Are You Learning the Language? Or Just Memorizing the Cover?

So I saw this lady at the gym yesterday. 

She was about 50 years old and was carrying this magnificently thick book underneath her arm. As she stepped up to the Eliptical, she placed the book on the stand in front of her and I was able to glance at the title:

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Italian"

Intrigued, I thought to myself, "Wow, what a productive way to spend your time at the gym!" (Leave it to me to think that being at the gym in itself isn't productive enough...)

I left the gym contemplating if I had the attention span to learn a language and run at the same time.....

This morning I returned to the gym. Again, the Italian-Learning Woman was there. 

As I ran my monotonous pace on the Treadmill, I noticed her moving from machine to machine...all the while, she toted her book along with her. Which looked like a workout all on its own! 

However, I noticed that at each machine, she set the book down in front of her, made sure it was properly balanced - and never opened it.

Not once. 

I thought to myself, "How can she learn Italian if she isn't going to open the book?" 

And with that thought, I began to contemplate how often I do the same thing myself. Not that I'm trying to learn Italian, but I am trying to read my own book: 

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Following God". (aka, the Bible)

I began to think how often I walk by that Book on my table and don't open it. 

How often I take it's words with me to work, but I don't act them out. 

How often I preach its words to others, but struggle to follow it myself. 

It's like I have the book with me all the time - but I just leave it on the stand. That by merely taking it along with me, I am going to learn what it says. That I am going to learn that Language. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. 

In the same way that the Italian-Learning Woman isn't going to actually learn Italian without opening it, I am not going to live the fullest life for God if I don't open my Idiot's Guide and follow what it says. 

Merely taking it to each machine with me and making sure everyone can see it isn't going to help anyone. Least of all myself. 

I'm gonna have to crack open the cover. 

Rearranging Squares

Last weekend I traveled down to Chicago with a friend of mine. He had a golf tournament and I wanted to visit some friends in the city. Well, while he was at his golf tournament, I stayed with his friend's wife and played with her and her two little girls. 

The oldest one, Allie, was playing a game, and her mother was calmly watching over her. Ready to give instruction and help when necessary. 

At about the time Allie hit Round Ten, I could see she was beginning to get tired out. Not physically, but mentally. She started to get frustrated over nothing and became anxious. She was on the verge of throwing the squares down and crying (keep in mind that she is four) when he mother patiently said, 

"Honey, what's wrong? You are doing just fine."

Allie, still frustrated, cried, "But Mom, what if I make the wrong choice?!" 

Ahh, Allie....how little she realized how loaded that statement was. 

I have to admit, I hate decisions. So when I heard this little four year-old get frustrated with the same thing, I started thinking about myself. I thought about how I have a hard time picking out what kind of gum I want. I take forever to order dinner at a restaurant - and don't even think to ask me what kind of ice cream to decide on! Sometimes, I want to throw down my squares and cry out in frustration. Heck, sometimes I do! 

So naturally, when I think about the BIG decisions in my life, I tend to feel a little bit like Allie.

What if I make the wrong choice? 

The thing I constantly forget, is that God is in the same room with me, and he's telling me the same thing Allie's mother told her, "What's wrong? You're doing just fine." 

You see, any decision I make can be for the glory of God. Any choice, and road I follow, God can use. The thing is, some results are easier to deal with than others. 

If Allie mixes the squares and makes a wrong choice, she must go back and fix it. Whereas if she puts them together - like the directions say - the first time, then she wouldn't have anything to fix. But honestly, can a four year old get everything right the first time? No.

The same holds true for us. We may have to go back and rearrange our squares to get the right colors, but it CAN be fixed. And we can't be expected to get it right everytime, because, like a four year old, we must learn what the correct answers are before we can be expected to make the right choice. 

But thank goodness God is there to help us figure out those answers. He's there to encourage us when we get one wrong. 

And he's there to help us rearrange the squares when we mix them up. 

"Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe." 

~ Proverbs 2:11

The weather lately has been incredibly fantastic, as you may have noticed. So, being the outdoor addict that I am I have been trying to find every excuse to be outside for every minute I can before I am trapped in the windowless confines of the Xray department. 

One activity that has been keeping me outdoors has been the task of raking my lawn - not that it is much of a lawn, but it gives me something to do.

I started the process yesterday morning and completed it today before work. Sort of. 

A piece of advice: Don't attempt to rake your lawn when, A) There are still 75% of the leaves on the trees in your yard, and B) The wind is blowing the opposite direction you are raking the leaves in.

Both are very counterproductive.

It seemed that every time I would get the pile of leaves a few feet, the wretched wind would kick up and toss my leaves back to their respective places on the lawn. 

I would sigh, take my rake and go back to where they had blown and re-rake them onto my pile. 

Again, the wind would blow, and I would re-rake the leaves. 

I would stop every once in a while and take a deep breath, trying to control my frustration. As if mocking me, the wind would russell the leaves that still remained on the big Oak in my front yard. 

Laughter. That's what it was. It was laughing so hard it would cry leaves... 

....Right onto my newly raked front lawn. 

It was like moving two steps forward and one step back. Was I making progress or just giving myself prematurely gray hair? 

Can you imagine what it would be like if I tried to do this without my rake - My trusty rake? 

As I was fighting the natural elements that seemed to be interfering with my productivity rate, I got to thinking about one particular issue I have struggled with for a while now. I thought about how every day I have to get up and face it. Like the leaves, I feel like it has blown back into my yard. Didn't I fix this yesterday? Why is it still here? Why do I still struggle with this? 

Some days, the wind isn't blowing that hard, and cleaning up the debris is pretty easy. But it always seems as if there is more when I wake up in the morning. So out I go again, with my Trusty Rake and I fight the elements and attempt to clean up my problem. 

Sometimes, it feels as if you are moving two steps forward and one step back. 

You might think you're over your eating disorder.
You might think you're over your smoking habit. 
Your alcohol problem.
Your sex addiction. 

But you wake up and look in your backyard, and there they are. The dreaded leaves. Will they ever be gone?

Some days it is more of a struggle, the wind may be blowing stronger, or the leaves might be damp and harder to rake. But, you know what? You're still making progress.

As long as you have your Rake you can clean up the seemingly never-ending onslaught of leaves. 

Even though you might feel like you're losing ground - or at least not gaining it - you are still taking two steps forward with every day that you fight it. 

That's progress. 

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you can be full and complete, not lacking anything."

~ James 1:4

Windex

So I was feeling very ambitious today. My house was a mess. 

My room didn't have a floor, the kitchen was piled with dirty dishes, and I think there was more dirt on our floor than there was in our backyard. 

Then there was the bathroom. Oh, the bathroom. This is my least favorite place to clean. Therefore it never gets cleaned as often as it probably should....

Well, like I said, I was feeling ambitious today. 

I made the sink spotless, the shower sparkling and the toilet...well, I at least wiped it down so that it looked presentable and maybe got a few germs off of it....

And then I decided to get the Windex out and shine up the mirror. However, this is where my problem began...

I got the Windex out of the cupboard and aimed it at the mirror - prepared for war and squeezed the trigger. 

Nothing happened. 

I looked into the nozzle, twisted it a little, shook the bottle, and aimed once more. 

Again, nothing happened. I proceeded to rapidly squeeze the trigger about 50 times in succession, thinking that maybe that would bring about the spray that would dazzle my mirror. 

Still nothing. 

At this point I was getting frustrated. After another couple of minutes of pumping the trigger with no luck, I put away the Windex and admitted defeat. The mirror would have to wait until I wasn't to cheap to buy more Windex - or fix the nozzle. 

Well, as I was battling the stubborn bottle of Windex, I thought to myself how many times throughout my life I have been in a situation similar to that one. Where it's like no matter how much I squeeze the trigger or how much I tweak the nozzle, nothing happens. 

My efforts are futile. 

Sometimes we have situations in our life where no matter how hard we try, how much we press, we just can't get what we want. For some reason or another, God has another plan and His will is going to be done no matter how much we pump that trigger. 

Maybe you need to fix the nozzle on your plan and re-aline it to fit God's plan. 

Maybe you need to toss that bottle out and go buy a new one entirely.

Or maybe, just maybe, you need to keep pumping the trigger....because you never know, maybe it will spray with a little more perseverance........

"The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations...but the Lord's plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." ~ Psalm 33:10-11

Unbeatable Love

I just witnessed the most amazing display of love and courage that I have ever scene in my life.

Let me first explain something to you. 

I am selfish.

You all know I work in the hospital. And given this occupation, I see a lot of pain, suffering, and too often times, death. 

And perhaps that in itself has given me a morbid sense of reality. 

Every time a trauma comes through the doors of the ER, I wince. I see the frightened looks on the faces of the family members. 

And I can only think of one thought:

"I would rather be on that trauma bed than witnessing this as a mother, or sister, or friend." 

If someone has to die, I want it to be me. If I die, I win. But if I live, I must live through pain. I'll say it again, I am selfish.

Well, today I witnessed a simple, yet incredible, interaction.

I went to the ICU to take a chest x-ray of a gentleman, and when I pushed my machine into the room, I noticed two distraught women sobbing by the side of this gentleman's bed. His wife and daughter. 

When they glanced in my direction, they took their cue and stood trying to wipe the tears from their eyes. And as they did, I heard the daughter whisper to her father one simple, profoundly courageous statement. 

"Dad, if you need to go, GO. Don't worry about us." 

Wow. The most unselfish statement in the world. 

This woman, in an incredible show of love and courage, releases her father of his pain and takes it on herself. Rather than ask him to continue to live in pain so that she won't hurt, she frees him of that responsibility with one simple command: GO. 

How hard would that be? How hard would it be to tell one of the people you love the most that it is okay to leave you, knowing you may not see them again? 

I can only attempt to imagine the faith, love, and courage it would take to say that to someone I love. 

Naturally Beautiful

The other day I was looking through my photos at work, when a co-worker came up behind me and asked if I had taken them. The shot on the screen was one I took in the early morning of a spider’s web draped in dew and surrounded by fog, with the morning sun glistening off the dewdrops. Can you tell it’s one of my favorites? 

I replied and told him that yes I was indeed the photographer. He then asked me how I got the picture. I was a little confused. How? Well, I aimed the camera and pressed the shutter – what did he mean? 

No no, that’s not what he meant, he told me. He asked, “Did you spray it with water to get it like that? Did you have some artificial light to get that coloring?” He then proceeded to tell me about a photographer friend of his that carries those tools around with him to get those types of shots. 

I was flabbergasted. And slightly irritated, I have to admit. Why wouldn’t he just be patient and wait for the right subject? Why did that photographer feel he needed to alter something to suit his needs? Couldn’t he have gotten a lovely picture by leaving it the way it was? 

Maybe I am naïve, but I hate to mess with a natural subject to get a shot that I want. It is so much more rewarding – for me, at least - to get a beautiful picture in its natural state, even if I have to wait for it. 

No, I had not artificially altered the spider’s web to get the shot I wanted. God set it up for me, and I just pressed the shutter. It was perfect the way it was – naturally beautiful. 

Later, I found myself gazing at the shot once more and thinking back to my interaction with my co-worker, trying to dampen down the irritation I still felt, when something occurred to me. 

God is probably just as irritated with me a lot of the time. 

I am my biggest critic. 

I continually have to battle thoughts that tell me I am not pretty enough, smart enough, skinny enough, generous enough, nice enough, compassionate enough…..the list goes on. 

However, when I stopped to think about it I realized that, like the spider web, I don’t need to alter a thing. 

God created me exactly the way I am – and no spray bottle or artificial light is going to make me any more perfect in the eyes of God.

Inside and out, he knows everything about me. He knows all my imperfections and, believe it or not, does not think they are imperfections at all.

Sometimes I think to myself, “God, why couldn’t you have made me this way?” or “Why can’t I do this as well as that person?” 

But when I fail to see the beauty in what He has already created, it is like that photographer who carries the spray bottle and light system around. Sure, he may be adding something to the picture – but if it’s not natural, what is the point? Isn’t there beauty in what is already in front of him?

God created all of us to be exactly who we are – with the talents and gifts that we have at this moment. Not more, not less. And what we have is amazing, if only we will allow ourselves to see it. 

Rather than becoming critical and seeing how we can improve on his creation, maybe we should start looking at what we have and see what kind of picture we can get with that. 

Leave the spray bottle at home. 

“Does a clay pot argue with it’s maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it worng!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ How terribly it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”

~ Isaiah 45 : 9-10

Trailer Anxiety

A few weeks ago my parents and I drove up to the Keweenaw Penninsula to take our horses to this competetive trail ride that my mum has been training for. From our house in the Eastern Upper Penninsula to where the ride was at was about a 6 hour drive. Now, if you own horses, you may know that that can be a bit of a haul when you're pulling a trailer.

After about two hours - if you're lucky - the horsers start to get anxious. My mum's horse, Reese, started pawing and doing circles, and my dad's horse, Zig started shuffling around a bit. So, when you've got two 1200 pound animals doing that in the rig you're pulling, you start to feel the motions.

It's almost as if they're wondering, "Are we there yet?" "Where are we going?" "Do you realize there are no windows in this thing and I can't see what the heck is going on?"

But of course the horses don't bail out - they don't really have a choice - instead, we try to calm them as much as we can and just keep going. We know what our destination is and we keep moving forward, even if they are a little anxious. After all, we know that when we get where we're going, they are going to enjoy it as much as we are.

When Reese first started dancing around in the trailer, I laughed a little, because I understand his anxiety.

I get so frustrated when I think about my future and where I want to go with my life, yet I cannot seem to figure out where God is taking me. There are no windows in the front of my trailer. I can see everything AS it goes past, and I can see what is behind me - but what's in front? Who knows.

Sometimes I get anxious with God and I just want to know our destination - "Just tell me where we're heading! Don't you realize I can't see what the heck is going on?" But God just tries to calm me down in the meantime as best as I will allow him to, and he aks for my trust.

He asks that I simply stay in the trailer and allow him to take me to our destination. Because he knows that I will enjoy it far more than if I were to bail out early. He keeps moving forward, and he wants me to move with Him.

So even though you may not see where you're going, try not to get anxious. Instead, realize that the driver you have is going to take you somewhere that will not disappoint you.

 

Stitches

I love to cook. 

This past March I went down to Farmington to visit with my grandparents for a week when I had some vacation time. So, naturally, I wanted to cook for them the entire time I was down there. 

One evening, I was fighting with some sweet potatoes that did not want to be chopped. As I pressed down to cut one in half, my ring finger got caught under the blade....and proceeded to bleed profusely. 

Now, I've gotten sliced many times, but this time, my finger bled for about 45 minutes. No joke. I had to change the makeshift-folded paper towel bandaid about four times because the blood soaked through. This was no normal slice and dice. This was a hard core, trip to the doctor, stitch job.

However, I hate going to the doctor. I work in a hospital, why would I want to go there during my vacation? So I never went. I never got stitches. I slapped a bandaid (a real one) on there and called it good. 

But you know what? It didn't heal. 

Sure, it closed up on the surface, but it was still discolored and painful. I've seen enough lacerations to know when something isn't healed underneath, and this certainly wasn't. 

After 5 weeks, it still wasn't healed. I thought about taking a knife and reopening it and getting stitches, but decided that was too much trouble. And I'm a chicken - could I really slice myself on purpose??

So once again, I simply dealt with the pain. I ignored it. Hoping that if I did so, it would go away. 

About a week ago, I was working on something, and somehow I slammed that finger....you know what? 

It still isn't completely healed.

I realized that sometimes, the pain we deal with in our life is like this. We need stitches, we need healing. But instead we just put a bandaid on it and pretend that if we ignore it, it will go away. 

But months go by, you think you're okay, and something happens. You get slammed, and you realize that you're not even close to being healed. 

If only you would have gotten stitches, you could have healing in your life. 

Sometimes, we have to take the knife out, reopen the wound, clean it out and get some stitches. Sometimes, the healing process is more painful than the initial injury. 

However, having the feeling of ultimate closure - complete healing in your life - is so much better than ignoring the pain and putting it aside. 

So what are you covering up? What are you ignoring? 

Hurt? Guilt? Resentment? Anger? Bitterness? 

Trying to cover it up with a bandaid, that only works for a short time. 

God is the only one who can heal you from the inside out. 

"He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds."

~ Psalms 147:3

Selective Hearing

 

I love to run.

I also have two Jack Russell Terriers, Pet and Sam – they love to run, too.

So when I go for runs while I am at home in Cedarville, I really enjoy taking my dogs with me.

However, there is a bit of a problem. My dogs have selective hearing.

Now, if for some reason you are not familiar with selective hearing I will briefly explain it to you: You never hear what you don’t want to hear. Savvy?

Well, my dogs and I have a routine. We live by a busy highway, so when we run across the road, I carry them across and then we run until our legs give out (Mine are usually first). However, if I do not pick them up at the right moment, they tune me out and no amount of screaming will slow them down – and when crossing a 55 mile per hour highway, this can present a bit of a problem.

They never want to hear me say “Slow down!” It seems they know we are out for a run, and that is all they can think about: The goal - run ‘til you drop. They never see the ginormous, four-wheeled monstrosity coming down the highway at sixty miles per hour that has no regards for the little white dogs crossing their path.

But I do.

I can see what they don’t. I can see that if they cross while that car is coming, they might turn into Pete and Sam Pancakes. But instead of heeding my call and coming back, they tune me out and cross the road anyway.

When I was carrying Pete across the road one morning (because he actually listened for once) I thought about this whole situation – and I realized something. I am just like these silly dogs.

It seems that when I think I know where God wants me to go – I go for it. Which can be good – I am sure he appreciates my enthusiasm – however, I often tune Him out in my eagerness to go where He wants me.

Sometimes, I don’t see the car coming.

I start to tune God out thinking, “Okay God, I know where you want me. I’m on it. I’ll see you on the other side!” But I fail to listen to Him calling out the warning to me – I get so focused on where I am supposed to be, and I forget that maybe I’m not supposed to be there yet.

I do not necessarily know what “cars” might be coming at me, but I know that when God calls my name, I need to be ready to wait for Him to catch up, so that we can cross the road together.

Although I can see my dreams ahead of me, He can see the path that will take me to them. Sometimes that means crossing a busy highway.

And I can tell you one thing: I do not want to end up as a Tracy Pancake on that highway.

“The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him.”

~Lamentations 3:25

Volley to a Million

I am not competitive. At all. I am also slightly easily distracted. Today, I played a bit of tennis with a friend of mine. Thankfully, he is not competitive either. He is also slightly easily distracted. So we played a game that would keep both of our attentions, but would not require any competitive spirit whatsoever. 

I’m sure you’ve played it. It’s the game where you volley the ball back and forth and see how many times you can before the ball hits the net. 

The first time we only made it to three. The next time we made it to twenty-two. Then it started to get exciting. I told my friend, “Let’s make it to 32!” When we got to thirty-two we both said, “Hey! Now let’s keep going until we get to 42!” It seemed that every time we made it past our original goal, we would get excited and raise the bar again. After we had beaten a goal, it seemed disgraceful not to make it farther. 

Our bar had been raised, our standards had increased and we wanted to do better every time. 

Unfortunately, there were still plenty of times we did not reach that standard…we would still too often get only three volleys when our goal was one hundred. But that didn’t stop us – even if we didn’t beat our goal every time, we would still try again. 

As we were playing I thought about God and the bar he has raised for us Christians. How that everyday we must try to live up to his standard. 

It’s like trying to volley to a million!

He has set up this standard for us – given us this perfect example of a human being – and that is what we have to try to achieve. 

Impossible.

Thankfully, God knows that we are not capable of reaching that particular goal – but he only asks us to try. He wants us to get up every morning and begin our game of volleying the ball back and forth – doing the best we can. 

We may get to 100, maybe we’ll only get 32….and heck, some days we’ll barely make it to three before the ball drops. But you know what? 

At least you tried. 

Now, you can try to beat your previous record each day! (It’s addicting, trust me…)

The thing we cannot do, is look at the court next to us and say, “Hey, they’re not playing at all today…why do I need to be out here then?” 

No. God does not call us to live according to the World’s Standards. He calls us to live according to HIS Standards. 

“Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by the world’s standards you will have to become a fool so you can be wise by God’s standards.”

~ 1 Chronicles 3:18

Don't Get Stung...Twice

About two weeks ago I was out taking a hike with a friend of mine, and we decided to take my roommates dog, Moose. 

As we were hiking along, we were just chatting away and Moose was skipping up ahead - dodging in and out of bushes, around trees, and loving every minute of NOT being the house. 

However, his bounding soon got all of us into trouble - he stumbled upon a hive of angry Yellow Jackets. Well, they weren't really angry until after he jumped on their home, but anyway...

We were soon covered from head to toe in swarms of Yellow Jackets and running like mad in the other direction! 

We didn't fair too badly - only a sting or two each, but we certainly remembered the pain! We both said, "Next time, we're not taking Moose on this trail!" And my friend kept asking me throughout the rest of the hike, "Are there going to be anymore Yellow Jackets?" 

Well, today, I was taking Moose for another hike, and about halfway through it, I remembered our Yellow Jacket incident - ironically, I remembered after I found one buzzing around on the trail. (Thank goodness I was able to get past it without getting stung again!) 

I could not believe that I had forgotten the last time! Especially after swearing up and down that I would be more cautious next time! 

I had to laugh at myself. 

Because how often do I do this in real life? 

How often do I do something once, get stung hard core, and swear up and down that I will NOT repeat the experience. 

I will not hurt myself like that again.

I will not repeat that mistake.

I will not.......(insert stupid memory here)

How come even when something hurts you so badly, you still find yourself involved in it again? 

It seems that when the sting goes away, when the wound is healed, we forget the pain. We forget how we got into that mess in the first place.

All we remember is the lovely hike we had surrounding the yellow jacket hive. 

And before you know it, you're back on the same trail.....

It's always easier to remember the good in something.

The physical pleasure in an unhealthy relationship....

The happiness of owning a new toy..until you go into debt....

Whatever your hive may be, don't forget it. Try to keep in mind the consequence that followed the action. 

We can't harbor guilt and pain, but if we are naive and quickly forget what happened, we will find ourselves right back at square one, asking ourselves the same question: 

"What was I thinking?" 

Are You Contagious??

You know what I think is one of the funniest phenomenons out there? How yawns are contagious. 

Why is that? 

The other day I was at work and someone across the room yawned, and I saw them out of my peripheral vision - not even in plain sight! - and I immediately began to yawn! How obnoxious, right?? 

Another thing I find interesting is how contagious smiles are, too. 

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the shade with a friend of mine, thinking of something (which I would rather keep you guessing at then outright tell you what it was) and I must have had a smile on my face. Because the next moment I looked up at him, and he was smiling, too. So, of course I asked him what he was smiling about. His reply was, "I don't know. I'm smiling because you're smiling." 

How does that work? Why is it that when someone smiles, you feel the need to smile, too? Or when someone yawns, your body feels the need to follow that example? 

As I was thinking about this, I found myself thinking about all the other things in life that are contagious. And I'm not talking just about Colds and Flus. 

Have you ever noticed how when someone around you is in a good mood, you find yourself in good spirits as well? 

Or when someone else is being generous, you want to be generous, too? 

Or when you are with someone that is calm, no matter how high energy you are, you find yourself calming just by their presence? (Okay, maybe that one is just me....) 

But seriously, I don't think we realize just how much our surroundings affect us. Or how we effect others. 

I think that is why God stresses it so much for us to spend our time around those that affect us in a positive manner - those who can encourage us and lift us up, rather than tear us down. 

It can be so hard to reflect God's character in this world, but that is what God is asking us to do. 

He is asking us to have contagious smiles, contagious generosity, contagiouscompassion...

.....and, above all, contagious LOVE. 

"I want you to show love more than I want you to offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings." 
~ Hosea 6:6 

The Trek

This past August, I was blessed enough to be able to go on this amazing road trip with my brother. We traveled to 4 National Parks, in 4 different states and two different countries. We hiked 65 miles in 6 days and spent just enough time together that we did not eat one another. It was absolutely incredible, to say the least. 

Well, during the last hike of the trip, I have to admit, I was tired. The elevation was burning my lungs, my legs were constantly reminding me what a flatlander I am, and I was counting the steps until we were to reach the lake at the end of the trail. 

Along the path we passed several hikers and I kept wanting to ask “How much father?” and “Does the trail keep climbing UP the whole way there?” But most of all, I wanted to ask, “Is it worth the hike?” 

I never got a chance to ask, but my last question was answered as soon as we crested a hill and had a view of the lake. Without a doubt, YES, it was worth it. 

I thought to myself, "If another hiker asks me if it’s worth it on my way down, my reply will most certainly be, 'Every step.' "   

It occurred to me that my walk with God is like that. “God, will my life keep climbing up hill?”; “God, is there another river I have to cross?”; “God, how many more logs and rocks and roots do I have to climb over before I reach you?”

But most of all, “God is it WORTH it?” 

Is it worth the ridicule I must face occasionally? Is it worth giving up certain pleasures? Is it really and completely worth it?

And do you know what His answer is? 

“Every step.” 

“So be truly glad! There is wonderful job ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.”

~ 1 Peter 1:6

My Inspirations

Hello there!

To anyone who may be reading this, I thought my first post would explain a little bit about this blog. Good idea, eh?

So, basically, I wanted to add this blog so that those viewing my photos would understand The Inspiration behind my photography. Yes, this may seem a little out of place in a photographer's website. However, I hope that you may come to understand the correlation between my Photography and my thoughts.

You see, God has always been and always will be my inspiration. I felt the need to share these thoughts in order to bring light to the photographs I take. I shoot these photos because of what God has done in my life, and what he has allowed me to see - and I hope he will inspire you in the same way.

Thank you for visiting :)

Sincerely,
Tracy Conroy