Gentle to Rapids
"...he leads me beside quiet waters" (Psalm 23:2). We all want a bit of rest; a time where we can relax and enjoy the calm around us.  We need it to function.  Yet how often do we look to God to lead us to where we can find the most rest?  Do we follow His lead not only through the rough moments when we have no certainties, but also through the quiet times when all seems easy and predictable?  Deciding that the calm, easy, restful times are something that we can control sets us up for disaster.  We become complacent, no longer faithfully following in every moment, believing that because the times are easy, we can manage.  Then the road becomes rocky, the waters beside turn to rapids, and we suddenly scramble to find His steps again, perhaps on our hands and knees having stumbled.  What if we stayed in step with Him?  Would the change from calm to rocky, from quiet waters to rapids, even be as noticeable?  Would we even be as attentive to the struggles versus the peace around us?

Skyscrapers to Waterfalls
I am by no means a morning person.  I do not dread mornings and am not an angry person in the morning (unless you wake me early... then stay away), but likewise I do not jump out of bed singing at 5am (or 6, or 7...).  So it took all my self-convincing to get out of bed for a dawn shot of Cincinnati from the hotel room.  The night shot was easy, since it was when we had returned to our hotel room.  I never was very happy with any of the compositions of my 25 shots, but oh well.  Tomorrow we head to a place more along my type of photography: West Virginia.  From city shots to mountains and waterfalls, which you know me for.  Probably no post tomorrow, but I should be able to continue posting Friday and Saturday.  Where would you rather be right now: downtown in a city or deep in the mountains?

The Who's Who in Heaven Book
"Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven" (Luke 10:20).  What a temptation it is to be excited about what we can do.  When we see the things we can accomplish, it would be easy to become encouraged because of that.  At the extreme, we might even become arrogant in something (or many things) about ourselves.  Without question, having others submit to our will and command can certainly effect us.  But Jesus gives us a particular reminder here that we readily overlook.  'Rejoice because I've redeemed you... not because of anything you've done or can do.'  Or rather, 'Let your encouragement be because you're God's own, not in anything of yourself.'  In fact, be encouraged by His love, not encouraged or discouraged by anything of this world.  Not by anything surrounding yourself.  Be encouraged by God.  Be encouraged because God has never abandoned you; He has guaranteed a place for you.

Anniversary and Photos
A wonderful new friend joined my wife and I for an anniversary trip in Cincinnati: Canon's EF 24-70mm F2.8 L USM lens.  That's a long way of saying "fanominal lens."  No, I do not now own this $1200 lens, but it was fun to shoot with on the trip.  So everything Cincinnati photography for the next couple days is all by a happy photographer with a nice lens.  Paul Brown stadium (Brown?...shouldn't that be a name of a stadium in Cleveland, not Cinci?) made for a good subject for a wonderful sunset.  It was taken from a pier that made for an interesting subject of it's own.  Whoever lived there seemed to be people that loved being active!  The new profile photo was also taken on this pier.  Is there any new "toy" you've been really craving?

Change is a good thing
"...the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).  After several entries about us changing, it's reasurring to remember that chage isn't without direction or a solid anchor point.  While some reassure themselves that truth is dependent only on what you believe, Truth in fact is independent.  There is a God that isn't given to the slight breeze that makes for ever changing shadows.  Our change isn't a whimsical self-improvement project.  It's a Spirit-powered effort to become more like He who created us.

Abandoned Carwash
Wow, wonderfully cool weather has returned here!  I managed to sleep the entire night without waking up (I don't sleep well in heat and humidity).  But then of course I overslept... The photos are of one of the two abandoned places I was visiting the other day.  These are of a carwash.  I had determined to shoot in black-and-white, however the faded and stained paint of the access door and wall made me switch over.  I had a dead-on shot, but wasn't quite straight.  So you see the alternate angled shot.  It's strange, but it had some strange attraction as well.  The second was a bit of playing with Photoshop.  If it had not been raining, I would have prefered a double exposure... but it was raining.  Added to it in a way I suppose.  An old towel gave protection to the tripod-mounted camera as I drove the Jeep in.  Were/are you ever the adventerous type, especially with exploring?