Photo - Beside the Still Waters

 This photo was taken early in our kayaking adventures.  We weren't yet comfortable enough for large expanses of water, but sought out creeks and smaller rivers.  A friend recommended Chickasabogue Creek to us and we decided to give it a try.

It was an easy drive and there was a nice put-in for kayaks.  Glen and I and our youngest daughter, Emmie, then eleven, unpacked the kayaks.  I was very surprised at how cool the water was.  It was delightful on a humid Mobile day.  As the creek curved into the area we see in this photo, I was struck by the stillness of the water and how clearly the reflection could be seen.  My camera was always with me in those days and I quickly snapped this photo.  

Taking a photo on a kayak isn't always an easy thing.  As you let go of your oars to frame the photo, the kayak begins to drift with the current, meaning whatever was nicely centered in your viewfinder is drifting as well.  Thankfully, I was able to capture the beauty of this area to serve of a reminder of that day.

I actually don't need a reminder though, because the events after the kayaking comprise a story we often regale in our family.

We had borrowed our son's truck to transport our kayaks for the trip.  Before we started we placed his keys in the hold of the kayak, thinking they would be dry there.  Apparently, we did not close the top well, because water leaked into the hold.  (Remember, we were still new to kayaking at that time.)

We didn't realize this until we were getting the kayaks out of the water and retrieving our belongings.  We secured the kayaks in the back of the truck used the fob to unlock the door.  The water in the fob set off the car alarm.  Several yards down from the put-in was a swimming and picnic area.  There were many people in the water and even more at the picnic tables and I believe everyone of them turned to look at what caused the offending noise.

We would have loved to make the noise stop, but we could not cancel the alarm.  We tried everything we could think of, but it would not stop.  We finally decided to just leave as quickly as we could with the alarm blaring.

As we were leaving, we had a choice in exits.  We had never been there before so we didn't know the one we chose would take us right into the picnic area and in front of all the swimmers.  Irritated looks met us as we passed by, our alarm sounding at its loudest.  

We were  a little nervous passing the entry to the park, fearful the attendant might think we had stolen the truck, but there was no haling us down, no car in hot pursuit as we left the park.  We continued the ten miles down the interstate with the alarm still crying out, which it did until finally the battery in the fob died.

Our son was happy to find out we had ruined his alarm system, and I don't believe we ever borrowed his truck again. But now, years later, the event is something Glen and Emmie and I laugh about whenever we remember it.  The embarrassment of the moment has led to moments of shared laughter and reminiscence.  

The calm quiet stillness of the photo could not predict our frantic - and loud- departure from the park, but I remember both with fondness.

Photo - O Give Thanks Unto the Lord

This picture was taken one day when we were kayaking along the delta in our area.  Five rivers come together to form a wonderful place to explore the water and enjoy the scenery.  When I took this picture I think I more wished to have the bird in it than expected to.  When I saw the results, I was so pleasantly surprised.

 

Photo - Confident of This Very Thing

Years ago I purchased my first digital camera.  I loved taking pictures with it and exploring the possibilities it presented.  I also enjoyed adding Scripture to the pictures.  I came across a few of them the other day and decided to start posting one or two a week and perhaps telling the story behind the picture.

This picture was taken in our back yard when the ligustrum was in bloom.  Glen and I planted these 42 perimeter plants when we first moved into our house, 29 years ago.  Little did we know at the time we were both allergic to ligustrum.  I now dread seeing the first blooms come on the plants, but when they are not in bloom, I love their glossy green leaves and the privet hedge they provide.  They were about 12 inches tall when we planted them and now they are easily 20 feet tall.  In the spring, when the little white flowers appear, the plants are full of bees.  I enjoy that our plants help to provide sustenance for the busy bees.

O Give Thanks

Neither Hunger nor Thirst

The Beauty of Our Lord

Be At Rest

Unto The Son

No Sunrise Without the Alarm Clock. . .

I am not a morning person by nature. For the first twenty years of my career I worked night shift and loved it. My body is still on a night-shift clock. But in 1997, I took a day-shift position and since that time I have been forcing myself out of bed early in the morning to go to work.

Now, my husband is a cheerful, chipper, early morning riser. Not me. He has learned through the years to wake me gently, preferably with a cup of hot coffee waiting. I move slowly through the paces of getting ready, my body, and often my mind, being tempted to resent each step along the way. Once I heard my husband joke to someone else that my heart "doesn't start beating until 9am!"

I was thinking about this morning as we were on the way to the hospital. It was a particularly brutal morning. I had not slept well and I did not want to get out of bed at 5am. For that matter, I didn't want to get out of bed at 6am or 7am either. But, here I was at half past six in the morning, pulling up next to the hospital. Then, as is often the case in the morning, I looked to the east and saw the most beautiful sky. The sunrise was painting the sky a gorgeous combination of pink and blue -- quite fitting for a Labor & Delivery nurse heading in to work. I took a second to pop over to the hospital's heliport and snap a picture.

You see, a great many of the beautiful sunrise pictures I have taken over the last few years have been taken from that very spot early in the morning before I walk into the hospital. Pictured here is one of my all time favorites, taken one morning before work.

Had I not been working day-shift and not been going in to work, I would have never seen that sunrise to have even had the thought about pulling out my camera.

My thought about this is that when I am tempted to think how much I hate going to work in the mornings, I need to remind myself that "as for God, His way is perfect." (2 Samuel 22:31) I may think I know what may be best for me, or even perfect for me, but it is God who knows what is best and His way is always perfect for me.

Lead Me, O Lord

Sing Aloud of Thy Mercy

The Face of His Throne