buttercup was whimpering, Oliver was in tears, and the chain had totally fallen off of my bike. Not to mention that we were all sweating buckets because it was hot and the bike ride was taking much longer than we had anticipated. Oops!
So Dennis and Oliver rode ahead to the playground while I put the chain back on my bike, then I coasted down the sidewalk to the playground. Things could have been a lot better, but they also could have been a lot worse. And that's just what happens sometimes! Gotta go with the flow. In the end, everyone had a great time, and I'm glad we got to do this as a family!
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Psalm 19:1-3
This morning I got up early and went out for my weekly long run. I was up early enough to watch the sunrise, and Psalm 19:1-3 started running through my head as I watched the sky and clouds change color. I really started thinking about the first verse, particularly the phrase "the heavens declare the glory of God." The heavens declare the glory of God! How cool is that, that you can just look up and see His handiwork, see all of the beautiful, wonderful things that He has made!
Further into my run, I was still singing the psalm to myself, as my feet pounded on the trail in cadence with the tune. The tune stuck in my head was written by one of the teachers at the private Christian school that I attended from kindergarten through 6th grade. It's funny that I remember that song from so long ago. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought that I would end up where I am right now. Back then, I didn't think it was a big deal that my parents were Christians and that I was raised in a Christian home. But now that I have two kids of my own, I realize how truly important it is. Proverbs 22:6 says it best: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." It's been a long, bumpy road for me, one where I didn't always make the best choices, but I'm thankful for God for His forgiveness and for giving me Christian parents and a loving home to grow up in, and I'm thankful for my parents for leading me when I was young enough to be led, letting go when I was old enough to make my own decisions, and loving me no matter what. I love you guys!!
