As the Summer Light is Fading..[part 1]

Well, here we are. It's the end of August, summer is almost over. For some, it's already ended. For myself and others, we're hanging on to the last weak threads of our carefree sunny summer days.

Carefree?

I'm typing this on my lunchbreak at work.
I've cried more this summer than I have for a long time.
I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get ready for county fair.

Carefree?

Maybe.

I didn't have to do school for two months. That was nice.

But now...

I have two and a half weeks left.

And then I have school.

Not just school.

My senior year of highschool.

Where did that come from??

Wasn't I just a freshman?

Apparently not..

This summer has been...wow. There really are no words for what this summer has been for me.

Amazing.

Beautiful.

Those words don't even begin to describe it. On my last day or so of summer, I'll write a more detailed post.

You know, when I have time.

(Free time? What's that??)

Yeah.

There are many, many people who contributed to my summer. They are who made it what it has been.

Here are just a few of these people...

God.
Lily.
Kiefer.
Amy.
Miranda.
Serena.
Aaaaaaalllll my Endeavor girlies <3 (that's right, all 30 of ya, plus moms and staff).
Lydia Shanks.
Tara.
MaryAnn.
My parents.
Anyone who works for TeenPact.
Mrs. Reich.
And I could go on for a very long time...

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to write a little note to each of the most prominent people in my summer as I blog about it. Hmm. This is definitely going to be a series. Yes. Starting today. Mhm. This was the first post. Yes. I will detail my summer by events. One even for each post in the series. Okies.

(note: order of mention does not equal order of importance of people. You all are equally amazing to me. Except God. He's number one by far.)

A photograph is memory in the raw. --Carrie Latet

Something that I enjoy in my spare time (besides writing) is photography. My mom has a Canon Rebel and I use it as much as possible. I also use a standard point and shoot (Casio brand). Here is a sample of my photography (paired with some amazing quotes I found). I will be entering these photographs in my county fair. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to write a post about a "first" I had today. 

You don't take a photograph.  You ask, quietly, to borrow it.  ~Author Unknown

I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing.  After all, you are taking some of their soul.  ~Mary Ellen Mark
  

The camera can photograph thought.  ~Dirk Bogarde

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.  ~Dorothea Lange

 

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.  ~Ansel Adams

You don't take a photograph, you make it.  ~Ansel Adams

 

 

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.  ~Ansel Adams

No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.  ~Robert Adams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.  ~Eudora Welty

The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera.  ~W. Eugene Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.  ~Minor White

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it.  ~Author Unknown

Defying Gravity

I've been doing a lot of air travel lately. I've just been doing a lot of travel, period. The other day in church no less then three people approached me and said, "I haven't seen you in a while!" Well, I promise that I'm home to stay...at least until the end of September. Then I will be attending TeenPact's new alumni event--Congress. If you're a TeenPact Alumnus, seriously consider signing up!!

But talking about TPC wasn't the main point I wanted for this post. It was the air travel. LOL.

You know what really intrigues me? The fact that a tiny bird and a huge jumbo jet loaded down with people, luggage, and fuel can both take flight.....but a human can't. Try as we might, without the aid of an airplane, we cannot fly. Yet, for thousands of years it has been mans dream to do so. I would even be so bold as to say since the beginning of time we have longed to fly. It's like in Toy Story, when Buzz Lightyear believes he can fly, and demonstrates his "skill". Woody scoffs and informs him that it's not flying, it's "falling with style". Hangliding, skydiving...that all it is. Falling with style. Man has never and never will truly achieve flying.

When I was a little kid, I often badgered my dad with questions of Heaven. What would it be like? What would we do? Would we have special powers? This last question interested me the most. Ever since I can remember, I've always wanted to be able to run insanely fast, turn invisible, read minds, and fly. So one day, I asked my dad, "Do you think we'll be able to fly?"

My dad thought a minute and responded positively. This excited me. I inquired if we would need stairs (obviously not, if we could fly). The idea of a random hole in the ceiling leading to another floor delighted me. But not just that. The ability to lift off towards that hole filled me with overwhelming excitement.

I believe in Heaven, we'll be able to do things beyond any of our imaginations. Our bodies are mere shells, cages for our souls. Really, we are souls trapped in bodies. We're grounded by our mortality and sin. Pulled down by gravity. Not able to be released. Every time we try to fly, we're gonna fall. We just can't do it. But that doesn't quell our burning desire to fly. We watch the birds soaring above the clouds and find ourselves  wishing we could be like them. We watch airplanes take off and wonder why they can do it and we can't. But in Heaven, I believe we won't have to dream. We won't have long and wonder and wish. Our dreams will come true.

We will see our Lord, Saviour, our Rescuer, Jesus Christ.

We will sing with the angels eternal praise to our Heavenly King.

We will live forever, basking in the glory of God.

Our souls will be released from the cages that are our bodies.

We will be forever happy.

We will be able to spend as much time as we want with those we love.

We will never have to say good-bye.

And we will fly.

Salvation is Here

I remember one late summer night, five years ago. It was late...I'd just woken up from a terrible dream. The worst dream I have ever had in my life. By the grace of God, the details have left me. But that night, I woke up.

Terrified.


Crying. 


Sweating.


Shaking.

I was fighting a battle. One that had gone over a lifetime, but had centralized and strengthened in the past three months.

The battle of my heart.

All summer I had struggled.

Struggled with knowing and understanding who God was. What salvation was. Why He loved me. Why He wanted to save me. What it all meant.

I had spent the whole summer wondering if I was really saved.

I went to camp for the first time. I was deeply convicted.

But I still had not taken that final step.

But that night, the night of my terrible nightmare....

I knew. 

I knew what I had to do.

I ran downstairs...it was late.

Miraculously, my parents were still awake.

I ran to them and told them.


"I'm not saved. I need to be saved."

My mom led me through the Romans Road, showing me the plan of salvation.

And there, on my living room floor, on July 31 at 11:00 at night I knelt.

I prayed.

I put my full faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

I sit here today, typing this as a fully redeemed child of God.

Five years is a long time, but it's also so short.

That first year was amazing. I did ten times better in church and in life than I ever had before.

But after that first year...I began to feel stunted.

I struggled with continuing to grow.

This year, I feel like the stunts have been pulled out of me. I have grown so much.

Sometimes, I feel physically weary from the overwhelmingness of it all.

But it's a good weary.

I could not have done the last five years without my Rescuer, my Savior, my Lord, my King, Jesus Christ. 

God has been with me in the best of times and the worst of times--even when I did not put my all into Him.

He's protected me from harm.

He's rejoiced when I have rejoiced.

He has held me close and cried as I cried.

God is truly the best friend I could ever have. He will never leave me nor forsake me. I will always be His. He has plans for me in my life that I can't even imagine.

Life is hard. I've already seen that too many times to count.

But in the end, everything's going to be okay. Every time I am tried by fire I will strive to come out as gold.

And with the grace of God and the strength He gives me...


I can.