Road Trip | part 1

We're back! Our trip has been quite eventful to say the least - we've been to 4 different states and back! Needless to say, we are so glad to be home. At the beginning of our trip, we went up to Chattanooga to view the new NorthFace line for my husband's work. It is such a beautiful place! On our last day there we visited Rock City Gardens before heading to our next state. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid.

Where we live the colors of Autumn, are well, less than vibrant. We have a lot of evergreens. Chattanooga was just the opposite. Everything popped with bright shades of orange and red. I said "Oh wow, this is so beautiful" more times than I can count. 

The weather was a little chilly, but perfectly overcast for photos. My hubby was actually totally into taking pictures. He definitely prefers taking photos as opposed to being in them! Hehe! He really has a good eye, so all I had to do was show him a few things about lighting and focus! A lot of these are his shots. We had such a good time setting up the tripod and being silly.

It was a little chilly! I didn't mind though. I grew up in Florida and winter there is almost non-existant. Seriously, it was 80 degrees on Christmas more often than not. Thus, I enjoy wearing scarves, hats and coats whenever I can!

Just as we finished the trail, it started to rain. Shortly after that we sat down in their restaurant for lunch, and not a minute later the power went out! It was so perfectly timed! Chattanooga loved us well. If we had to move there, I wouldn't hate it! :) It is 2 hours from Knoxville, Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta! Not to mention, Chattanooga has majestic mountains and a river that flows through the city. (Can you tell I've thought about this? Hehe!)

Well, that was only the first stop on our trip! There is more to come :) I'm off to catch up on emails and everything else! I hope you all had a good week while I was away.

Telling my story...

"Can you tell me a little bit about your story?" she said as we got closer to the end of the interview. It had been exactly a month and a day since I began my adventure in unemployment. Here I was sitting in only my second interview. The first one was 3 weeks prior. I'd given up on searching and praying prayers that sounded more like begging than seeking the will of God. I definitely wouldn't have quit my job to take the one I was applying for. It only pays for 10 hours a week, but I'd be working way more than that. Going from having a job that is full time with benefits to something hardly enough to call part time sounds crazy. But there I was telling this woman that I was willing to sign up for it. 

Am I crazy? Who in their right mind would do that?

"I'm not from here. I grew up in Jacksonville Florida" I started. I started at the beginning and told her of growing up in a Christian home, our family Bible study in the morning, coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ, being homeschooled, moving from the city to a small, country town and having to decide between fitting in or making my faith my own....

I told her about my first real crush and how God said no. Then I explained how I changed and grew during my 16th year, how I read my Bible like it was really written to me and how I started praying that I would only fall in love once and that it would be with the man I married. The words fell from my lips like a gentle rain. It was as if I was reading my life like a book. I saw the time God called me into the ministry (which all Christians are called to...which is another post!) and when I heard Him speak directly to me for the first time. It was so clear. I felt so special. "After that, I moved college when I was 17" I continued...

Then I told her of the sickness...I told her of the pain that plagued me for 4 years. Memories flooded my mind and took me back to the little pantry where I kept all my many myriads of medicine, when I was crying alone in pain because no one was there to hear or care, hearing doctor after doctor tell me that they didn't have any answers, and God all the while breaking down my pride, my perfectionism, my plans and my grasp on this life. By the time I was so sick I couldn't move from my bed, I told her that healing came. Oh, it was a miracle that happened because of the faith of the believers in my church! Ever since that day, I have been perfectly fine.

"Then two months later I met Jonathan at a Bible study" I said. That was the beginning of a new life for me. I certainly hadn't planned things to work out that way, but they did. I remembered the first time I ever held hands...it was with him...and our first kiss (my first glorious kiss) a few months before we got married. I told her how I graduated in December of '09 and how we got married the following May. I told her about how our passions are exactly the same and that we love serving together now. Then I explained how God told me to quit my job, what He was teaching me, how He led me to start this new photography adventure and that He led me to apply for this position...this ministry position that doesn't pay much and requires a lot of time and effort.

Am I crazy? Well, you could say that I suppose.

"For if we are 'out of our mind' as some say, it is for God...He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for their sake and was raised."
(2 Corinthians 5:13,15)


Going back over my story in that interview made me realize just what God has done in my life. I am so blessed. Before I was even born He knew that I was going to be there in that chair talking to her that day. He prepared me for this. He has walked me through life in good and bad circumstances, in joy and in pain, on days I couldn't help but sing and others when all I could do was cry. Everything I am, all that I have is because of Him. He has made me new and given me a new life in Him. He died so that I might live. 


So yes, I am out of my mind. I am crazy. I am foolish enough to follow Him because I realize that this life isn't mine. It hasn't been since I gave it to Him at 6 years old.

So I guess we'll see what He decides to do with it. I'm just the pages He is writing on...

Sunbeams & Daydreams

 The last days of summer are so pleasant. The weather just doesn't seem quite as hot when I know fall is right around the corner. These days make me want to soak in every last sunbeam before I am over taken by winter's chill. There is just something about the last fleeting moments of sunlight that puts me in a daydream-like state. I love to get away from our apartment for a while and enjoy the last bits of summer...especially behind a lens.

I recently borrowed a nice DSLR and have had so much fun playing around with it. I haven't ever used one...that is unless you count my Dad's old film camera from the 70's. In my daydreams, it is really mine!   A few days ago I went out to a little historical farm to practice. If they didn't close at 5 pm, I would have been out there for hours!

It was a perfect afternoon for a little photography practice. I needed to try a few things out before going home to take some photos for my brother and his fiance. I hope to be using a DSLR at some point in the future. I'd love to upgrade to a Canon Rebel T3i. Let me know if you guys have any reviews on that one!

What are you all up to during Summer's last days?

A waterfall adventure...

While we were in the mountains, we decided to go on a little adventure. (I love adventures!) We drove on a little winding road through the mountains until we reached Gatlinburg. Just a little outside the town there is a hiking trail to Rainbow Falls in the middle of a beautiful forrest. I am so glad that our country has preserved such beautiful wildlife. I'm sure we would have commercialized all of our national and state parks if it was left up to the general populous!

You just can't recreate the feeling of being in the middle of nature, far away from the hustle and bustle of life in our media driven world. It is good be with the rocks, trees and moss...away from it all for a while.

As Mary Bennett said in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, "what are men compared to rocks and mountains?"

Now, this hike was not for the faint of heart...or the out of shape! None of us hike a lot by any means, so it was very challenging indeed! There were 3 miles of going up hill on a very rocky (and often wet) path.  We passed some people who had given up half way and others who were trekking right along.

Despite the challenges, the journey was beautiful. The farther we went up, the air became cooler and more delicious.

At last we reached the falls! Can you tell how sweaty we are? All of my clothes were seriously drenched. Jonathan put his shirt back on just for the picture too! (Pardon my granny shorts and sweaty make-up less face! Ha! Hiking isn't very flattering!)

These photos don't even come close to doing it any justice. It was magnificent. It is also said that on days when the sun is shining brightly that there is a rainbow in the waterfall. I wish we could have seen it!

And now I leave you with this! Haha! My hubby and brother in law discovered that they were wearing the same underwear. Apparently is some special you-can-wear-it-for-weeks-and-it-won't-smell kind. Some guys hiked the whole AT in them and took a picture like this...thus this picture. Ha!

On a more serious note, this little hiking adventure reminded me of a book called "Hind's Feet on High Places." (I don't know if anyone has read it or not.) It is an allegory about a girl named Much-Afraid who follows the Chief Shepherd who is helping her grow as she climbs the mountains to the heights. It is especially profound to me these days as the Lord is teaching me how to climb over rocky, not so fun places with Him.

"The sovereign LORD is my strength;

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

He enables me to tread on the heights."

(2 Samuel 22:34)

PS: I am also over here today!