Impressions

I moved recently. We all know what that means...leaving old friends, your house, and going to a place that's just, well, overwhelmingly new. I've been able to know some other people now...I've made some friends, and I don't feel as out of place. It's taken a lot of going into places where you've never met anybody, and introducing yourself, and trying not to act too nervous.
 
Somehow when I meet new people, my first thought is How do I look to them? Like, am I stylish enough, is my hair alright, etc, etc. It's gotten me thinking about what I want people to first notice about me. My first thought would be that I want to seem stylish, interesting, and fun, but really, I think that I want more than that.
 

I want to seem different, I want to treat other people kindly, I want to not really care what they think of me, I want to be willing to laugh at myself, and not have to look as cool as the people around me. I there to be something different about me that people can't explain.  Something that sets me apart. I want to shine Jesus' love. I want to be who I really am, and be comfortable standing out. That's what I want to be.

So I'm challenging myself to live without fear about what people think. What does it matter, anyway? What I really want to do with my life is to be a blessing to others, and honor God. That's where I there I can really find fulfillment, and worth. Life is more than just a competition of who can look the coolest. It's about honoring God and loving others...no matter what they think of you while your doing that. I want to be free from the little things hold me back from being who I am and who I wanna be. I want to live free...free to be me.

 --Carli

A very...

To you!!

--Carli              

25 things

1. Blue skies
2. morning coffee
3. presents piled under the tree
4. the Christmas story according Luke
5. old Christmas photos
6. journal pages full of scribbled characters
7. Christmas cards lining the window sill
8. long dark evenings
9. sliver moons
10. cinnamon rolls waiting in the freezer
11. seeing my breath in the air
12. Christmas music
13. a plate of cookies from a thoughtful neighbor
14. paper snowflakes on the windows
15. old christmas tv show episodes
16. candy canes
17. morning frost
18. crystal clear stars
19. candles
20. singing carols together
21. making Christmas cards
22. finding pictures you didn't realize you had
23. poetry inspiration
24. winning my first photo contest
25. chatting with a good friend

So this is my list. 25 things that make me happy.

--Carli

post credit via Jocee

Musings

It was one of those mornings. The morning you crawl out of bed, drowsily shower and dress, and step outside into the frozen air. With the camera. 

It was then I started musing, pondering life as we know it. For teens, who like me, have grown up in solid Christian homes, the gospel, and the knowledge of Christ's life is often taken for granted.

We've heard it all our lives, and it becomes something that we pass off without much thought. But have you ever thought what it would be like without the gospel? Without hope?

 

Has it ever occurred to you, that there are people all around you living in darkness without the hope or love or God? That every day--every hour--every minute, thousands of people are dying without Christ?

Have you thought that maybe, just maybe, that cool, confident girl that always bothers you so much is really searching--starving for the love of God, for forgiveness, for peace? Have you ever wondered if there is something you should do about that?

I think that a lot of times we forget that God has called us to be lights in the world around us. We forget that all around us are people that are living in darkness and sin, needy for salvation and forgiveness. We forget that it is our duty to share with the them, the salvation that God has so graciously given to us. 

And so I challenge you, take a minute to remember all that Christ has given you. And remember those around you, lost and broken, some never having heard the saving gospel of Christ...Remember your responsibility to share what God has given you.

--Carli

p.s. Check out the lovely giveaways, here, here, and here!

A new perspective

  Have you ever looked at something a new way, and suddenly it meant something to you? I've only done photography for a short time, but I've already learned so much. Not just about technical things like focus or aperture, but also things about life.

Have you ever looked a raindrop closely?

I hadn't.

{linking to simplicity}

Have you ever thought about how beautiful they are? How small and intricate? 

What about plants? Have you ever gotten on your hands and knees and spent time studying the complicated patterns of each blade of grass? Ever thought about the miracle of a seed pushing its way out of the ground into the sunlight? 

 

{snap and share}  {show off your shot}

 Have you ever marveled at the elaborate design of the world around us? 

 I hadn't.

Not as much as I should have. I didn't realize so much was waiting for me out there...how much I could learn about myself...how much I could learn about God. Not until I started photography. Not I got outside and began to look around me.

  

Then I began thinking...God who made the beautiful world for us, God who with one word made millions of stars, also made you and me. The God who knows the number of my hairs, keeps our tears in a bottle, who cares for every bird on the planet, is the same who died for me. And I keep feeling like my miniscule problems are too much for him?

{linking up a ray of sunshine} {deb duty}

And I keep doubting His love for me when He made the whole world just for us to enjoy? When He sent His Son into the world to die for me?

 

And I keep forgetting to thank for all He's done, because I'm too busy trying to solve problems that are really none of my worries?

{fabulous friday}                                                                                          

 Thank you God, that you're there for me. Thank you that you've made this world for me to enjoy--help me to appreciate it like I ought to. Help me to trust you with life's problems, to know that you're in control, and that I can trust you. Thank you God, for choosing me, before I was born, to be yours, and bringing me to the place where I could repent of my sins and receive you as my Savior. Thank you Jesus for your dying for me, so I could receive your gift of forgiveness of sin and new life!
As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, 
even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:12
Help me to become more like you, God, every day.

{linking to shades of autumn photo contest}

P.S. Don't forget to vote for me at Hello Highlights, Capturing Memories, MMPC, and The Musings of a Photographer.

What will my life show?

 

Last year I studied this poem in literature. When I first read it I didn't pay much attention. But then I began thinking about what it meant. The things in our lives shape us, just like the wind shapes the trees. What will my life show? I thought. How will the storms in life shape me? Will they make me hard and bitter, or will they draw me closer to God?  What will people see when they look at me? 

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Feel free to download. Design by me, image via

Verse of the day

If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: 

                                                         old things are passed away...all things have become new.

                                                                             2 Corinthians 5:17

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linking up: monday moments, iLove, snap and share

September

I love the way the author of this poem skillfully creates the mood of fall. The weather is finally getting cooler, which feels wonderful. I love this transition time when it's not too cool and not too hot. Ah, Fall weather!

 

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Design by me, photo credit here.