Hiding Place

I couldn't help it. When I seen this moment Jenny captured I knew I could find a verse in the Bible to fit and of course a lesson came along with it. I find it easy to say a prayer when I need help but I forget sometimes the hope I find in prayer is nurtured by the words of the Bible. When I worry the most the last thought I have is to open my Bible and let peace pour in. Not only do I find peace, I find acceptance, love and the accountability to love myself.

Embracing Childhood Tranquility

I grew up in a neighborhood of trees. I spent more time playing in the forests than playing in the sun, so it seemed. I have fond memories of hanging out with friends, building forts and just not having a care in the world accept what to do next for fun! My Mom says the older she gets the more she thinks of her years as a child. I have to agree with her, though she has twenty seven years on me I feel this way too and I look forward to embracing this wonderful feeling the rest of my life. Photography is my vehicle to this embrace and God is at the wheel guiding me along.

Psalm 27:4 says, "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."

One day when I was about 26 years old I ventured into a forest for the first time in years and as I stood there in the silence I heard a quite voice come to me reminding me of two different verses, Matthew 18:2-4, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven" then "the Kingdom of God is within you" Luke 17:21. I understood at that moment I had become like a child by allowing myself to enjoy the forest like I did when I was young. I understood God was telling me this world was and still is His Temple.

Worship

This image gives me a word to savor, a notion to ponder and more importantly a sense of movement into a place I find peace and tranquility.

Telling Stories

Friday night I went to Jenny's house and we printed out a bunch of our photographs, matted them and put them into frames. We had so much fun together. I told her I was reminded of career center, back in 1993, when her and I took Graphic Arts together. She said, "I don't know what your talking about because I didn't think we did anything back then!" I love Jenny, her sense of humor has always been what has drawn me to her. The truth is, though, we did do a lot but we had a teacher who made it fun and besides we were able to escape the grind of school books for three hours a day. We printed tablets of paper with our names on them. We designed and screen printed our own t-shirts (Jen's was awesome). We took pictures and learned our way around a dark room. We even designed and printed our own Graduation Announcements. Being creative was and still is a blast, even more so with a friend!

I had the privilege of working with Mrs. Lynne Loftis, former director of the Ella Sharp Museum this year and I believe she seen the glow in my eyes when I talked of photography. Working along side her and my wonderful teacher, Dr. Diana Agy, made me feel as if I could do anything I set my mind to. During that time Jen and I came together and discussed starting a business doing what we love. Shortly after starting our business Mrs. Loftis asked me what it is I really want to do with my life. Well, this is the question I have been asking myself for a long time. I have been attending school for four years part-time trying to figure it out. During which I spent time exploring everything I was curious about. Poetry and Drama fed my passion of writing and this passion led me to working on an grand project. I had the chance to work with other people with the same passion to put together words and images in order to present a story. I became alive because of this and I don't want that feeling to go away. Starting a business with Jenny is just what her and I both needed. To answer to Mrs. Loftis question; I just want to tell stories and doing it anyway I see fit, whether it be a novel, a poem or just a simple, wonderful picture! Thank you Lynne for guiding me into this feeling that I can do anything if I set my heart, soul and mind to it!