Last week my wife and fourteen other members of our church went on a mission trip to Alaska. The mission was to support and encourage the full-time pastors and their families that pastor churches in Alaska. In many ways Alaska is the last frontier. The winters are long, the summers are short and Alaska’s larger towns suffer from some of the same issues as the larger cities in the lower 48. Homelessness and alcohol abuse are major issues facing these communities. 90% of the pastors are bi-vocational because the churches are too small to pay a full-time pastor. Alaska is a mission field in the true sense of the word.

Still, one cannot visit our largest state without being overwhelmed by the natural beauty. I don’t think anyone can honestly look at the majesty of the mountains and not confess the existence of a divine design.

These images were captured by my wife during a little down time. I think she’s a photographer and doesn’t know it.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week is a free choice of music. I think I am going to continue the theme of the majesty of creation and Creator of this world. I pray that everyone will one day see the light. Have a blessed week.

Troubadour

Aww…some Monday

One sure sign of the arrival of spring in our town is the opening of the local Farmer’s Market. Every Saturday morning between April and September the square is filled with vendors and shoppers. There is a feeling of a new beginning each year. I grabbed the camera and went for a stroll Easter week-end.

Proud parents were having photos of their kids taken with the Easter Bunny. Yes, pets are family.

It was a great day to take the family out for a morning stroll. Yes, pets are family.

Yes, our local Farmer’s Market is the place to be on Saturday mornings. See ya there!

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The theme this week at 4M is to build a playlist that defines what makes life magical to us. Let me start by simply saying, “Life is magical!” Life is a miracle. Life is precious and priceless. Life is a gift from a Divine Creator who loves us more than we will ever know.

Life for mankind began on the sixth day of creation. Genesis 1:27 tells us, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.” God has always known everything about everyone of us and He has a plan for us. He told Jeremiah, “Before you were born, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” God had a plan for Jeremiah to be a prophet before He placed the prophet in the womb. Matthew tells us that our Creator knows the exact number of hairs on our head. The human body is the most complex organism on the planet and to believe that mankind has arrived at his current state through a billion years of random acts of atomic collisions would seem to be sheer fantasy. Each of us is a divine creation, uniquely crafted by a loving Creator who has a plan for us, if we will only seek and obey His will.

I suppose this is why I love gospel music and music that gives honor and glory to the One worthy of our praise and worship. I love all sorts of music, rock, jazz, blues, big band, country and folk. Still, the music that moves my soul and makes me understand just how magical life really is comes from the church and those who give honor and glory to the Creator. Have a blessed week.

Blooms

Aww…some Mondays

It’s high school track season and Thursday there was a meet at one of the local schools. The meets begin at 3:30 pm and can last past 8:00 pm. I rarely stay for the last events because it starts getting chilly. I left around 6:30 and the temperature was already in the mid forties, with a breeze from the northwest. I spent my time focusing on some of the running events this week, especially the baton pass in the relays. Relay races are won and lost during the exchange of the little aluminum tube.

Hurdles are always fun to watch and this new-to-me event called Shuttle Relay provided me a new photo opportunity. Can you tell that I managed to get onto the infield of the track. That is the place to be for the best photo-opps. How do you get onto the infield you ask?

I took some of my photos from the previous meet (scroll down a couple of posts for examples) and gave copies to the coaches. It also helps if you dress in the team colors of one of the schools. I told them to give the images to the kids or their parents. They were most appreciative and no one asked me to leave the field. Yes, I will be carrying these images to the next event and passing them out to the coaches. See ya on the infield!

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Easter Sunday is Resurrection Day for the Christ follower. The promises of the Old Testament and are fulfilled in Christmas and Easter. The promised Messiah arrived on Christmas morning and the Savior conquered death on Easter. These two celebrations are the essence of the Christian faith. The fact that we can have victory over death and step into eternity to enjoy the celebration of a new life provided for us by Christ is cause for endless celebration. Here are a few of my celebration tunes. Have a blessed week.

Redbud = Spring in the Ozarks

Look closely, this is a quilt!

Meet Brie. Brie is my brother-in-law’s Bichon. She got her name because my brother-in-law worked for a cheese manufacturer for 48 years.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week at 4M there is no theme. We can select our own theme and play any music we choose. Spring is officially here and Easter is just around the corner. Like some other holidays, Easter has two sides. There are jellybeans, colored eggs and the Easter Bunny for some to celebrate, but for the Christ follower Easter is as important as Christmas. Christmas saw the arrival of the promised Savior in Bethlehem and Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of that Savior being crucified, buried, and His resurrection.

One thing to keep in mind is that Jesus was not a martyr. He willingly gave His life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. When confronted by the religious establishment of the day, Christ proclaimed, in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” At His trial, a frustrated Pilate shouted at Jesus, “Do You not know that I have the power to crucify You and power to release You?” At that point Jesus raised his head, looked the governor eyeball to eyeball and said, “You cound have no power at all against Me unless it had be given to you from above…” The words of the Savior struck fear in the heart of His accuser as Pilate spent the rest of the day looking for a loop-hole, in order to release Christ.

Romans 3:23 confronts us with the truth that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” God’s standard is perfection and none of us is perfect. Romans 6:23a tells us, “the wages of sin is death.” Sin must be punished and that punishment is eternal separation from God. The only way to avoid that spiritual death and receive the gift of eternal life is through a blood sacrifice of a perfect lamb. Romans 6:23b indicates that perfect lamb is the person of Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter confirms this truth in Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There is only one way to receive the gift of eternal life…Oh What a Savior! Have a blessed week.

Passing the Baton

For most people, spring has arrived when the grass starts to turn green and the flowers begin to bloom. For me it is high school track and soccer season. Spring sports have arrived and I can get my camera out and head to the field of play. Last Thursday there was a track meet at the local high school. I made my way to a couple of my favorite events to photograph, high jump and long jump. These two events provide some of the best action images. Here are the results.

Yes, I chose Black & White because I wanted to focus on the action and not be distracted by the colors of the uniforms in the background. There is one last image. It occurred at the finish line of the girls 400 meters. The winner gave it all she had and she was exhausted. Immediately after I snapped this image, she rolled over and just laid on the track for a minute. A couple of her team mates helped her off the surface of the track and to the infield. You can see the stress in her face as a result of giving all that she had to give to a single event. I love high school athletes. They do it for the love of the sport.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

The theme at 4M this week, Spring begins today in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in the Southern.  Pick songs about spring (or fall, depending on where you live) or that have Spring (or fall) in the title.