Going, Going, Gone

I was coming back from being out of town this evening when I passed a drifter out in the middle of nowhere. I have seen many drifters, but for some reason, this one just struck me.

He was an older man, standing on the side of the road, well in between any towns. He had very long, unkempt hair that was a yellowed white, and a long bushy beard.

He was just standing there, staring off into the pine trees on the side of the road. He was walking opposite of traffic, so it was apparent he wasn't looking for a ride.

So, you know how philosophical I become when I am out riding along on my own.

I thought of this guy, almost like those empty houses that you pass, falling down from the neglect of no one to care for them.

What happened to him? I mean, one day did he rise before anyone else and just disappear? Did he have family, somewhere, who longed to know where he was, or who had long decided he was gone, maybe even dead?

Was he suffering like the man in the graveyard, needing someone to come along and deliver him?

He stood there, staring blankly into the woods, and from my point of view, there were no apparent answers to any of life's questions written in those shade covered rows. But he looked as if he was in desperate need of an answer.

This man, at one time, probably had a job, a family, a life. And I don't believe he just woke up one morning and, out of the blue, packed up his belongings and just disappeared.

Just like I don't believe the backslider awakens one day and finds themselves totally disengaged from anything even remotely resembling godliness.

Before the eyes of his family and his friends, this man began to vanish. He began to close himself off, and shut himself down. He began to cut ties with anyone who cared about him, and then one day, he was just gone.

Maybe he had done it in such a way that he walked away without anyone even noticing.

Now, he stands alone. Gone from all those that cared, gone from whatever life he left behind.

Maybe over lunch, or at family gatherings, someone will say, "I wonder what happened to him?"

But, that will probably be the extent of their thoughts.

Just like me, sometimes at church, I will think, "I wonder where they are now?"

And then I just keep going.

Lord, help me to be sensitive to those around me. Let me see those hurting souls who are pulling away. Let me feel the distance and reach out to them before it's too late, and they are gone forever. And, help someone to see that in me, should I begin to falter and grow distant and cold in You. I love You.

Just Thought I'd Share

I was up near Pine Mountain yesterday and so I snuck over before I started home. I ended up going to Calloway Gardens. Here are a few of shots from there. Plus, I snuck one in of my sweetie, Aaron!!!

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

Well, here I sit at a few minutes after 5pm, alone. So, so alone...

*anybody feeling my pain*

I am at one of my last training stops. One more night away next week and I'll be home!!! WOOT!

Denise is sneaking up to stay with me tonight. I am so aware that my time with my little *dumplin* is growing shorter. I am longing to hold on for a while, store up some more memories to take out later and fill my heart with smiles.

I have had time to contemplate many things out here alone. Usually my time is filled with being everything I am, but here alone I have no clothes to wash, no toilets to clean. Just my thoughts to keep me company.

And I have been thinking of where I am going. I feel like more than a job change has taken place. I feel like a heart change has too.

I have been able to get to know myself better. Some things I need to do better have come to light, as well as some things that I like about myself.

I have identified within myself things I had no idea were there. And I realize that God is preparing me for a journey, a journey where faith will have to be my vehicle. A journey of trust.

So, I'm sitting here waiting...

Waiting for my dumplin to drive up (and wishing my Lil E could too).

And waiting for a page to turn, a chapter to end....

Waiting to see where He leads....

Waiting, and praying, and trusting...

Identifying Oppression

My daughter and I spent a few stolen minutes together yesterday after I got into town. I told her about some of the silly things I did as a teenager. She laughed at the young girl she never knew.

It is hard to fathom that our parents didn't start out life as parents. Understandably since they have been parents our entire lives, it is difficult to picture them young and carefree.

But, I once was young and carefree.

That being so, I know what it is like to be unable to see beyond the end of your own nose, so to speak. I have an understanding of my children and the phases that they have passed through, and those yet to come, on this road to complete adulthood.

I can remember lying on my bed, with my mother standing at my bedside as I cried "I want to just be like everyone else, and be able to go out and have fun!"

Poor pitiful me....

I remember how it felt to be stifled by *rules* set by my parents/prison guards.

Now, alas, here I sit...guarding the souls of my very own charges...

My, how the tables turn.

And I remember how I felt so unfairly treated. I felt so held down, and watched. Freedom was all I longed for, something my keepers could not seem to understand.

There is another child that I love, though not my own. And I see in her that aching to *break free* from the proverbial bondage, to be who she feels she is destined to be. I know she counts the days until her imprisonment will be over and the oppression of her current situation will be but a memory.

It saddens me to the depth of my soul.

For what our young people sometimes see as oppression is really where the truest of freedom lies.

I can put a name to oppression today that will forevermore identify this crafty creature.

That name is *REGRET.*

Oppression is waking every morning for the rest of your life to the consequence of your mistakes. It is facing each day knowing your own choices sometimes born of rebellion will forever color each sunrise of every day you live.

Oppression is settling for less than you could have obtained, it is selling out your dreams for a moment.

Oppression is giving away your very heart and soul and being bound to a promise that cuts the very life out of your being.

Oppression is casting your precious pearls before the swine of the world who have no understanding of the value of what is before them.

I have said so many times that my job as a mother is to make sure when my children are grown they have no regrets because I wasn't doing my job as a mother. Mistakes happen, there is no perfect world, I know this to be true. And I want to be the one that they turn to when trouble comes, and it will.

I don't want to hold my children back from living out their potential, from happiness, from tomorrow.

What I want is for them to have the freedom from *REGRET* when their time comes to fly. I don't want the weight of an oppressive past to keep them from soaring as high as God allows.

If I could say what my desire is for my children it would be this...
"Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the Spirit.
Despise not prophesying.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-23

My dear sweet Friend, You know the burden I carry, for You carry the same. Help me to lead and guide my family to You. Help me to live an example before them, to show them the way, and to remain firm in that way. Let me not bow to the pressures of this world. Let me never give in to the draw of the easy way, for it would be easy for me to turn my head. But let me stand strong for their sakes, even it makes me unpopular, even if it is hard, because I know what is at stake. I know the oppressor. And I know where freedom lies. Thank You for loving me.

I Wanna Go Home

Please indulge me, just this once. Excuse the video, but close your eyes and listen to the song...

I'm ready to get this training done!

On The Go

Well, I'm about to embark on another journey. I'm sure I'll have all new adventures to share by the end of the week.

Keep checking back on our blog at http://thisdayphotography.blogspot.com/. I'm excited to have our work up for you to see!!!

Our website will be http://www.this_day_photography.com/ I think...could be .net...could be minus the underscores...(this is why I don't build website, I just copy and paste addresses) but Brother Marc Wood is helping us design it, so look for something dynamic. You can see some of his other work at http://www.marcwood.net/. He is responsible for our awesome church website (come on, you know it's the nicest you've ever seen) and the Weeks' Ministries website, along with many local websites. If you need something professional and eye catching, than he's "DA MAN." We appreciate the Wood family so much!!!

Be looking for our Senior Shoot of Tana Wood, which will take place later this week! She is such a precious girl, this should be loads of fun!! (Did I also mention she is a cutie patootie)

Yup, never a dull moment around here.

Ain't God good, to give us so many blessing. Undeserving, that's what we are. We ought to THANK Him, LOVE and PRAISE Him, a little more today....and a WHOLE LOT more tomorrow!!!!!!

When Life Makes No Sense

There is little in life that gives me more pleasure than freshly washed clothes...

I know, I'm a moron...

But, there is just something about pulling warm laundry out of the dryer and stuffing my nose into the folds and taking a big, deep, sniff.

I came home from life on the road last week to "Mount Clothesous" and an eruption was on the horizon.

So, I have spent the time that I could today, washing clothes.

I stripped the sheets off of the bed and placed them in the washer, looking forward to snuggling down tonight with the fragrance of Downy surrounding me, and then drifting off into a peaceful slumber where I would dream about flowers and little bunnies....

I pulled the sheets out, still hot to the touch, and pressed my face into the depths of softness....

NOTHING....

I tried once more, taking a deeper breath...which only caused a fit of coughing...

And that silly part of me said "What was the use of even washing them if I can't smell they are clean?"

What's the use indeed?

We live in a world that is fed by their senses. If you can't feel, smell, touch, taste, or hear something, then it's just not real...

In my walk with God there have been times that I had no sense of His presence...

Should that cause me to doubt He is there? Of course not.

And even though I cannot smell the April Freshness of my sheets, they needed to be clean, even as my sin stained life needed to be washed in the Blood of the Lamb. I didn't literally have blood poured over me, but the cleansing flow was real. And it washed me white as snow.

So, I'm am about to put my sheets on the bed, still warm from the dryer, and then I'm going to snuggle down and take a nap. Maybe when I wake up I will be able to smell again.

I Need You, I Need You, I Need You!!!! Come and fill my life....