Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

In many respects, while on this earth, in this world, all we have are our memories (past), our
present reality (today), and our hopes for (tomorrow). In a spiritual sense we can have peace, joy and a hope for eternal life.

God has richly blessed my life here on earth. One of the greatest adventures, and there have been many, was the first book my son Wesley and I did together. As you know from my sharing in the past, I had longed to be a pilot all my life, but it was only the “project” with Wesley that brought the dream to fruition. Wesley was far more than just a partner in the effort, he was an encourager. Many times I was almost ready to throw in the towel. There were times I thought maybe I wasn’t cut out to be the pilot I dreamed of becoming. I’ll never forget a lunch we had at a Cracker Barrel in Arizona. I had been really struggling with my landings during training. Wes took the little game that sits on all Cracker Barrel tables with the golf tees, pulled out the tees and used the wooden wedge, shaped like our trike wing, to illustrate how he flared just before easing down to the runway. The next morning, it started to come together for me, and before the morning was over I had successfully soloed.

Life is filled with challenges, and we will be judged by how we overcome them. A dear friend at work who is also a Christian asked me early on, in the history of the Pilgrim’s Chronicles, “what would you do if the company said they did not want you to publish this blog?” My answer was easy and came quicker than I would have thought, “I would say it has been an honor to work with you, and I will miss it, but it may be time for me to go.” You have to have a firm grasp of what matters most in life, if you have that you can never be thrown off the path that God has set you on.

I love the scripture in Hebrews below, it holds much wisdom for how to determine what is the right thing to do. Most important to me is verse (1), where we are admonished to love one another,
verse (5) where we are encouraged to be happy with what we have, and lastly verse (6) which reminds me that the Lord is my helper, that I should have no fear of what mere people can do to me.

Hebrews 13:1-6 (New Living Translation)
 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
 4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
 5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
   “I will never fail you.
      I will never abandon you.”
 6 So we can say with confidence,
   “The Lord is my helper,
      so I will have no fear.
      What can mere people do to me?”

I never ceases to amaze me what God can do in our lives if we will simply trust Him. Some people seem to think that trusting God with their lives is taking a big risk.

Not trusting Him is taking a big risk.

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: Photograph of Wesley and I made by my daughter, Catherine, who turned 34 today!
Happy Birthday sweetheart……..

There comes a time in all of our lives when we must decide what is the one central reason for living.
You can live for self, (stature, power, money, fame, comfort), or for others, (family, friends, associates, your clan, tribe, or your race), or for God. If you choose God you need to read, study, and place this scripture deep in your heart, it is your road map for serving Him.

Jude 1:20-25 (New Living Translation)
20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.
 22 And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. (While still loving them), my footnote.
A Prayer of Praise
 24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen

God does not ask us to perform miracles. God asks us to let Him perform miracles through our obedience to Him. It’s a perfect plan; God accomplishes His tasks, you get to enjoy the process and “all the glory” goes to Him.

Nothing in this life can equal the perfect peace of salvation, and the great joy of seeing others saved for eternity.

the pilgrim

*Photo note: Lavender fields in the South of France. Nikon F100 film camera, Fuji Velvia film
35-70 AF f 2.8 lens.

Do you have a mission? What is your mission? The word mission means; a strongly felt aim, ambition, or calling. Webster’s Dictionary.
So what is your calling? As and observer of life I would say I’ve seen a lot of different people with different missions. Some want success, whatever that means to each individual. Some want wealth and power. Some want to be loved or admired, some to just be left alone. Some want ot bring pain and agony to others, some are driven by hate. So is the world. My mission is very simple; being overcome with joy and thankfulness for what God through His Son Jesus has done for me, I want to serve Him. His instructions on how I am to serve are very easy to understand.
I am to live in a way that honors Him, and I am to share His love and forgiveness with everyone I meet.

Sounds great, but how do you do it. Obviously, first you accept Christ and ask Him to give you the wisdom and strength to carry out this task. I do not have the strength or wisdom to do this on my own. No offense intended, but none of us do. Once you make that commitment, there is one very important thing you must do. Avoid falling into the trap of dwelling on how the world sees itself.

If you go out and listen you will find people that exhibit these characteristics; Love, forgiveness, charity, peace, joy, grace, generosity, and compassion. They offer hope and stand for what is right. They believe we can be better than we are. Unfortunately, there are also those that exhibit a far different attitude about life. These people will be indentified by their; accusations, criticism, negativism, greed, division, resentfulness, blame, and derisive comments. How can you overcome these people? Love them, but do not listen to their hate filled speech, and do not accept their premise of life.

Jesus, went right out into the world and sought out the worst, that He might bring them home to Himself. We are to do the same, but we must always remember that we are not Christ. It is only through His power, protection, and love that we can see a victory. We must constantly strive to love for Him, while asking for His protection from the arrows of the enemy.

I fully confess that my first reaction to these negative people of the world is to be angry myself, but that is falling into the enemy’s trap. Jesus said “Love your enemies and treat those that try to harm you with kindness.” In all honesty, apart from Him, I can’t do it. That’s the point, we were not designed to go off on our mission, apart from Him.

Amazing Love

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your sprit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

(Chorus)
Amazing love,
How can it be?
That You, my King would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it’s true.
It’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

You are my King
Jesus You are my King

You are my King

the pilgrim

These are a few of the accessories I use the most often. I’m not suggesting you need to own them, just sharing that they make my life as a photographer easier.

1. The Hoodman 3.0 Loupe. The best way to study what you can see on the LCD panel. Around $79.99 http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1017
2. The Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rocket, the best Compact Flash card holder I’ve found. I have several. $16.50 http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/pixel-pocket-rocket-memory-card-holder.aspx
3. The Kinetronics Tiger Cloth. The best Micro Fiber cloth I’ve found, I buy them by the case of 10 for $41. from Kinetronics. http://kinetronics.com/store/tiger.html
4. A electronic cable release, which ever one works with your camera (I carry two).
5. A Hoodman Right Angle Finder. Around $179. http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1018
6. My card wallet with business cards.
7. Automatic Extension Tubes, great for close-ups. I would have bought Nikon tubes, but sadly we don’t make them. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/375238-REG/Kenko_AEXTUBEDGN_Auto_Extension_Tube_Set.html
8. The Verizon MiFi Card. $49. with contract. A way to have an internet connection almost anywhere. http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_mifi&CMP=KNC-PaidSearch&rf=google.com
9. Zeiss Lens Cleaning pre-moistened cloths. Great for cleaning all kinds of things, glasses,
LCD panels, eye pieces, and lenses. $2.95 a box at Walmart.
1. The Visable Dust 7X Sensor Loupe. This is a great way to see just what kind of shape your sensor is in. $82.75 U.S. http://www.visibledust.com/products3.php?pid=602
2. The Leatherman Crunch Tool (multi tool with vise grips.) $75. http://www.leathermanstore.com/crunch.html
3. Spare batteries, I only show on in the photo but I always carry a couple of extras.
4. A lens pen, handy for lot of cleaning chores. Any camera store will have them.
5. The Gary Fong Puffer diffuser for on camera pop up flash Really works and for
$19.99 nothing will make your flash pictures look better. http://www.garyfongestore.com/
1. A small digital recorder for making notes and recording background sounds. I have a
$50. dollar Sony and a $300. Olympus, both work great.
1. I good field knife for utility jobs, cutting robe, mild sawing, etc. this one is the Gerber Epic
I picked mine up for less than $30. at this dealer: http://www.manventureoutpost.com/products/Gerber-Blades-31%252d000368-Epic-Drop-Point-Sheath,-Serr-Clam.html

This is a great example of a man obsessed with being prepared, blame my days as a Boy Scout.

Even more important is being prepared in your spiritual life, may I make some suggestions for that task?

1. Stay in prayer, God want to talk, it will make Him happy and you too.
2. Stay in the Word, it’s God’s love letter to you, it will inform you, inspire you and teach you.
3. Stay in fellowship with your family and your brother and sisters in Christ.
4. Stay in Worship of Him, do this your way, I love to loose my self in Christian praise music and center on how much I love Him and the life He has given me and you.

Great blessings, have a great weekend,

the pilgrim