Magazine Addiction

I am addicted to outdoors magazines, namely ones that contain top-notch photography! As of today, I just ordered my fifth subscription. This doesn't include the ones that I don't subscribe to but purchase regularly anyways.

My all time favourite & photographic inspiration is of course, National Geographic. This is my grandmother's Christmas gift to us for the past two years. I love when my NG arrives in the mail (thanks Gran) That kick-started my magazine love.

Maybe I just really enjoy getting something in the mail that isn't bills or junk but when I get a magazine in the mail, I'm ecstatic. Can't wait to get the work day over with so I can find a comfy spot & tear it open. Usually, I flip through the whole thing first & check out the photos. Then I read the articles.

Also on my subscription list is Canada's 'explore' magazine. Its always got fantastic photos, great gear reviews & terrific adventure articles. I'd love to write for this one some day, and include some photos!

I also really like two more magazines put out by National Geographic: NG Traveller and NG Adventure. I finally gave in & got the Adventure subscription because I was buying each issue as it came out anyhow. It includes more high quality National Geographic photos and a lot great Adventure articles & information.

On Christmas day, I ordered myself a subscription to the magazine PhotoLife. Not only is it a high quality photography magazine, but its Canadian and I have this dear eldery gent in my photo club who's daughter is the editor in chief. So its sort of cool. He has all this fantastic photography knowledge (and if you could see his gear! WOW) so I'm sure this is how she got her photography start!

Now, you would think that would be enough to satisfy my post office expectations but no. Yesterday, on a photography forum that I frequent, a local guy mentioned that a brand new magazine has just been started called Outdoor Photography Canada. In fact, its inaugural issue is to be released in March! How could I not be a part of it! It only comes out 4 times a year so I figured I would join in on what could be a fantastic new magazine! (PS I got the magazine graphic off their website - I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post it here but I guess they could consider it a 'plug' for their new mag, free of charge.)

Anyways, aside from those 5 that will come to my mail box, sometimes I will buy the Canadian Geographic magazine - more top notch photography & stories a little closer to home. I often get the British Columbia magazine...even closer to home. And randomly, I will purchase others if the cover appeals to me. Unfortunately in the magazine world you "do judge a book by its cover" so they try to make those as attention grabbing as possible.

So, that's my secret and now not-so-secret confession I have to share with you. I love outdoors magazines & I don't care who knows it!

Clouds

For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds ~ Psalm 108:4

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ~Mark 13:26

Step by Step

My foot in a hippo footprint in Zambia, Africa

"A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." ~Proverbs 16:9

If everything in life had gone the way I would plan it, I would be in a very different place today! If I was able to 'follow my heart' in each situation I would have missed out on a lot of wonderful things.

The thing about having free will is that we ALL have free will. So the choices I make don't always line up with the choices I want OTHER people to make. And yet, I look back at that place where I may have wished someone else to choose something different & they didn't. At those points I recall asking God to more or less line HIS will up with mine. I didn't try to seek His purpose or His will. I wanted Him to see MY purpose & MY will.

Fortunately for me, God never left the helm & He knew that all those other people's choices were leading up to something better for me, something I couldnt' see beyond those moments of demanding my selfish will against His.

So while I'm busy planning each moment, I have to still remember God is control of the path & guides my steps.

Free Will in Heaven? Sunday Theology!

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4

Will we have free will in heaven? This isn't a subject I have researched in depth but it is a question I've been thinking about today and so I decided to see what I could find. Just scanning through some of the pages on the internet that address this topic, I can see its a highly debated question.

I guess what makes me wonder this the most is the plight of the angels. If one third of the angels in heaven could CHOOSE to betray God & follow Lucifer, then will we, once in heaven, have the capability to make choices, both good & bad?

It has been said that "man may retain his free will in heaven but lose his capacity to sin." (1) This could be true because there should be no presence of satan or his demonic forces in heaven because they have been cast out. But that would be following with the theory that all sin is devised of satan & not just man's choices. Our nature is sinful but when we choose to follow Christ, we receive a new nature. Assuming at our death that the old nature is once & for all cast away, our new nature would be sinless. It also is said that our will, or our nature, will be aligned with God's and therefore we would no longer choose sin, even in the face of temptation, if they are present in heaven.

I believe, in the Garden of Eden, Adam & Eve still had free will to make their daily choices; what they didn't have was the influence of evil. Up until Satan deceived them in the Garden, they were free from sin. But their position was different because up until that point, they did not know of sin. In heaven, will our memories of sin on earth be 'erased'. What of the verse in Revelation "no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying...no more pain"? We would have to be free from those memories so as not to suffer for them. They are wiped away from God's memory for eternity so they should be gone from ours. So another question I found is, without these memories, how then, will we still be individuals & not copy-cat beings?

I also came across interesting quote while searching this term from (2) Paul Copan's book “That’s Just Your Interpretation” also causes me to think. "That through our truly libertarian free actions on earth we gain access to heaven where we no longer have this freedom to sin. But if heaven is a place where we longer have the freedom to sin, then God could’ve bypassed our earthly existence altogether. If there is no free will in heaven then why not just create us all in heaven? What does it matter what we did or didn’t do on earth? Furthermore, why reward someone by taking away their free will? If free will can be taken away without a loss of goodness, then why create us with it in the first place?"

Then I came across a very interesting debate in an "Creation Versus Evolution" forum that I'll leave for you to read yourself if you are so interested.

All of this being said, in my ONE day worth of research, I found a lot of opinions & assumptions. Many question why the angels were capable of rebellion in heaven. Many question why we would have free will on earth if we wouldn't in heaven. But I think the truth is, nobody really seems to know for sure what levels of free will we will have in heaven or if we will have it at all. I find some frustration in the unknown like this, especially when many theologians have conflicting opinions. And I wonder why it was not revealed to us, or if it has been, why its so vague to our limited understanding.

In conclusion, I have nothing to conclude but more questions. I will continue to research this topic and would like to know if any of you reading have an opinion on this topic & how you feel about it.

Research & quotes from:
(1) ComeReason Ministries
(2) Debunking Christianity Blog
Creation Versus Evolutin Forum

Forget It!

"... but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead" Philippians 3:13

I'm too young to be losing my memory...but I do forget things now & then that make me wonder. I forgot to renew my car insurance until the day it was due last week but until today, I forgot to actually put the new renewal sticker on the plate. Ooops! My husband went to the city yesterday to do some shopping for supplies for his business. Three times I reminded him to pick up a bag of our favourite coffee beans. Well, he still forgot and coffee this morning was a blend of some other beans.

Today at lunch I looked across the dining room & gasped as I noticed that I had forgotten to water my one poor plant in a long long time. It looked very dead so I said I would throw it in the garbage but my hubby poured a cup of water into it & we'll see if a miracle revival can happen this week.

Sometimes forgetting things can be very costly, not just financially but physically & emotionally. If I forgot to renew my insurance altogether, I could have gotten a ticket if I got pulled over. If someone forgets to take important medication, they risk serious medical conditions, infection or worse. If you forget your spouse's birthday or anniversary, they could be emotionally hurt.

But then there are some things that should be forgotten and may not be so easily done. Unpleasant words, painful memories, tragedies & things that make you angry. I know because I face things like this too that I would like to forget & put behind me.

More than anything, God wants us to put our sin behind us, forgetting all our bad habits, letting them go and move forward onto a life of purity & holiness. This is the kind of forgetting I would like to do!

To Give You A Future

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Nothing deep & significant to say today but came across this beautiful verse I had underlined in Jeremiah. A special reminder of God's love for us and that He has planned a future to give us hope!

Joyful Sunshine

From the rising of the sun to its going down, the Lord's name is to be praised. ~ Psalm 113:3

But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day ~ Proverbs 4:18

Is the sun shining today in your world? January can be pretty grey here in the valley due to low cloud but today it is sunny & beautifully warm. The snow is melting like mad in the sunny spots & water is dripping off the eaves of my roof. Its almost impossible to get in our front door without getting dripped on. The eaves troughs on this house are full of holes. Will be a repair project for the spring I guess.

Warm days like this have a way of making many people cheerier in the winter. Where I work, 7 of us share a small & rather cramped office space. Though we mostly all get along well, some days cabin fever sets in when we get that feeling of clausterphobia or lack of 'personal space'. I have felt it a lot lately with the cold & gray days. Tensions seems to be a little thicker, attitudes change a bit. Its hard not to be affected when one person is having an off day because we are all so close together.

But a day like today, I notice a huge change. The sunlight brings us alive. We seek some fresh air, open the blinds open a little wider so there is more to see and moods are greatly improved. I think God just knows when we need a sunny day in the middle of a bleak month. The whole atmosphere was light & happy today.

And then I look outside. Birds are everywhere. Though they are around on the cold grey days too, today, they are flitting around the backyard, twittering their joyful thanks to their Maker for such a beautiful day. There are also two squirrels that frequent the backyard. Hadn't seen them in several todays but today I can see them scooting all over the tree tops, playing & chasing. Oh yes, the warmth & sun is affecting them too.

I bet if I went & checked, my persistant little lilac bush will have popped a few more buds today.

Thank you Lord for this sunny day!

Oh Brother

My brother & I

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love
Romans 12:10

There is no doubt a special bond between brothers & sisters. Most anyone who has a sibling can vouch for this. I have an older brother. Right now, he & his wife live about 8 hours north of here so I don't get to see him very often. The times we do get together are always too brief but usually packed with laughter & great memories.

My mom desperately tries to take a nice 'loving' photo of the two of us when the family gathers. More often than not, my brother & I can manage to stick out our tongues before she clicks the shutter. I could make a whole album of 'tongue sticking out' brother & sister photos.

We were very close growing up being only 2 years apart. Always walked to the bus together, walked home together and spent loads of time playing outside together. We grew up on an acreage out of town so there were no other neighbourhood kids to play with, no malls to walk to, just the great outdoors, tonnes of open space, our big imaginations and eachother! Couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up. Tonnes of forts to build, trees to climb, rocks to scale, places to hide, room to hit a softball, play basketball, hockey & more.

I could fill pages & pages with childhood memories, memories that I hope I never forget. Not all perfect of course, but what family is? We did manage to have our 'brother vs sister' fights, as most children do, but through it all, I never doubted my brothers love for me. I knew that he would always be there for me & we'd be friends again after any fight. Brotherly Love is one of those 'no matter what' loves. At least I think it SHOULD be. I know there are many families who don't share this kind of love and I don't take mine for granted.

There are many references in the Bible to 'loving your brother'. Not just the ones you are related to by blood but all the 'brothers in Christ'. However, I think loving your family is the most important place to start with love. Brotherly Love is talked about a lot in the First book of John. In fact, the word love is used 26 times in this tiny book so God is really using it to get His point across about loving our brethren. I share some with you now.

"He who loves his brother abides in the light" ~ 1 John 2:10

"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? ~ 1 John 3:17

"He who loves God must love his brother also" ~ 1 John 4:21

Budding

For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. ~Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Winter can be a really bleak time of year. It can feel like the world around me is laying in dormancy for what seems like much longer than all the other seasons. When the leaves finally fall off the trees here in the fall, they stand out against the brilliant whites of snow and seem naked & desolate under the low grey skies.

Their appearance of lifelessness sometimes leaves me with a feeling of sadness as I observe them from a distance. Like a strong stubborn will is the only thing that holds them in place and that one strong wind could swoop them away out of their position as they patiently wait for spring.

But then I look closer. Even in the cold temperatures of -10 Celcius or more, something is happening. They have begun their transformation already and the tiniest buds have started to appear. Slowly, as the temperatures warm over the next few weeks, these buds will get bigger & stronger. The strong & stubborn tree nourishes them & protects them in their birth. The journey towards spring comes at a snails pace but if you arent' paying attention, it can be upon you in an instant. A green shoot here, a stubborn bud there. I see it already!

I was out pruning my lilac bushes on Friday afternoon right after work. Most of them had tiny new buds all over, which made it easier to decide where to prune but I got to one bush & its buds were large, plump and held the slightest tinge of green. I chastised this particular bush & informed it that it was still the middle of January and that it ought to slow down a bit. Perhaps these bushes are eager to show off for us, being that we bought this house in October & have not had the opportunity to see what sort of lilacs will show come spring.

Still, I'm not in that big of a rush for spring! I do love seeing all the signs that it is on its way. It will be an exciting spring for sure because everything that pokes through the dirt here on our new property will be a surprise.

But everything in its time. I know the winter is not quite past, there are no robins singing yet & there are definitely no flowers appearing up in my yard yet. But I'm so thankful the Lord gives us seasons so that there is always something great to anticipate in the next one.

He has made everything beautiful in its time

~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

Like A Walk In The Park?

Like a walk in the park. When someone uses that term its usually to imply that something is EASY. Ha! Today I went for 'a walk in the park' and it was anything but easy! Winter loosened its grip on us this morning & made for a beautifully warm day, hovering around zero. So I packed myself up to get out of the house & get some fresh air & find some fresh photos. I headed to Hayne's Point. My favourite park to visit & one close enough to walk to. However, the light dusting of snow made the walking no less than treacherous! Though the new snow provided a crunchy bit of texture for my boots to grip to, how surprised I was to find the layer of solid ICE an inch below this nice crunchy snow. Slipping & sliding through the park, I gave in to the fact that I would have to walk like a penguin to get through the park in one piece. How I wish I could have slid on my belly across the ice like penguins do instead of watching my every step with fear. It made it hard to sight-see when I was so cautious of my footing. Some 'walk in the park'!

Still, I managed to scoot my way down the paths to my fave vantage points for some snow shots. The sky was slightly overcast which is perfect for snow photography, in my opinion. And there were bird & critter prints all over the snow. Fascinating. I could tell exactly where the local beavers had been & which hole in the ice they came in & out of. There was a very peculiar set of dog prints that I followed with wonder. There was one long line through the prints like it was on a single ski. I stared at it for a while & then concluded that his owner probably dropped his leash & let him walk himself for a while, the leash dragging in the snow behind him. Sound reasonable?

I saw a lot of dog prints on the shore when I was walking on the road nearest the waters edge (this park is surrounded by Osoyoos lake on both sides) I went down to check them out & noticed that it was relatively easy to walk along the shore because there was no ice build up. So I could give up the penguin walk and trot along without staring at my feet. I also noticed that some parts of the ice on the snow-covered lake had been pushed together to form some great cracks. Down on my knees, using my elbows as my tripod, I found fantastic ice caverns with stalagtites & stalagmites in the world of macro photography and there I crouched, lost in this divine world of ice!

So my walk in the park ended up being a fantastic time of discovery & photography! Maybe it wasn't easy, but it was very ENJOYABLE!

Tears in a Bottle

"You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle..." Psalm 57:8

Its been a long time since I've had a good cry! There has been an overwhelming amount of joy in my life in recent months & it seems I havent had a reason to shed tears. I know there are many who shed tears out of joy and I suppose I've experienced that before too. But bone-wracking tears of sadness, hurt or pain are the kind I'm thinking of at the moment. Tears of despair, loss or fear. The kind that come from deep within. I haven't had that kind in a while, for which I'm thankful.

I think we all go through these times of sorrow & loss. And sometimes its easy to feel very very alone during this. In fact, sometimes it feels BETTER to feel very very alone as it just fuels the sorrow even deeper. Often though, we can be the one on the outside, looking in or trying to console the one with tears.

You parents out there can relate to the feeling of seeing your child hurt, sad or sorrowful. You want to take away their pain. Your heart hurts for them. Spouses, family members and close friends can also relate, when you see someone you love suffering. How much you want to be there for them, dry their tears, hold them & tell them everything will be all right. Sometimes it can be just what that person needs. Sometimes its not enough.

If there is so much love in your hearts for these people you love, imagine the love God feels when He sees our tears. He wants to remind of us his overwhelming & perfect love, even in our sorrow!

For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. Psalm 116:8

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping... shall doubtless come again with rejoicing. Psalm 126:4-5

He does not forget the cry of the humble. Psalm 91:12

In my distress I called upon the LORD,And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Psalm 18:6

Snow Day

Sunset on Osoyoos

"As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool." Proverbs 26:1

Winter is not giving up its grip on us this year. Another inch or two of snow fell on us this morning, making the valley a beautiful white & the valley roads VERY dangerous. Its a good thing we don't have far to go today. I'm a very blessed with a 5 minute 'commute' to my day job. I have had many jobs where I drove up to an hour to get to work and many days of scary winter roads.

I have a co-worker leaving for 2 weeks in Hawaii next week. We're all feeling a little bit of envy as we pick up the snow shovels, lace up the boots & pull another touque on our heads to face this snowy day. Thoughts of hot sandy beaches, clear warm waters & tropical flowers fill my fantasies as I think of where she's going and longing for that sultry summer day again.

However, it IS only January. Thankfully, global warming isn't so out of control that it negates winter altogether. I enjoy all seasons & it wouldn't seem like winter without some of the white stuff. Sort of like the verse in Proverbs about snow in summer. It wouldn't be fitting...but it DOES happen now & then at certain places. However, seeing as God is in total control of the weather, if He wants Calgary, Alberta to have some snow in July, its going to get snow in July. *snicker*

So, the trade off for our temperatures getting slightly warming, creeping back up to the PLUS side of zero, is that we get some moisture coming down. Maybe more tonight. Maybe more tomorrow. But day by day, the sun rises a little earlier & sets a little later & we are getting ever closer to the inevitable happening of Spring.

I am a mushroom

Me & Heimlich filling our faces at Disneyland

"For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139: 13-14

I've been tagged! I guess I'm relatively new to the blogging world because I had no idea what that meant. However, my tagging friend Barb said that to be tagged, I had to post 5 weird facts about myself on my blog today. So today, its all about ME!!

Let me just start by saying Weird is Fun! Its fun to have a few strange things in your life that make a few jaws drop. How boring it would be if you did everything everyone expected. Of course there is good weird & bad weird in this day & age but really, I think you all know what I'm talking about!

God has made each one of us unique! He did not make a world of identical robots & we all have our own unique personalities & looks. In a world where many try so hard to achieve a certain look, achieve a certain lifestyle or be part of a certain group of friends, all that effort can sometimes be absorbed in our personalities and people put up 'masks' to become someone they truly aren't.

For example, Weird Thing #1, some days I wish I could be Lara Croft (from the movies, not the game) because not only is she a beautiful woman that gets to kick butt, she gets to travel to many places I would LOVE to travel to also. How cool would that be!! So, is that weird? Its a start.

Weird Thing #2 - I love taking photos of bark. Yes, tree bark. I never seem to do anything with these photos, never print them or display them. I guess I just love the textures of the rough bumpy lines of different types of trees. Especially Ponderosa Pines. As a kid, we would pick off sections like it was a puzzle & then try & put them back on. Every Ponderosa I see is a great memory of those 'puzzling' childhood days.

Memories are a special gift, especially the good ones. Any of the 5 senses can bring back very powerful memories. For example, hearing the song "StaggerLee" makes me think of road trips that my mom & I have gone on where we laughed hysterically. Any time I pass a pineapple in the grocery store, I think of the time Lawrence grabbed one & danced with it on his head in the fruit & veggie aisle while singing "I like to move it".

Weird Thing #3: I have a lot of memories associated with different foods every time I eat them. Today I have a small bag of barbecue chips. Always, when I eat those, I think of my grandpa. There never seemed to be a shortage of chips there & BBQ were always in a bowl somewhere, whether it was Christmastime, a Grey Cup party or just a regular visit, I remember BBQ chips! Same with Kraft Dinner - I often think of my Great Aunt Helen & how we had it a zillion times at her place, always with a dill pickle on the side. Whenever I see blue bubblegum icecream, I think of the time my friend, Janine & I ate an entire tub in one weekend, spilling blue icecream on her white duvet.

We all have our little secrets & securities. Mine is George the elephant. Weird Thing #4 - I still sleep with a stuffed animal. For many years it was Lan, my beloved stuffed lamb, but years of wear & tear has earned him a place of honor on the night table due to the fact that his 'wool' is no longer snuggly but somewhat scratchy, he has a sock for an ear cuz one got ripped off decades ago & his stuffing sometimes falls out. George the elephant was a gift from my friend Georgina at my 17th birthday and is Lan's stand-in & has become the favourite to be lovingly tucked under my arm at night. Sometimes Geoge suffers abuse at the hand of my jealous husband, thrown from the bed or suffocated to near-death. But for the most part Geoge is accepted & sometimes, even my husband makes sure he's packed for over-nighters or trips away.

And lastly, while it may not be that 'out there' Weird Thing #5: I loooooove MUSHROOMS! I use any excuse I can find to add cooked mushrooms to a meal. If you don't like mushrooms (like many people don't) then I will have a hard time feeding you. Mushroom omlettes, mushrooms with steak, mushrooms with chicken, chunky mushroom soup, mushrooms with pasta, seafood stuffed mushroom caps and on and on and on. They are truly my favourite addition to my meals! All the time, from those who are anti-mushroom I get reminded that they are a fungus or that they are grown in manure, or they're slimy, or they taste weird, or, or, or. There is no deterrant for my love of mushrooms.

And because I love eating them (the plain old white variety usually) I also am fascinated by the ones I see in the wild. I love to photograph them. Big golden ones like in the photo above. Tiny slimy looking ones. Ones that poof dust out when you poke them. Hard ones that grow out of trees. Their fantastically unique and somewhat strange... JUST LIKE ME! I am a mushroom.

And there you have it, 5 weird things about me!

Consider the ravens

"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?" Luke 12:24

For the past several days, my husband & I have been designing our future home on this great program called Google Sketch-up. He has already been designing the shop & living quarters for the past couple months but lately, we decided to layout the floor plan for the loft on top where we might live. Its been loads of fun, placing the furniture, designing the kitchen, placing windows here & there and stuff like that. (An amazing and FREE program) My husband does all the technical stuff & I say 'put a shelf here' or 'add a few more kitchen cupboards' to the drawing. When its just a drawing, you can add all the fancy stuff you want!

Yet, we know it will probably take a couple years before we can save up enough to get the project complete and that not all of the design elements will be affordable. We already know which order the priority has to go. Thank goodness I married the world's most amazing handyman - not much he can't do when it comes to this sort of thing. But if we do a little at a time, we'll still be able to get by with food & mortgage payments! You know, the basics!

I think if we looked at the overall picture & costs of things we wanted it would be an overwhelming sum and there could be a lot of worrying & stress added to our lives on how we would accomplish it all...or even if we could.

Fortunately, we have the time, and he has the skills, that we can look at it as a series of smaller projects instead of one giant project as a whole.

Worrying about the future can be pretty unhealthy. Not only to your mental health but extreme worrying can also cause physical health issues like ulcers, sleep deprivation and anxiety attacks.

But then there is always that gentle reminder, that if we trust God we should not worry about things, He will look after our needs. If He is so caring to make sure the ravens have food & shelter, we need to trust that He will be caring for us too, as we take it one step at a time.