New York and a plane Sunday, September 27, 2009 | 1

Hello from New York City! Alison and I are on vacation for the next week and a half and we are starting off in New York. Here is a shot taken tonight from our hotel room which I thought you guys would enjoy. I shouldn't be around here on the blog for another week, but look for me again starting October 4th or 5th. We'll see you then, and in the meantime, I hope you have an amazing week and that God does huge things in your life.

Here's a couple of great verses I read today:

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
-I Corinthians 1:30,31

Ketchikan harbor Monday, September 21, 2009 | 0

a Fort Davis sunset Sunday, September 20, 2009 | 1

We are going to be camping here for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to be back there. I have so many places I can't wait to be in the next 5 months that it almost doesn't seem real; Fort Davis, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York, Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Rhode Island, Washington DC, Acadia National Park, Boston. And it looks like I'll even be on a mission trip to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. While I can't wait for these trips, I may not get too many pictures of these places; I'll be in relaxation mode most of the time. Relaxation mode differs from lazy mode in only in the number of showers I take.

it's like september 10th all over again Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 0

Since people liked the underexposed hummingbird picture from the September 10th post, I thought I'd go ahead and post this properly exposed one. I checked the exif info from these pictures and these were taken 8 minutes apart. And while there's no way you could know this, I am sitting in a lawn chair and this guy was way up in a tree directly above me. Of course the twisted mind God gave me is thinking that this event might have been 8 minutes of hummingbird poo raining down on me. Anyone want the clothes I was wearing that day? You can have them....

blogalogga ding dong Friday, September 18, 2009 | 3

alaskan coast Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | 0

Another glorieta shot at night Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 2

I have no idea Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 2

Honestly, I don't know why I am posting this picture today. I guess I'm just getting ready for fall and one of my favorite things to eat - buttered toast dipped in hot chocolate. Mmmmmmmm.....

Why I like shooting in RAW format Friday, September 11, 2009 | 1

I was asked this week why I shoot pictures in RAW format 99% of the time. For those who don't know, RAW format is a totally unprocessed shot which means that the camera sets nothing (saturation, sharpness, color or black and white, etc). The problem with shooting in RAW is that the pictures are enormous and you then have to use your camera's software on your computer to set all the settings you bypassed on your camera.

For me, I think the trade off is worth it. Here's an example of why I like shooting in RAW because I can't decide which way I like this. The black and white has it's own mystique to it, but I love the colors in the other one. Hmmmm, quite the conundrum for me.

The hummingbird perch Thursday, September 10, 2009 | 3

Okay, I've been a Jeremy Camp for a few years, but I'll admit that I haven't hardly listened to his last album, Speaking Louder Than Before. Today while shuffling through 4,000 songs, his song, Healing Hand of God came on. After hearing that song, I am ashamed that I haven't listened enough to this album to even notice this song. It's awesome! So, I want to share the chorus and second verse with you. I hope you have an amazing day, and I hope you know that "If you feel the weight of many trials and burdens from this world, there's freedom in the shelter of the Lord."

Chorus:
I have seen,
The healing hand of God,
Reaching out and mending broken hearts.
Taste and see the fullness of His peace,
And hold on to what's being held out.
The healing hand of God.

I have touched the scars upon His hands,
To see if they were real.
He has walked the road before me,
He knows just how I feel.
When you feel there is not anyone,
Who understands your pain,
Just remember all of Jesus' suffering.

Yesterdays Tuesday, September 08, 2009 | 1

This picture is from the Glorieta prayer gardens last February.

I've spent the last two days at a youth conference where I've been hanging out with 2000 teenagers in the mountains praising Jesus and enjoying the Glorieta atmosphere. For those who don't know, Glorieta is a church camp outside of Santa Fe, NM; I would go to Glorieta as a teenager for youth camp, and being there again always brings up memories of the 20 to 30 some odd times I've gotten to spend there (that's not nights - that's trips). The grounds look the same, the sanctuary feels the same, and I even think there is the same little lunch lady who takes up meal tickets. I don't even think it would surprise me to learn they are just reheating the leftovers they cooked when I was first there 22 years ago - it certainly still tastes the same.

Finding myself lost in 22 years of Glorieta memories made me think of this song, Yesterday, by the band Mainstay. Here are the simple and short lyrics to this song:

Watch my mind grow legs and wander
What did I expect to find out here?

I am only halfway here tonight
Say that You can take this off of my mind
Every time I go back I realize
that yesterday is never as good as it seems

I'm lost in the feelings that I thought were gone
Come in and make all of their light fade out - it fades out

I am only halfway here tonight
Say that You can take this off of my mind
Every time I go back I realize
that yesterday is never as good as it seems
Make their light fade out

I love these simple lyrics, but I love the explanation of the song given by one of the band members even more. Before this quote begins, Justin has been talking about how we all try to escape reality in one way or another. He writes:

My preferred method of escapism is nostalgia. Thinking about yesterday and how great things were is very comforting. It's also heartbreaking when dwelt upon. I think at times we all feel "halfway here" because our hearts aren't contented in the moment, and that cold distance is a place where I am more than guilty of living. The truth is, the past is never as good as the movie in our mind. Things were never that good, and ironically enough, I was probably thinking about another yesterday at THAT point in my life too. Learning at every moment to be satisfied in who Christ is for us is the way to disarm our self-pitying reflection. Paul said he had "learned the key to being content in all circumstances...having much or little" - I think Paul was focused in a way that we all should strive for.
- Justin Anderson (Mainstay)

That's a great lesson I needed on a nostalgic weekend like I just had.

I love fall – outside of Red river, nm Saturday, September 05, 2009 | 3

This is a reposted picture, but I am posting this because this is one of the few I have access to right now (my photobank has died which is where I store my pictures). Don’t worry about my pictures though since I didn’t lose any files; I just can’t access them until the new enclosure comes in and I get the old hard drive installed in it.

a lubbock sunrise Thursday, September 03, 2009 | 0

While this is a beautiful scene, it was equally beautiful behind me; I'm standing in front of a Starbucks (which we don't have in Carlsbad).

fade with our voices Wednesday, September 02, 2009 | 3

For the past hour, I've been listening to the new Jason Gray album that came out today (Everything Sad is Coming Untrue). The album is really good and one of the songs, Fade With Our Voices, stuck out to me. This song made me think of this picture taken by a young 18 year old Dave when I was in Kenya (you can read the lyrics below). I can still see the faces of some of those who live in these houses after all of these years. I hope that your worship is lived out in tangible ways to those in need. If nothing else, please pray and read the Compassion blog you can find linked over the right hand side of the front page of this blog. And please, sponsor a child; it's time for Christians to stop letting their worship fade with their voices.



After all the songs are sung
And our prayers for Kingdom come
Did we bring honor to the words we sing?

Chorus:
Does our worship have hands?
Does it have feet?
Does it stand up in the face of injustice?
Does our worship bow down?
Does it run deep?
Is it more than a song
That fades with our voices?
Does it fade with our voices?

Lord it's you we long to please
Make our lives a melody
That we proclaim when we live in Jesus name

Repeat chorus

So if we raise our hands high
Let us also reach them out
And if we lift our voices up
Let it be the sound of love

Let our worship have hands
Let it have feet
Let it stand tall
In the face of injustice
Let our worship bow down
Let it run deep
And be more than a song
That fades with our voices
...It's more than a song that fades with our voices
It won't fade with our voices(Let it be the sound of love...)

big skies Tuesday, September 01, 2009 | 0

Job 37:5-14
God’s voice is glorious in the thunder.
We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power.
“He directs the snow to fall on the earth
and tells the rain to pour down.
Then everyone stops working
so they can watch his power.
The wild animals take cover
and stay inside their dens.
The stormy wind comes from its chamber,
and the driving winds bring the cold.
God’s breath sends the ice,
freezing wide expanses of water.
He loads the clouds with moisture,
and they flash with his lightning.
The clouds churn about at his direction.
They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.
He makes these things happen either to punish people
or to show his unfailing love.
“Pay attention to this, Job.
Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!