Daily Archives: September 7, 2012

I’m going to have to ask you to forgive me.  Please let me explain; Last night I was recounting my day for Sherelene.  It had been a great day, filled with wonderful surprises. Ever since the blog entry “Why Bother” my blog comments and emails have gone off the scale!   My partner in His Light Workshops, Jim Begley, who gets an average of 300 to 400 hits a day to see his wonderful work, has been averaging over 2,000!!!  The emails and blog comments I’ve been getting have been both warm, supportive and deeply appreciated.  Last week Jim and I announced our 2013 season of workshop events with only 80 spots available for all of next year, in one week, we’ve sold out all but 14 spots!  I had great conversations with both of my bosses and friends at Nikon yesterday and I’m excited about the upcoming events I’m covering for NPS!  On top of all that I’m getting ready to go down to Atlanta to help celebrate Dr. Charles Stanley’s 80th birthday and the release of his new book which contains some of the best photography of his life, and I was honored to write the foreword for it!!  To be completely honest my chest has been expanding!  I was allowing myself to feel pretty good about myself!   WARNING BELLS – WARNING BELLS!!!!!!!

 

Fortunatley, as God always does, He sent a message to bring me back down to earth.  The following line was in this morning’s daily devotional from Charles Stanley at In Touch!  It is about the relationship of Abraham and God, when God told him he would lead His people out of Egypt.

 

Who am I? When Moses questioned whether he was the right man for the job, the Lord gave him a promise: “Certainly, I will be with you” (v. 12). The man was able to fulfill the assignment only because God chose to enter into a relationship with him.   The Christian’s source of adequacy is his or her relationship with Christ and the presence of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

We all want to feel good about ourselves and it is normal to feel a sense of exhilaration when great things are happening in our lives and especially when wonderful people fawn over you, but it is vital to remember who is really providing the power in your life.  Without Him I am nothing.  No, that is not false modesty, trust me on this one, I know myself, and I know how wholly inadequate I am to fulfill His mission for my life!  I have but one hope for my life, that of being a faithful servant of the Jesus Christ.  I don’t do it to receive praise from man, as good as that feels, and I don’t do it to try to win God’s acceptance, that was settled over 2,000 years ago at Calvary.  No I do it because I owe Him more than I could ever even hope to repay, and love Him with all my heart and soul!    I’ve had a wonderful career as a photographer and have received many prestigious awards, none of which means as much to me as a simple email from someone saying their life has been changed for the better.  My most pressing issue is to constantly remind myself that those changed lives are not because of me, or anything I have said, written or done, but because of Him!

 

I said yesterday I love the “Life is Good” t-shirts, that’s becasue my life is good, but God is Great!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

*Photo Note:  Image of wrenches was made at Reno Air Races last September with a Nikon P7100.  I’m flying to Reno Monday morning for this years race, expect some airplane images over the next week!  My self assignment for next week will be COLOR for COLOR sake and I hope to find some killer color shots to share with you!

Maybe like this original shot from which the Black and White above was processed in Silver Efex Pro 2!