A Light That Shines Brighter

I kind of really need to blog so I'll go ahead and post another 'Picture Of The Week' for you.  Yesterday, we went and visited some of our friends at a campsite where they were spending the weekend. I took some really good pictures, and this one in particular I am going to talk about.  So, yes, this is another picture that I took. 

I've taken more pictures like this before, but I didn't start thinking about this until now.  What I think is cool about this picture is the sun shining through the trees. I'm sure we've all heard the song or expression that says, "There's a light at the end of this tunnel."  That's kind of what I see in this picture.  The trees represent all those things in our life that are obstacles or problems.  Things we think that we'll never get through or things that seem to block our minds from everything else in life.  The beauty of this picture is that the sun shines through those obstacles. The sun shines through all those things in our life that we hate.  Those trees are just like all the problems that we face every day throughout our lives.  They stand tall and hover over us, making us believe that we can't get past them. They make us think that we'll never see anything better.  BUT like the light at the end of the tunnel, there's also a sun shining through those trees.  God's beauty shines through our lives just like this.  All those problems and obstacles don't compare to that light that shines through them.  God's love is bright and beautiful.  God's love and beauty can overpower anything "ugly" in our lives.  Those problems or trees can stand as tall and powerful as they want, but God's light will still find a way through. That's the power and beauty of our God.  Nothing can hide His love from us. We can't do anything to lose it either.  That's what the love of a Father looks like.  It looks like a bright light that will shine through and brighter than anything!

*Amy :)

'A Beautiful Mess'

I'm making up for my long absence by posting another 'Picture Of The Week.'
I've been wanting to use a picture that I took myself, so I am doing that now. I took these pictures a little less that 2 weeks ago. My guitar is my model :)


I came up with this post when I was looking at all my pictures after I took them. This is originally my Mom's guitar, but I use it. When you first look at these pictures, you can see that this guitar is obviously not in the best shape. It's pretty old. You can see dents, scratches and chipped paint. The strings are held on to the guitar by beads that I found in my room, and some of the tuning knobs are breaking. All of this proves that this guitar is... beat up. But, under all of these imperfections, there is something you can't see. Something more important than the appearance. Something beautiful. This is what comes out of the guitar. Regardless of the old, beat-up shape, the sound that this guitar makes is beautiful, not perfect, but beautiful. Aren't we the same way? On the outside we're beat up. Our appearances show dents, scratches and imperfections. Why? Because we're not perfect. We're messy. Our outsides show this. There is a song by Matthew West and it has a line in it that says, "You're the one who looks at me, and sees who I was meant to be. More than just this beautiful mess." I love this line, because we're all like this. We are a beautiful mess, but God sees the beauty inside of that mess. Beyond our scratches, beyond our dents, and beyond our imperfections, there is something greater and something more beautiful inside of us. In our hearts, there is something different, something that is far better than all those bruises that we focus our lives on. This is the love of Christ. The love of God that is in our hearts far surpasses everything that is on the outside. That love travels far beyond any of those imperfections. Just like my guitar. The beautiful noise that comes out of that old, beat-up piece of wood is far greater than any of those dents and scratches on the outside. None of us are perfect. We weren't created to be perfect. But those imperfections that we all have will never compare to the amazing thing inside of our hearts. That love of Christ that rests inside of us is beautiful and that love shines through our heart. It shines through and it shines brighter than any of those dents. Our imperfections are nothing compared to the love that God has placed in our hearts. Just like the beautiful sound that comes out of my guitar, God's beautiful love shines through us.

'But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.' Psalm 52:8

*Amy :)

Rachel (Pictures)

Wow, it's been a crazy week!

I've been gone all week spending time with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins, and a lot has been going on! I wanted to blog but each day the time got shorter and then it ran out! Yesterday, my cousin, Rachel and I took a lot of pictures of eachother so I wanted to post some of my favorites that I took and also some that she took. I will be writing about a new song soon, I promise, but until then, here are some lovely pictures. Credit to the pictures of me goes to Rachel Hammond (beautyofarose.blogspot.com) and the pictures of Rachel, I took! :) Watch video of all the pictures I took of her, *HERE*!!!

Rachel

'Butterfly Don't Fly Away'

So, I was just outside a little while ago and we have like tons of flowers and plants all around and on our front porch. While I was outside, I noticed this one buttefly that woud fly around and sit on all of the flowers. He was so pretty and no matter how close I got, he would sit still on the flowers. I just wanted to share 2 or 3 nice pictures that I took of him. I loved how he wasn't afraid of me like a lot of bugs and animals would have been. :) He even flew up and hit the lens at one point, but my finger was too slow :)

A Day On A Florida Beach

Today, we got up bright and early in the morning to head to a beach more than an hour from our house. It was very nice. The waves were big and we all had a good time jumping them... well, except me because instead of jumping them or diving into them, they hit me and I tumbled over. Mouthfulls of salt water were the high point of my day :) Just kidding. I eventually got the hang of it. Anyways, when I wasn't wrestling with waves, I was trying to take some good pictures. So, here are some of my favorite pictures from today at the beach :) (The last one is my cousin, Emily)

Hannah and Elizabeth

Yesterday, we had two families over at our house. Two girls (one from each family) quickly became friends and so I decided to take them outside and take some pictures of them. I usually don't get to do that often because I only have one sibling and stuff, so we went outside and took about 80 pictures. We got attacked by some fire ants, it started raining and Hannah got sunburn, but overall, it was lots of fun :)

We had a good time. They just kept looking at the camera, even when I told them they didn't have to! They were dancing, running, talking, and biking. It was fun. So, here is the result from our burning ant bites, wet hair, sunburn, and laughter! :)
See th video of ALL the pictures we took *HERE*

Flowers... and flowers... and more flowers

We went to our friend's house yesterday and they have a garden, and another garden, and a gazillion animals so I took a few pictures of their flowers. Here are two mixed pictures of some of the flowers.

Independence Day- Fireworks!

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

We went to go see fireworks and it was jammed packed with people.

I was surprised that there were so many people in one little city!

My camera has a firworks setting but I didn't really like it. I did get a few decent pictures but I didn't get very many good ones...

Here are pictures of the lake we were at and the fireworks.

Shoes... and the Bible....

So, for the past few days, I have really felt like taking pictures! I don't have a very large family, so instead I walk around looking for things to take photographs of.

Today I found my brother's shoes (black and grey checkered Vans) and my mom's leather bound bible.
Here are the results of my picture taking yearn and my boredom :)

View all the pictures and more *HERE* (youtube video slideshow)

Flowers =]

Ok, so I haven't written about a song in awhile, but I promise it's coming! ... Soon!!

But anyways, until then, I just made this picture with all of my flower pictures in it and wanted to post it. Enjoy! :)

Spring Pictures!

Hello!


So, I got some great pictures the other day of the two girls, Lydia and Hannah. :) We went in their yard, where they have a garden and got some good shots, so here they are! (I mixed them together because there were so many good ones!)


By the way, I promise I will have another song soon!



I got to say my favorite is the one where Lydia is kissing Hannah's cheek! It is SOO sweet!

See all the pictures in this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8JFWXzhL8

Picks and flowers

I took some nice pictures today of some flowers that I am growing and also my guitar picks, I hope you like them! :)