Fall Is...

//  the sound of crisp brown leaves as they crunch beneath your feet  //  toasty brown marshmallows squashed between fudge striped cookies  //  a cup of hot coffee in the morning  //  curling up in a big, comfy sweatshirt with a good book  //  the last of the colorful veggies waiting to be preserved for the winter  //  warm campfires on a chilly evening  //  bouquets of flowers in shades of orange, red, and yellow  //  the quiet lapping of water against the shore of a lake  //  the smell of banana muffins fresh from the oven  //  the slow change from the vibrant and bright colors of summer to the warm and relaxing colors of fall  //

>>  What is your favorite thing about fall?  <<

And they just keep on growing

I've come to the conclusion that time just flies too fast. I mean, really too fast. Just this past week my little brother, Joshua (who is actually not-so-little anymore), had his tenth birthday. It seems like only yesterday he was turning three...can someone please tell me where the time went? I look around at all of my siblings and realize just how much they are growing up. With each passing year I'm reminded that they can't stay little forever....they just keep on growing. All too soon they will be all grown up, and I want to treasure these precious moments that I have with them now.

Joshua is a total boy - he loves bows and arrows, Legos, playing baseball, building intricate creations, and working with dad. He's got an engineering mind that can design and created complicated and detailed Lego machines that boggle my mind. Tenth birthdays happen to be a special occasion around our house, as they are the year you get to have a "big" birthday party. So he invited over our cousins and a few friends for a fun evening of baseball, a campfire, and any other activities they could find to do around the farm. It was great, and all the boys had a blast! And I learned something too...you need a lot of food to feed lots of boys - especially hungry boys that just played baseball!

Just to forewarn you...I took 573 photos. Ya, that's a lot, but when you are the "official birthday photographer" you do what you have to do in order to capture the special moments from the day. Besides, I love to capture those moments that may soon be forgotten in our heads, but are kept alive by a photo. I only posted a few of my favorites here...but remember that I did give you fair warning...

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite photo from the day...

the journey

Photography, like life, is a journey. You can't learn every single thing there is to know about photography in a day. Or a week. Or a month. Probably never. No matter how much you learn, there is always more. Sometimes it's easy to think that where we are at is good enough, but if we settle for less, we'll never experience the results that only come from knowing we can improve, and working towards that goal. This doesn't just apply to photography...it applies to almost everything we do in life. Riding or showing horses, competing in sports, school work, putting up a fence...just fill in the blank!

Today I had an "ah-ha!" moment that reminded me just how much of a learning adventure photography is. While watching (or shall I say photographing) the little kiddos outside, I figured out what playing around with the metering and focus settings on my camera does. It was one of those moments where I felt like jumping up and down and wondering why I hadn't thought of re-setting it before! I have found that improvement doesn't come by letting the camera stay in it's bag and wishing I could improve - I've got to actually pick up the camera and start shooting!

On a more serious note, our walk with the Lord is also a journey. No matter how deep of a relationship you have, it can always go deeper. There is never a point where we can say that we have arrived and we have the absolute best relationship with Him that could ever be obtained. It just doesn't work that way. You would have to be perfect in order to be able to say that with complete confidence...and since no one is perfect, no one can say it truthfully. Sadly, we often settle for less when we could have more. We settle for a shallow, "comfortable" relationship that doesn't require much devotion on our part, when we could be living a life of radical obedience and experience amazing things that just boggle our minds. This is such an important thing to realize! When we feel like our relationship is at a standstill, we mustn't let ourselves get into the mindset that it's "good enough". God desires that we grow in Him every single day of our lives - He wants to have a close relationship with us! If we truly desire to experience more, we've got to intentionally seek the Lord. Since we aren't perfect people, our relationship with the Lord can always get better, no matter how "good" it may seem. But we also need to realize that we can't do it on our own. It takes surrendering ourselves completely to the Lord, and asking Him to help us every step of the way. It takes time...it's a journey...a learning process.

So are you ready for an adventure? An amazing journey?
I am!

I would love to hear what "learning adventures" you have had lately!

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."