Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

When I look at the image above I feel great joy. It takes me back eleven years to when my son Wesley and I were working on the original America From 500 Feet. We were in the Palouse Region of Southeastern Washington State. One late afternoon the winds were very calm and we flew out over this gorgeous rolling hill, farm country in our little ultra light and captured some beautiful light. Just before the sun went down I looked down and saw this wonderful pattern and one click later it was preserved forever in my memory bank of fantastic moments.

Life is like that, at a moments notice we find ourselves bathed in a great instant of joyful feelings. Yesterday was like that for me. Starting with late Thursday afternoon when Matt Kloskowski was kind enough to ask me to be his guest on The Grid, and ending with the taping of my new class for Kelby Training, and some quality time with R.C. Concepcion. What a day and a half.

I took some vacation time from Nikon to come down and do my latest class, Learning to See Photographically, and to work on the new website where this blog will reside soon. Today I will work with R.C. , (What a great guy – warm and inviting as the sun), on the new billfortney.com site.

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I had another bad morning with Delta, late flights, almost missed connections, the usual. The point is not the Delta has slipped badly, the point is that I didn’t act like I should have. No, before you make too many wrong assumptions, I didn’t blow up on anyone, it was all internal, but I didn’t handle it like I should have. It reminds me of a story the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziggler tells. He once was in the airport after a talk and ready to go home, tired and homesick. Just before he was to fly home, they board posted a delayed message. The plane which was supposed to leave at 2:00 p.m. and was now delayed until 6:00 p.m. He went to desk to ask what was wrong but was behind another man who was even more exercised than he was. The man said to the ticket agent, do you have any idea, who I am, and that I know the president of the airline personally? The ticket agent calmly said sir I’m sorry you’re upset but the flight still doesn’t leave until 6:00 p.m. The point was simple, you can kick and scream as much you want, but the plane still doesn’t leave until 6:00 p.m.

Life throws us curves and we can dodge them, laugh, and go on, or act like I did this morning and get all worked up inside and act like a child. Thank God no one knew except for my wife who got several raging texts, but then she’s used to Grouchy Bill.

I wish I could say that I always keep my cool, sadly I can’t, but can I get some extra points for confessing????!!!! O.K. can’t blame I guy for trying………

Blessings,

the pilgrim

Sorry to post so late today, I’ve been preparing for a series of pro calls in Florida for the rest of the week. This is going to be short and sweet. For a day and half I got to be home with my bride, color in my life. In the morning I will fly down to Tampa and see several good clients who are also friends, more color. Last week, in spite of the tragedy at Reno, I was surrounded by friends who shared the pain with me, color.

God gives us people, people that matter to us in our lives, when the world becomes devoid of color, when things turn monochrome, it is those people that bring the color back. The people that come to my workshops and have become close friends, the people I teach with, the professional tech reps that work side by side with me, my grandchildren, and just friendly strangers we meet along the way, they are the color.

I thank God everyday that He never allows the shadows and darkness to linger for very long before He sends in a beautiful bouquet of color.

Thank You Father for caring so much for us…….

be blessed,

the pilgrim

I will blog from Florida for the rest of the week.

*Photo Note: Nikon D700, 200mm Micro Nikkor at f22, ISO 200.

Yesterday morning as I was packing and getting ready for my trip to the airport to fly home I had the TV on in the background. I had seen way too many replays of the crash so I turned on ESPN to catch up on all the NFL games I would miss being in airplanes all day long. On The Sport Reporters, a popular Sunday morning ESPN show, one of the subjects discussed was the “Tebow Factor”. For any of you that are not sports fans or who have been living under a rock for the past half dozen years, Tim Tebow was the quarterback for the National Champion, Florida Gators and won the Heisman Trophy. Even his detractors have to admit that he was one of the greatest college football players of all time.

Why would I say detractors? Well, welcome to the world today. I’ve said many times that we live in a world of polar opposites, a world in which a major spiritual battle rages. Two opposing sides lineup in every area of life. God vs Satan. For anyone that doesn’t believe that these two opposing sides even exist, then Satan has already won the battle with you, he’s convinced you that he doesn’t even exist. What better battle plan could an enemy have than to make himself invisible. So back to Tebow. Tim Tebow was drafted by the Denver Broncos last year high in draft, much higher than anyone thought he would go. The coach of the Broncos said he was the future of the franchise, he was fired before the season ended, by-the-way. The detractors, and there are many, went nuts. They have contended all along that Tebow is not the typical model for a successful quarterback in the NFL. They have insisted that he can’t cut it as an NFL quarterback. In his few opportunities to play, Tebow has done well. Is he young, and in need of some time to mature as an NFL quarterback? Absolutely, but he has proven that he can play at a much higher level than his critics have suggested he could.

That’s not the issue though. I believe that many of his harshest critics are actually opposed to his very open proclaiming of his faith. Tim Tebow has been, from day one, a staunch believer and
follower of Jesus Christ. His very open witness for his Saviour has not set well with the secular part of the sports world. Those opposed to faith, have wanted him to fail, and when he doesn’t, it drives them crazy. There are even websites like “I hate Tebow”. A comedian appeared in the ESPN story segement who’s one liner was, “If he’s not happy not starting maybe he should pray about it….” Trust me, it wasn’t meant in the way you would hope. The same guy said, “what if you’re gay or pro choice, how are you to react to what this guy spews.” They then played a taped segment of Tim sharing the results of believing or not believing, heaven or hell. Well Mr. I can’t even remember your name, I’ve got news for you, Tebow is not your enemy, he is only repeating what he been told. All of those things that drive the unsaved crazy came from God, not from man. Tim Tebow is not condemning anyone, in fact neither is God, man condemns himself when he refuses to believe. The world is looking for someone to blame, and they are not looking in the right direction. They need to look, at themselves, we are the source of most of our troubles.

I am finding myself living in a more frustrated state, it’s more than obvious, that the war is on. We were warned, to know that if we stand for Him, we will be opposed, and now the opposition is turning up the heat, but my Lord has already won the battle, my job is to simply be obedient. I pray for young men and women like Tim Tebow, that know they will bring the criticism of the world down on themselves, yet proclaim Him in spite of the cost. It really doesn’t matter whether Tim Tebow ever becomes a successful NFL quarterback, what does matter is that he stands for something far more important. Pray for him, and pray for everyone that accepts the chance of being criticized by standing up for Jesus. Don’t hate those that persecute you, pray for them, love them,and remind them that the man they love to despise, loved them. How could we do less, he did far more than stand up for us, He died on a cross for you and I.

In Him,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: Image from Tim Tebow’s website www.timtebow.com