Snapshot Love—the strong and courageous

The above is a small collage of cards received from the youth group at our church for my husband and other deployed service members.

There was also a card for me that simply said, "You will be brave Mrs. Beth." Yes, I shed a few tears when reading that one.

Paper, pens and envelopes sit by a military support mailbox at our church. Every Sunday I open the mailbox and find more cards and letters for those serving in harms way. The letters are not only from the children.

I held a recent collection in my hands and realized for the past year we've been sending them to men and women I do not know. Now they will make their way to someone I do know. Suddenly they have new meaning to me. I feel a sense of urgency to collect more; not only for my husband but for the many more who will serve along side of him.

The cards and letters bring messages of gratitude, hope and love to those willing to serve and protect our country. They tell these men and women we have not forgotten them.

I believe they bring a needed reminder of where to draw their strength and courage from.

"My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." ~ Psalm 121:2

Can I ask a favor?

Would you take a moment to write a letter? Below is a list of organizations who accept letters for our troops.

Operation Support our Troops - America

Operation Gratitude

American Red Cross

USO

Better yet, multiply your efforts by starting a letter writing campaign at your office, school or church.

A little something for you..

Do you know someone currently serving in harms way? OSOT-America will send them a comfort care package at no cost to you. Go here to add their name.

Are you looking to support a military family in your community? Kristen, of Chasing Blue Skies, provides 20 sure fire ways to love the military spouse in your neighborhood.

One last request...

Friends, never stop praying for them. Pray for their strength and courage. Pray for them to know God is with them always.

"O Lord, be with our Soldiers as they leave their homes and their families to serve our Nation. Guide them as they plant the seeds of peace for these are the seeds that will forever keep America the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Bless them, O Lord and bless their families, for they are all the Heroes of American Freedom. Their sacrifices for us will Not be Forgotten." ~ author unknown

Snapshot Love—a new season

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

I've always considered myself a summer girl. The hotter weather is welcomed. During the colder months I dream of being some place warm. Take me to the beach and my spirits are lifted.

I previously had dreams of running a marathon. There is something surprising refreshing about running. A good run, short or long, would leave me exhilarated and ready to conquer the world. An ankle injury two or three years ago has left me unable to run anymore.

On a two-hour walk this past weekend, God revealed something new to me. He revealed I'm no longer only a summer girl and a slower pace suits me well.

He's preparing me for a new season. It's a season I believe He has been preparing me for since the day He won my heart. I don't know what this season without my husband will look like but I know my eyes and heart are set on Jesus. I will hold on to Him with all my might for He promises everything will be alright.

If I remained indoors when summer came to an end and did not replace running with the now preferred alternative of walking, I may have missed the beauty found in a new season. "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

My prayer is this: God, I pray that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You will empower me with inner strength through Your Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in my heart as I trust in Him. May my roots grow down into Your love and keep me strong. And may I have the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. May I experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then You will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You. Amen. (adapted from Ephesians 3:14-19)

Snapshot Love—he's home and more.

It's Sunday evening and I'm beat. Sleep is calling my name. The early start to my days with HelloMornings means early to bed. I don't want to give you a sloppy post but this is sure to be a shorter post with less words and primarily pictures.

I considered sharing only this one photo as it sums up my past few days. He's home!!!! He didn't expect me to be at the airport to pick him up; I loved the smile on his face when he saw me standing in the baggage claim area waiting for him. The three weeks apart were too long so I couldn't get my arms around him quick enough. Of course his welcome home required a picture!

One of the first things we did together was go for a walk.  I'm grateful for the alone time I had with God when I ventured off on my many walks while my husband was gone but how wonderful it felt to walk with him by my side.

We tried to get closer for the gorgeous sunset. I'm going to claim my husband slowed us down. :)))

At first glance I thought this photo looked cool. At second, third and fourth glance it became less and less appealing. Why am I sharing then? I'd love your opinion as I'm still undecided.

Here is one of four attempts to capture a picture of us while on our walk. A silhouette maybe? You could also say it's a bad photo. My husband is such a trooper for putting up with me as I stop several times along the way to snap away with my camera phone.

I couldn't publish "Snapshot Love" without a photo of our Red, White and Blue. God Bless America!!

We spent our Sunday afternoon with my husband's family celebrating my niece's birthday. The two precious nieces of mine in these next two photos snuck off and then returned with super cute photos so I made them share.

The birthday girl.

The photographer.

Two more beautiful shots captured by the photographer...

Thank you girls for sharing with your favorite Aunt!! I'm one of many aunt's but I'm sure they consider me their favorite.

I've been contemplating how I'd end this post since I promised to leave you with something different each week. Either I ran out of ideas already or I'm too tired at the moment to be creative. One thing I've noticed other writers doing on their blog is sharing a few of their favorite reads from the week. Many of them share on Friday's. I'm going to be different and share on Monday.

We shall call this portion Monday Love (it's Monday now) because I loved these five posts from the past week.

1) When You Don't Feel Beautiful by Jen Avellaneda at Rich Faith Rising - "But guess what? We don't have to beautify ourselves before entering the sight of God." Jen gives beautiful encouragement on a topic I know many of us struggle with.

2) Three Word Wednesday: Walk as Children, by L.R. Jensen at Gods Wild Woman - "Take the detour that eats up the time we claim as our own and spend it doing something worthwhile: marveling at how good our God is." I loved everything about this. So good!!

3) When the Waves Crash Quickly, by Jennifer Kostick at A Girl On the Doorstep - "Grace lives in the deepest, darkest seas. Mercy washes the soul that is tumbling along the bottom to the shore. Hope is the strength by which we are able to stand back up." My Sunday began with reading this post from Jennifer. I woke feeling like my soul was tumbling along after an argument with family. Her words lifted my spirits and reminded me to seek comfort in God's love and mercy.

4) For When You Realize You are not Enough, by Barbara Isaac at My Life As An Adventure - "And it hurts more than I can express, this letting go of you, this trusting Him enough to leave you in His hands." This is a beautiful post which reminds us our children are His before they are ours.

5) I Almost Stole a Chicken, by Joanne at Days and Thoughts (I'm cheating as this is from today but Joanne had me smiling. She shares a great story on being honest and I'm thinking God used her to teach a young clerk a valuable lesson too.)

Wishing you all a fabulous week. 

Snapshot Love—a photography class

I will come right out and admit I'm cheating this week. As much as I'd love to share a few snapshots from my week, I have none. Nope, not a one. Oh wait. I may have one for you as I did go for a long walk over the weekend and snapped at least one good shot (at least in my opinion) along the way.

I've decided to be creative and make use of pictures I took several years ago when taking a photography class. My husband bought me a fancy SLR camera before we headed to Colorado on a family vacation and I returned from the trip knowing I needed to learn how to use it correctly. Unfortunately, once the class ended I quickly forgot most of what I learned. I did hang on to a few of the critiques the teacher provided. His brief comments will be in the caption notes under the photos.

This weekly post is linked up with Lisa for her "Life Through the Lens" link up so after you make your way through the photos I will share a few random things about my life beyond the lens and will encourage you to share something random about your life. Let's get to know each other!

*** a photography class ***

There is a creek by my house and I've walked over this bridge many of times. 

"I like how the path leads the viewer in to the photo. Vertical lines are nice and straight.
I cropped to highlight content and added contrast to photo."

"I like the road leading the viewers eye in to the photo. Great use of lines and composition."

The next few are from a nature center near by. I really should go there more often.

"Nice shot. Good selective focus. Try to not put your main subject in the middle."

"I squared up original photo so it wasn't lost with too much unneeded background."

I was feeling rather happy when I was told for these next three photos, 

"Three nice shots." 

"Nice shot. Very symmetrical. The circle shape in the middle works because of the circular shape."

To prepare for an upcoming class I spent an evening in downtown Chicago. 

I don't remember why but my teacher was rather fond of these next two.

One piece of advice I do remember from the class was to not take photos of strangers. If you do, don't share them on the Internet without their permission. Oops. I have no clue who these two ladies are so if either of you happen to make your way here I'm so sorry. My teacher loved this picture of you though!! :)

Here is the one good photo from one of the many walks I took over the weekend.

My idea of good and your idea of good may be different mind you.

But this is my life through the lens so you get what you get. :)))

A few random things about me...

What am I reading?

A few bloggers came together to promote a book by Noel Brewer Yeatts called, "Awake: Doing a World of Good One Person at a Time." I'm on chapter four and loving every word! Noel shares a quote from Albert Einstein in Chapter 3 that stood out and I think sums up what this book is about, "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." I can no longer do nothing. 

There is an online study for this book that begins on September 20th. If you are interested you can find out more here.

What am I studying?

In addition to the HelloMornings study of Ephesians, we have started two Bible study classes at my church that I'm super excited about.

1. Basic: Who is God? - Reclaiming the simple, full and beautiful journey of the church that is described in Scripture.
2. Not a Fan. - Are you a fan or a committed follower of Jesus Christ?

Don't be surprised if you read more about these studies in a future post.

What did I do last night?

We had a fabulous Hymn Sing at my church. I was blessed to have my sister and her new baby girl join me! After the Hymn Sing I tagged along with my son and his girlfriend for their weekly trip to a favorite hot dog joint. All and all it was a beautiful Sunday evening.

What am I looking forward to?

This is an easy one! I'm looking forward to having my husband home soon. If I've misled you in previous posts, he has not deployed yet. He is gone a significant amount of time leading up to his deployment (before the end of the year).

What am I grateful for?

This past week I was overly grateful for Skype. It allowed me to see my husband's face many times which makes being apart not quite as hard. I keep trying to convince son #1 to Skype with me more frequently but boys will be boys. I'm also grateful for son #2 who has been a big help around the house while his father is away. (Oh look at that, I have another photo for you!)

Son #2 mowing the lawn. He is AWESOME!

Because I can't say this enough, I'm grateful for all of you too

What random scripture did I read this morning? 

Psalm 111 (MSG) - I was actually guided there through one of my studies. (Basic: Who is God?)

If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

During my "Not a Fan" Bible study class, as part of the introductions we were asked, "If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?" I was really missing my husband at the time so I said I wanted to be in Virginia with him. What I'd really love is to snatch him from Virginia and fly to Ireland together.

How about you? Share in the comments won't you please!

Snapshot Love—looking up

There were a few times this past week when I considered not doing this weekly post anymore. Summer has come to an end (for the most part) and the opportunities to capture something worthy of sharing seems less and less. But I would miss how this post forces me to slow down and notice the small things that would typically go unnoticed. So I'm not ready to call it quits.

My hope is to have more of a theme to this weekly post. This means I will need to slow down to notice a reoccurring theme in my week. Aren't I clever?

This past week was a quiet week with my husband gone. The cure to my loneliness was to kick myself out of the house and go for a walk. The past few days I realized as I walked that I spent a lot of time looking up and I loved capturing what I saw.

(By the way, I keep wondering if you describe the photo before or after the photo. I personally think it makes more sense to introduce the photo so I'm sticking with before.)

***Sharing what I discovered on my many walks as I looked up through the lens of a camera.***

Thank you to a blogging friend for pointing out how the light in this photo forms a cross. I will admit I did not notice this at first. I love the photo even more now.

If you would like to see this photo dressed up with some encouraging words from Ephesians, click here.

The sun peeking through the clouds makes me feel all warm and cozy. This is one of those photos I need to keep close by when the temperatures begin to drop. I'm grateful the warm weather hasn't gone away yet.

I had a hard time deciding which one of these was my favorite. Since I was unable to decide I went with sharing both. Which one would you choose? I'm thinking the first one - maybe?

I'm obviously not a professional photographer but I think these look cool. It's amazing what you can do with a camera and Picmonkey.com. :)

For a change of scenery I headed to a nearby lake on one of my walks. It was a small lake by a business park and there wasn't much to brag about and not much to take pictures of. As I walked around the lake I decided to be more intentional with my theme by walking under the trees to see what I might discover as I looked up.

I liked how this photo turned out so I'm sharing. It was a shot I took when I made a detour on my way to the little ole' lake by the business park. At times I wonder if I look a little suspicious as I walk around the village with my camera in hand. Oh well.

These next two are by far my favorites. You all should know by now how much I love our Red, White and Blue!! I'm on a mission to capture our fabulous flag in different ways. It's pretty cool from this view.

Now, I have this goal of doing something different each week at the end of these posts. Since I'm sharing a glimpse of my life through the lens of a camera (lots and lots of walks are a part of my life right now), I've decided to tell you a bit more about myself by answering some fun questions.

A new blogging friend graciously nominated me for the Liebster Award. Come meet Alison and she will fill you in on what the Liebster Award is. She's a sweetheart. I regretfully admit I'm really bad with the follow up on this kind of thing but I liked the questions she asked her nominees to complete so I'm going to answer them here.

1. What’s your guilty pleasure? At this very moment it's the Healthy Choice Greek Frozen Yogurt I'm eating. SO GOOD! On a day-to-day basis it's Caribou coffee.
2. You’re forced to choose between buying shoes and buying makeup. Which one wins? I've never been one to own a lot of shoes and I don't wear much makeup but I'd really love more shoes so I'm going to say shoes.
3. Which skill, or set of skill, do you still want to master? Writing! Hello Tribe Writers!! I paid for you I need to start utilizing you.
4. Which movie recently made you weep? I'm a weeping fool these days so anything makes me cry.
5. What tidbit about you would surprise most of your blog readers? It could be my answer to #9. It might also surprise you to know I hated writing throughout my school years. This was a passion I found as an adult.
6. If I took away books and music from you, which would cause you to have withdrawal symptoms? Music! I love worshiping God as we join together and sing.
7. What is a deal-breaker for you in friendships? Honesty. If we are not honest with each other what's the point?
8. Planes, trains, and automobiles. Which is your preferred mode of transportation? Why? I can't believe I'm saying this because I'm not a huge fan of flying but I'm still going to say my preferred mode would be a plane. You get to your destination so much quicker on a plane (at least if there are no travel delays). 
9. Who was your favorite musician when you were a teenager? Oh my. Rik Emmett from Triumph. Seriously, I loved him!
10. Which subject did you hate the most in school? Math and Science, equally! I did not like school in general.
11. What fashion trend did you try out and live to regret? I was never a fashionista. I regret not being more bold. It's never to late to change though.

Wasn't that fun? It would be even more fun if you would pick a question or two and leave your answer(s) in the comments. I'd love to get to know you better.

Instead of hosting a blog hop here I'm suggesting you go over to Lisa's place and join in for her weekly Life Through The Lens link up. I believe she posts every Wednesday. Even if you don't plan to link up you should go visit her as she's pretty wonderful!!