{"id":13439,"date":"2015-03-10T11:52:43","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T11:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=13439"},"modified":"2015-03-10T11:59:37","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T11:59:37","slug":"why-so-excited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=13439","title":{"rendered":"Why so excited???!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A friend asked me the other day why I was so pumped about this upcoming trip, and I had to think about it. \u00a0 My personal answer, to myself, \u00a0was quite revealing! \u00a0This is what I came up with.<\/p>\n

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1. \u00a0It’s been long winter!!!!!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0I have loved being home with Sherelene, writing eBooks, and throwing another log on the fire, but I’m ready to get out and shoot! \u00a0I have the new Fuji 50-140 lens and I know it is super sharp, but I can’t wait to use it to make some images of something besides my desk lamp and book shelf!!!<\/p>\n

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2. \u00a0I miss being with other photographers!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0I love to teach and share, and just hang out with the great folks that photography has placed in my life. \u00a0I miss being with Jim Begley, and Jack Graham, and Bill Pekala and Snake Barrett, and all the other great folks I get to share with and teach! \u00a0There will be lots of laughter and good times!<\/p>\n

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3. \u00a0Cabin Fever!!!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0This winter is the longest time in my last 30 years that I’ve been home with no where I have to be! \u00a0Now that is not all bad, I really enjoyed just being around the house, but after 30 years of over 240 days a year on the road, I guess I’m not built to sit in one place too long!<\/p>\n

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4. \u00a0I love an adventure and for me a road trip is the best adventure!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0Below is my route for this trip and I am looking forward to every mile, (o.k. not so much from Peoria to Oklahoma city) but after that, I can’t wait!<\/p>\n

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5. \u00a0Americana is in my blood!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0There is probaly not anything more Americana than an old painted Coca Cola sign, and I spent most of my youth with a father that managed a Coca Cola bottling plant! \u00a0I and my brother Homer were steeped in the Coca Cola culture! \u00a0I also was, from age 1 to 10, in the late forties and early fifties, dead center of the Americana age for me! \u00a0I expect to see as lot of reminders of those younger years on Route 66!!!!<\/p>\n

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6. I can’t wait to get back into my ministry with photographers!!!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0I have but one critical mission, to let others know how much God loves them, and how He longs to fellowship with them! Now how can you do that in a secular setting? \u00a0If you study the New Testament, you will discover that Jesus never debated, argued, or demanded that people come to Him and want to be with Him, NO, He loved them with love that was beyond anything they had ever experienced. \u00a0His love was genuine, and not predicated on expecting anything in return. \u00a0His love was unconditional. \u00a0My personal ministry is the same, love others with a love that can only come from Him. \u00a0I don’t have to embarrass others with questions about their faith situation. \u00a0I don’t have to convince anyone that they are sinners and need Jesus. (Actually, we are all sinners and we all need Jesus, but it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of that, not me! \u00a0Not my job. \u00a0Neither am I a Judge, that’s God’s job! \u00a0One that He hopes to never have to apply to us!)<\/p>\n

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My mission is to show people everywhere; the gas station, the lunch counter, the store, at a workshop, passing on the street…… an acceptance and love that few ever really feel. \u00a0How can I do that? \u00a0Simple, I’ve yielded my life to Him. \u00a0I’m under contract, one that I willingly signed. \u00a0A contract to share with others what was shared with me, through Grace. \u00a0His love and acceptance. We all want to matter, to have some value, and I’ve found it in being a child of God.<\/p>\n

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So, after fleshing that out, I can see that I have a great deal to be excited about!<\/p>\n

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Blessings in Him,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A friend asked me the other day why I was so pumped about this upcoming trip, and I had to think about it. \u00a0 My personal answer, to myself, \u00a0was quite revealing! \u00a0This is what I came up with.   1. \u00a0It’s been long winter!!!!! \u00a0I have loved being home with Sherelene, writing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13439"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13446,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13439\/revisions\/13446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}