Christian Photographers Community

Come and join us this week and share with us your plans and thoughts for the week!  We sing, share and encourage other members here.

Hope to see you posting this week!

• Prayer and Praise    Thanks for visiting this area of our site to share prayer requests and items for praise!

 



Morning Devotional...






Read the Scripture: 1 John 2:20-21

   ...no lie comes from the truth (1 John 2:21b).

Have you learned yet that no lie is of the truth, that there is no possible harmony between a lie and the truth? In other words, that there are no gray areas in life; that a thing is either black (a lie) or it is white (the truth), and there are no gray areas, though there may be a mingling of black with white. Every Christian has an ability to exercise moral judgment to distinguish right from wrong. It is amazing how many Christians have not learned this yet and still go on echoing the lie of the world, that there can be a blending of truth and error. John utterly cuts the ground out from under that. "I wrote to you," he says, "because you have found this out, if you know Jesus Christ. You may not have thought through the implications, but you must know that there is no possibility of blending a lie with the truth."

One of the glorious things about God's secret purpose, which is the restoring of the life of God to the spirit of man, is that it also reestablishes standards of absolute values and makes moral judgments possible. It shifts us from control by a conscience of convenience to control by a conscience of conviction. These days we are hearing much about "situational ethics," relativism in the realm of moral judgments. What are these? If you cheat on an examination because you do not like the teacher, that is wrong. But if you do it because you are desperate to get a good grade and there is no other way to do it—you have been letting the whole thing slide until exam time and there is no other way but to cheat, then, that is right.

But John says, "No more!" Now you know the one who is the truth, and you cannot get by so easily any more. Sooner or later you must explain your actions to Him, and all those wonderful excuses that went over so smoothly with your spouse or friends sound very lame when repeated to Him. He is totally unimpressed by them. He does not say anything; He simply folds His arms and looks at you. You start stammering, and pretty soon you stop, because, as John says, "No lie comes from the truth," and you know that now.

Give heed to these things. Begin to examine the philosophies around you, the suggestions and explanations of life that are presented to you. Measure them according to the truth. Have you come to know the truth as it is in Jesus? Are you ready to listen to the Word of God, unfolded by the Spirit of God, in order that you might understand the world in which you live and the person who lives in it—you? Are you willing to understand how God made you, how He intends you to function, how He wants you to react to situations? Will you let Him teach you to depend no longer upon the false sense of ability that you have lived on all your life, but to renounce that and rely instead upon His life within? That is why John is writing. He writes these things, he says, because he knows the necessary equipment is there. Now use it!

   Father, help me to understand the truth as it is in Christ. Help me to turn from every siren voice that beckons me away from Him and to bring all the things I discover, all experiences, all reasonings, to Him.

By Ray Stedman




.

Read this in a store recently.

"Three things will always be revealed.  The sun, the moon and the truth."

Pat thank you for the devotional.

Solid thoughts to begin our week with, Pat! Thanks. 

Hi everyone.  I had a very nice, but tiring, weekend.  I got home from my short trip (less than 2 hours away) about 2:45 and was able to rest but was certainly ready for a night of sleep and didn't want to get up this morning.

The computer problems mentioned sound like the one I had as I couldn't run the virus program or even install another program.  I had to basically redo my hard drive using my backup from the external drive.

It was thundering here last evening but don't think we got any rain.  It is suppose to be a rainy type day today.  The only thing on my schedule is my Monday men's luncheon and perhaps getting a hair cut. 

Pat, thanks for the devotional for this week and posting the hymn.

Marilyn, it is nice to see you back online and posting.  We thought you had gone away on a trip or something. 

Great devotional this morning.  Thanks, Pat.

Another pretty day with temperatures (maybe) around 70 this afternoon.  But we've had so little rain and so much wind lately that the leaves on the trees are starting to droop.  And it doesn't look like much rain in the forecast for the next week or so - just "scattered" showers and thunder showers. 

I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I will give thanks to your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness, because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.


Psalm 138:2 NLT

God makes a promise, faith believes it, hope anticipates it, patience quietly awaits it.

unknown

  Hello To my Wonderful Friends

Last week I learned a valuable lesson about myself. I had no idea that I was hearing and not listening. Let me explain, if I can.
I was talking with a dear friend ( we have known each other over forty years) and he was telling me about a dentist visit. He was in a lot of pain and was telling me about the procedure, but since I had already had a similar procedure, I was finding myself annoyed that he would go into the details as if I was a rookie at the whole thing, so I prefaced my replies ( or non-replies) with "Yeah, uh-huh...oh, I bet that was painful" while I did checked on something in my oven.

My friends voice became a buzz as I waited eagerly to jump in and tell him something about ME! I was so eager to tell this thing that when I heard something about a stroke that he had suffered in the last five years it was as if something hit me in the head. A stroke? How had I missed this piece of news?
Had he told me and I had simply skimmed over it the way that I was skimming over his current story?
I listened harder and figured out that I had not missed this news, because this was the first time he had mustered up the nerve to tell me. I thought guiltily that I might have lost my good friend and not known where, when or how because he lives in another state and we do not talk often, but when we do, it is sometimes for hours.  I was filled with guilt and shame and God showed me where many conversations in my life had been half-heard, jumping in and saying my say without so much as a warning and blaming it on age, or the other person's ability to "keep up".

Mind now, this has not been the rule in my life. It seems to happen more and more as I get older. My subject, my topic, my news, my depression, my losses, my joy, my "everything" sometimes gets top billing. I have friends who have done the same to me, so I know how it feels, but I am responsible for the way that I respond to people.
God has given us the gift of communication. With each other and best of all with HIM.....and it would be terrible if, when we were speaking with Him, He was only half listening.

I asked God's forgiveness in this matter, and am listening more to the words and thoughts of others. I pray for my friends always, which means I have listened well to their requests, but I plan to listen more carefully to the day to day things that are just as important.

Blessings to all!
Zenobia

Zenobia, thank you for that wake-up call!  I'm afraid I'm often guilty of just waiting for a break in what another person is saying so that I can change the subject to ME!  And then getting annoyed when the other person takes up where he/she left off, ignoring what I had to say about ME.  Your message is indeed a heads up that I need to pay more attention - really pay attention to what I'm hearing.  THANK YOU!!!

Amen to what Jeanne and you have said.

Zee it is so good to see you hear again after all these years have past. I am just back online after being off since the 1st so if you have posted during that time I have not seen your post.
Have you finished your book yet? Thanks so much for the heads up on really listening to what others are saying.

Zeebers, how good to have you back!  And that is a really good lesson for all of us.  I'm sure each of us has been guilty of the same thing; for sure, I have.  Thanks for the reminder to "shut up and really LISTEN!"    

We have a beautiful, cool day here in Kansas.  I just got home from work.  Think Darrel and I will go eat at the Senior Center.

Church was awesome yesterday even though a few people got up front to talk about each of us digging deeper into our pockets so we may hire a youth minister as well as purchase some property AND build a new church!  God will provide for His church.  

Then a few of us went out to eat and then home.  I had a project to work on for church and it took me almost 5 hours yesterday!  But it is done all but printing it out.  And I now have a key to the church so I can take it all to church on my time.  

Today it is cloudy and rainy.  Trash day, too.  That is done and I took Ivalou's trash also.  Rehab is at 1:30.  Then we are going to the grocery store.  All the loose ends are coming together for Euchre tomorrow!  I feel good about it all.  Then in September I have Euchre again but not cleaning like this time!

Yesterday on our prayer list was a listing for a Nathan Everitt deployed to Afganistan!  My mother's maiden name is Everitt and she always said if Everitt is spelled with an 'itt' then they are probably related.  This gentleman was spelled that way and is a grandson of a couple in my Sunday School class.  They didn't stay for Sunday School so I didn't ask them if their daughter, Lisa, is married to Jim Everitt, my second cousin that lives in northern Indiana.  So I looked on FaceBook and Lisa has a son, Nate.  His employer is the US Army.  So I sent a message to Lisa asking if her parents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in Noblesville this next week.  Sure enough they are Lisa's parents!  And she will be coming to our church this next Sunday!  Small world!!  

Etta Sue the Private Eye!  Good sleuthing!

Hi, friends, thankfully a bad head and chest cold that kept me in bed for a week are beginning to pass.

It's really been good to "listen in" for the last couple of hours as I caught up with the news.

Janet, I feel so sorry to learn about Beth's additional problems. And, I am always concerned about Wendy's problems, and Stacy's, and others.

Only those who have walked in our shoes can understand. I've also dealt with family issues that deeply worry me the last 2 weeks. It's an exacerbation of a decades-old problem, but this last crisis has been almost too much for a mom to bear.

Thanks to each of you who has posted the wonderful messages in song. I've worshipped along as I have been reading tonight.

Oh, yes, after being up "all hours" trying to get as many of those old photos saved as possible, I have the last few in the freezer, and may not be able to save those. However, I'll always be grateful that the Lord allowed me to save so many of them. Probably about 450-500 snapshots plus all our 8 x 10 studio photos.

Y'all have a great rest of the day.

Posting as fast as I can while the wiFi is going in and out.  It is discouraging but then I think that it isn't that many years ago we never expected to communicate on the web. 

Zeebers:  Hello, I have not seen you post in ages.  Like your picture!

We continue to work on little things and everything takes longer than expected; is that not the usual for everyone? 

I have tried to knit two afghans and made such terrible mistakes that all that yarn is in the trash.  Now, am determined to pay attention to each and every stitch and make a prayer shawl for someone.  There is a lesson here for me. 

Hello to all of you. I haven't been on this forum for a good while. Thank you for the email I received to visit again. I used to have a bit of a problem reaching this site so I guess I just gave up on it.

I enjoyed the morning devotion.

Zeebers, I can relate to what you were going through with your friend. I do the same thing sometimes with a dear friend and neighbor of mine who is nearing her 94th birthday in August. We talk on the phone a couple of times a day and sometimes more. She depends on me a lot but lately I haven't been able to visit her as often as I should. A lot of times when she's talking to me and repeating to me the same things with all the details, I tend to "turn" her off a bit. She quickly goes from one subject to another without taking a pause
so I can jump into the conversation. But I care a lot about her and feel guilty at times and then I try to do better for awhile.  

Ruth Ann, I hope you will continue to improve and feel better. 

Good morning.  Such interesting thoughts on "listening and hearing".  When I was employed the people I worked with said that "listening and hearing" was something I did really well.  Now that I am retired I find I am not so good at it.  We live in the country and I don't see people that often and I think you are right.  I want to talk about me.  Thanks for the insight.

Carol, your comment about a prayer shawl caught my eye.  I began knitting about 6 weeks ago, and the inspiration came from a "prayer blanket" that was given to a baby in our Church.  She has a heart problem and is already on Lasix (sp?) and one of the ladies in our Church got a prayer blanket from a group near us that makes such items.  I thought that a wonderful ministry.  So, I am making my first "prayer blanket" for a young woman who is pregnant.  Her pregnancy is difficult and as I sit and work on the shawl I pray for her and her baby. 

Prayer, to me, is so incredibly important in our lives!!!

Grace and peace to each of you today.
Becky

That is a wonderful idea Becky.

Hi everyone.  It is so nice today to see some folks posting we haven't heard from for awhile.  

It is a beautiful day here in Georgia with, so far, low humidity and very nice temperature.  I have something to do in a few minutes and then this evening my wife and I have decided to go to the cafe at the nearby airport and have dinner and enjoy the live bluegrass music they have every Tuesday evening.  We have invited my good friend Rod and his wife to go with us as they love bluegrass.  The only problem is they just returned yesterday from a weeks trip up north and may just want to stay home.  I haven't heard back from them.  We have never done this before so it will be something different to do.

Zenobia, I have never heard this name before.  It is a beautiful name.  I enjoyed what you wrote and it is so true.  I was reminded as I read it that God gave us two ears but only one mouth.  Suppose there is a message there about doing more listening than talking.  It is such courtesy to the other person to listen to them and then when they have had their say hope they might extend the same to you.

Ruth Ann, sorry to hear you have been sick with a cold.  Sure hope the worst is over.

Becky, there are several ladies in our church that knit prayer shawls for shutins or folks in the nursing home.  I have no idea how many they have made.  My wife is not a knitter.

Etta Sue, it is a small world after all.  

Well, it is all over except the laughing, talking, eating and playing cards.  Euchre is so much fun with these 7 ladies....at someone else's home!  I don't have much company anytime so it tends to get stressful for me.  I know that when I go to someone else's house, I don't look at everything.  But I think people come here to check for cobwebs, dust, dirt, lint, bugs, cat hair, etc.  I know they don't but I can't get my mind to stop thinking that.

It is rainy today so it is kind of dark in my house.  Also cool.  Hope everyone will be warm enough.  But I can turn on the fireplace!  Even just the light will make it 'seem' warmer without the heat on.

But I will say I will be glad when 8pm comes.  Everything should be put away by then!  Then everything will be back to normal...whatever normal is.

I am still having incidental problems with this laptop.  Yesterday I couldn't access one of my Mahjong games.  I uninstalled it today and downloaded it again from the web and still can't access it.  I sent the website an email telling what pops up and what I have to do to get rid of the pop up.  Maybe they will know exactly what to do!

Still having problem posting on here.  I notice today my graphics from photobucket didn't post!  I don't know if it is CP, photobucket or Facebook!   

Etta Sue, I see your graphics----and, by the way, thanks again for posting those every day.  They sure brighten things up on this site!  Just a comment about your whirlwind of cleaning:  I always say that if anyone comes to my house to look for dust, etc. that I don't want to disappoint them! 

Larry, that sounds like a fun way to spend an evening.

Good to see some posters back who haven't been here lately.  Welcome home!

Carol, the work never seems to let up, does it?  I am thinking more and more about retirement lately, just so I can do things I want to do but don't seem to have the time and energy to get done.  I don't knit or crochet, and don't have any plans to learn now.  I used to embroider a lot, but now, my fingers lose feeling and I keep dropping the needle!  I used to do a lot of sewing, especially for my girls, but now I just do occasional mending. 

I have some good news!  I went for an eye exam this morning, and no change in three years, so I don't need new glasses!!  Yea!!  And the exam fee was only $18 for what Medicare doesn't cover.  I am a happy camper this morning!  Darrel has an appointment this afternoon, and he has been having problems with his eyes, so he expects different results.

I need to do some "Etta Sue" work (housecleaning) so I should hop to it!  I work tomorrow, then will be gone from Early Thursday until late Friday night to a painting convention in Wichita.  So not much time between.

Thoughts on Spring

Greetings:

I am sharing my thoughts about Spring. This is an article that I wrote for my blog: Photographers for Christ.

   As the mild weather of March melts the dreaded snow, have you ever wondered why the season after winter is called spring?
   The word "spring" as intransitive verb can be defined _ 'to move back rapidly to an original position after being forced in another direction.' The definition makes perfect sense. Spring brings back the colors that the cold winter had erased. The trees regain the lost leaves on their dead-looking branches; once more the grass turns greener ; the beautiful vibrant tulips emerge; and the perennials in the garden come back to life in full bloom as the returning birds chirp the coming of spring.
   Is it a coincidence that the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus falls in the spring? Did God plan it that way so we can easily relate the season of coming-back-to-life to Easter Sunday? From every angle, no matter how you slice it, all indications point to a thundering YES!
   To us, Christians, Easter Sunday is not about bunnies and children hunting egg-shaped chocolates. Neither is it limited to God's message that His son died for us to save our sins. It expands far more  than that. We should see beyond the tomb where Jesus sprung to life. Resurrection has the underlying message of awakening _ bring back to life our goodness that was deeply buried in our selfish thoughts.
   All of us have been hurt at one time in our lives. Some of the pains that we harbor are so agonizing that we have forgotten to forgive the aggressor who had offended us. We have been immersed in our failures and self-pity that we turned to blaming others and overlooked the power of prayer. Our potential in making more money to pamper our endless whims has made us lost our grip in our Christian values. We have neglected the importance of giving and have taken for granted  the  quality time with our families. We have given-in to the abundance of man-made comfort, making us less energetic and allowing our bodies to erode away. We have become so content that we have missed the big picture of spring _ its splendor and its meaning.
    So come spring, when the birds are singing, stop whatever you are doing. Pause for a moment and listen. Wake yourself up. You have been in hibernation for too long. Pick up that shovel and start digging up the buried goodness in you.
   Spring time is the season for all of us _ to reconnect spiritually  and  rediscover our good old selves.

hmmmmmm yea!

Ok to follow Mario.

Today is a glorious day,  Sunny, barely a cloud in the sky and enough of a breeze to keep the black flies away.  I have so far got my skin intact from those little bugs. An eighth of an inch and enough fighting power to leave you sore and bleeding.
So I am digging up a patch of ground next to the house that has never been worked.  It was, up to a year ago, covered by a deck that we have since taken down.  It looks dead, so out comes the (deep) scant weeds and grass that is left and in is going climbing sweet peas and scarlet runner beans and perhaps some other plants, pansies  zinnias or some such.  The local feed store suggested morning glories!  We'll see.  Thinking of bordering it with asylum.  Will let you know as this area progresses.   

Enjoy summer if it has come your way. 
In Him
Judy

My dogs took off this morning  around 10:15, I was out back with them and they chased a coon down in the gully behind us. I couldn't get to them to bring them back as it is steep and wet with lots of ferns and nothing to hold on to.

The coon went into an old tree stump down there and the dogs would not come back for nothing. I finally got the female, Bebe, to come back up the embankment. Happy would not budge from the stump the coon was in.

I  had to call Keith to come home from work to help me. I had him take the leash and loop it around Happy's neck like a lasso and drag him away from the stump and up the  embankment. What a hassle, wore me out. LOL

Ruth  Ann did your photos get damaged int he flood? Was your old house  under water?

Etta Sue, I see your graphics or did you post some elsewhere?

I really enjoyed the devotional and music.  Thanks Pat.  Love the writing style used in the devotional.  Clear and without frills.

Rain again today.  Each day seems to be a new adventure in weather.  We have been having lots of wind lately... reminds me of Calgary.  Expect we will soon be wishing for cool days, so best not complain.

Anyone watching 'Dancing With The Stars'?  Big ending coming soon!!

My cat Misty has (had) really thick, long fur.  I can't get her to agree to brushing, so took her for a trim.  She drags in half the garden each day as it sticks to her fur.  I don't know if I should laugh or cry....or go Yah!!  Was told it would do her fur good to have a Lion Trim.  Did not say it would leave her almost without fur.  Gad!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/lizzy121/Picture031.jpg?t=1274219236


She looks like a very plump little Lion.  I am still in shock, as is Misty.

Janet, I hope that Beth is doing better.  Al, I liked your very little joke the other day.   

Many interesting and helpful posts today.  Wonderful to see new folks posting again.  Hope it will become a regular thing.

Time to go, things to do.
Pleasaant Day/Evening and God Bless.

Liz

OK Got the Ground loosened up and will add some black soil tomorrow as well as plant the few plants I have along with the seed.  Kass has offered to help.  I will have the ramp down tomorrow.  That will be a  blessing.  I need to move the steps from the front though...now that will be a job.  We have a friend with a cement mixer.....I wonder if I can surprise John with that too??

I am done for today.