Daily Archives: December 26, 2017

 

 

I hope your Christmas day was wonderful!  Mine sure was, and I would  love to share with you some of the reason the entire Christmas season has been great for me this year!

 

FIRST:  I celebrated the birth of a Savior, a friend, a guide and confidant.  When you accept Christ as your Savior and Lord, your life will never be the same again.  I would not want to even contemplate where my life would have ended up without Him by my side.  This alone is reason for the greatest of celebrations!

 

SECOND:  The closeness of family.  Sherelene and I have had the great pleasure of being with our children and their families through out the last two weeks!  The older I get the more family means to me, and the greater the pleasure of being with them!

 

THIRD:   Drawing close during times of difficulty.  Wes’s battle with cancer and Jim and Sue’s battle with cancer and the loss of Sue have both re-focused my life.  2017 was time of deep prayer and kneeling before God, praying for family and dear friends.  In addition to Wes and Sue, I had several other wonderful friends all battling various forms of cancer and it was a year of constant lifting them and their families up to the Lord.  It is revealing how much closer we draw to those that we are in constant prayer for!

 

FOURTH:  The renewal of friendships.  During the holidays you often gather with old friends and I had a great breakfast with Jim Haverstock, Jim Begley, Brian Stefl and Wes on Christmas eve, eve morning, what a joy to be with such dear friends and celebrate our wonderful times together over the years, and feel great for Wes and comfort Jim Haverstock!  The meaning of real friendship, pulling together for each other!

 

FIFTH:  Making future plans.  While this is by far the least important part of my personal Christmas celebration, the future is still something we need to plan for it. Years ago when I first became aware of Scott Kelby I went to his blog and was suprised to find a whole section on his favorite movies, songs, hobbys, and lots of other personal stuff.  At first I thought it was a little narcissistic, but on further thought, and after reading all of  it, I thought it was actually pretty cool, I was interested in Scott, the person, and I expect lots of others were too, so what follows may be a little like that.

 

What’s next for me.  In 2018 I have 10 workshops scheduled with Jack, and will do a few smaller events for Fuji though out the year.  I’m thinking in 2019, I will start to cut back my travel to something like half what it has been and will be this coming year.  If I’m home more what will I do with the extra time?  More time in the word, more prayer time, and more personal outreach to the lost. Of course personal shooting and study will always be a big part of my life. Photography for the sheer joy of shooting and processin, (by-the-way I plan to spend this winer mastering Luminar 2018 to replace Photoshop and Lightroom as my main way of post processing!!!).  I hope to teach more on line and that will be a focus as well.  I plan to get a puppy, I think a golden retriever, and will name him Chester (in honor of the movie, The Kid). He will be come my best buddy, and I will take him everywhere with me!  I’ve also started to seriously study cooking.  I’ve invested in the proper tools and some good books and an online course on cooking and have already developed some new skills!!!  My goals is to invite guests into our home and serve them some wonderful food!  My family has had some master cooks and I would like to join their ranks!

 

So, I hope you had a wonderful and meaningful Christmas and will enjoy a blessed New year!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim