It has been awhile since I last posted....hmmmm....I just haven't had time to take pictures. This past weekend was an exception however. My parents were in town, the weather was beautiful, I rented a great lens (too expensive to buy so why not rent?), and the tulips were in bloom - the perfect time for some great pics. Here are a few of my favorites.
I have heard it said that the thing that separates other world views and Christianity is that the founders of other world views try to make bad people good but Jesus came to make dead people live. As I celebrate Easter this year I am reminded of the magnitude of this claim that Jesus rose from the dead. I hear people try to explain it away; rationalize their own meaning; pontificate on the metaphorical significance; and others just deny it. I am confronted with my own apathy toward it - I've grown up with the story and the shiny finish has dulled with time. As someone who sees death on a weekly basis it is easy to anticipate and expect death - seeing the heartache and grief firsthand of those torn from the ones they love. But just as those going to the tomb expected death - they found life. They found presence. They found hope. Not completely understood but reality nonetheless. Anticipate life.
It is hard to believe that 9 years ago on 3.26.00 Natalie Lou was born. Over these nine years she has grown into a young lady with a quick mind that is fun to teach, a playful spirit with an infectious laugh, a giver of kisses and cuddles, and a blessing to our family each and every day. I love you SugarPlum - may God bless you in your tenth year of life.
There are moments in time that you are surprised. Like the one day when we were playing outside at our apartment in Princeton and two hot-air balloons drifted overhead. I really like things like that.....an email from a friend out of the blue; a sunrise that takes your breath away; a daughter waiting at the foot of the stairs to hug you when you pull into the driveway; a verse of scripture that speaks directly to what you are experiencing; or a hot-air balloon overhead. I wonder how many "surprises" I miss on a daily basis because I am distracted or otherwise too busy to notice.
One good thing about one computer dying is searching through the old files trying to find "important" documents and running across pictures that were for some reason put in a place and forgotten about. This is one of my favorites from that find.