What would your cardboard testimony be?

I'm still trying to figure out mine... 

* Note- I borrowed this from another blog- Streach Marks 

God's Rainbow

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." 

Genesis 9:13-16 (NIV)

I'm never surprised by God's beauty, only when He chooses to reveal it, at the perfect moment.  I've always thought rainbows were smiles from God, something He put on earth to show me His beauty and presence during the storms in my life.  

When I was reading my bible the other night, I found myself back in Genesis, back to the basics.  I often need to be reminded of fundamental things, I tend to forget them otherwise.  Although I'm sure I've read these verses before, they never stuck out to me like they did the other night. Perhaps it was the word "covenant" or an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return.  Before God establishes this covenant with Noah, God destroyed the earth by a flood because of the corrupt people on earth (Genesis 6:12) but Noah was a righteous man, so he was spared (Genesis 6:9).  

Noah's Ark is one of my favorite biblical stories (picking your favorite bible story is sort of like picking your favorite kind of chocolate candy, it can't be done because it is all good).  As a kid I liked Noah's Ark because of all the animals (ohhh, to have faith like a child again...).  As an "adult" (at 22, I'm not quite sure what I am, sometimes I'd rather be 6 and coloring in a coloring book rather than studying for my CPA...) God's Word reveals something more.  

Noah's faithfulness to God is amazing.  God didn't just say "build me an ark".  He said "build me an ark this specific way" and gave Noah very specific directions (Genesis 6:15-16).  God continued to give Noah directions and Noah faithfully listened and did what God commanded.  After the storm, the first thing Noah did was honor God (Genesis 8:20).  I cannot imagine what the earth must have looked like after the flood when the water receded or what Noah was thinking after all the animals disembarked the ark he built with his very hands.  But Noah immediately "built an altar to the Lord" and praised Him for His sovereignty.  

God promised He would never again destroy all the living creatures like He did with the flood (Genesis 8:21).  However, that doesn't mean that we won't face storms during our life.  It is easy to praise God during happy and joyous times.  However, it is more difficult to praise God during the storm.  

God makes a covenant with all believers; He will always be there, during the good times, the sad times, the storms, the hard times, all the time.  Although I'm learning and often fall, I desire to praise Him all the time. 

After the rain there is a sometimes a rainbow, but always during the storm, God is there. 

**Note: I've seen the end of a rainbow.  I couldn't see the pot of gold, but I'm convinced it was there, just in the freezing cold water and I refused to swim and find it... although I'm sure it would have helped pay off my mounting student loans. Anyways, I took this picture while I was on a trip with my mom and grandma in Canada.  There was actually a double rainbow, two rainbows (oh how beautiful); you can't see the other one in this picture, but God's beautiful presence during a storm is captured. 

Thoughtful Thursday

"When things go wrong, you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better." - CS Lewis 

CS Lewis is an amazing writer. I've read several books by him, including some of the Chronicles of Narnia and many of his books are on my "reading list", which is growing at a faster rate than I can read.  

I'm a PK...

A photographer's kid... which only means one thing, my family doesn't take random or spur of the moment pictures... we only take staged and planned pictures with "perfect" lighting, shadows and a lot of of other photography terms I don't understand! I must admit it though, the pictures always turn out perfect.

The kids like to add some fun to the photographer's life... 
He might refer to us as pains in the butt though. 

We're also tree-huggers! 

But in the end, we all have fun and get some great pictures! 

I love being a pk. 

New Running Shoes

After looking for new shoes every weekend for the past month, I finally found a beautiful pair of running shoes!  That was the easy part... 

My first blog post!

Note: This blog is a work in process.

After reading many blogs, I decided to start my own!