Nothing new under the sun

If you have ever read through the book of Ecclesiastes, you have read the phrase, “there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

These days, the news and social media are filled with things that bring most of us to shaking our heads and wondering how things how gotten so bad in our world.

Last weekend, I was reading in the book of Nehemiah: “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; they became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; and You did not forsake them.” (Nehemiah 9:16-18)

I do not want to take this text out of context, but it reminded me that even though we are living through a time when it doesn’t seem like our elected representatives and leaders even care about the people they are suppose to represent, we have a heavenly Father who is always watching over us.

Do I pray for our leaders on a regular basis?

I have not been praying for them on a regular basis, so this is something I can do to help me not be so frustrated with the decisions they are making.

God knows there are evil people in our world, because He knows there is nothing new under the sun.

Our pastor has been spending quite a bit of time teaching on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

What can I be praying for? What can I be thankful for?

These are two questions I can ask myself as I begin each day, and I can ask myself as I go through every day.

It is so easy to be discouraged.

But when we take our eyes off of the world, and focus on Him, our perspective changes.

What will you be praying for? What are you thankful for?

All Parents are Teachers

There was a time, back when we were still fairly new parents, that I started learning about homeschooling. I thought it was a terrible idea and never thought it would be something we would do.

I started substitute teaching in our school district back in 1996 and quickly realized that public school might not be the best place for our children to gain their education.

Once we started homeschooling, of course the questions and the comments started…

“Oh, I could never homeschool.”

“Are you planning on homeschooling through high school?”

“What about college?”

“What about socialization?”

As I think about those early years of our homeschool journey, there were many days I doubted myself and didn’t think we could keep going.

One big mistake I made was trying to duplicate what was being done at school.

A public school setting is completely different than educating your children at home.

At home, there is more to a child’s education than what can be learned in a textbook.

As a parent, you are your child’s first teacher.

You are the one who teaches them to talk and walk, and so many other basic skills they learn early in life.

All parents are teachers, whether you want to admit it or not.

There are so many things that children learn from their parents that they will not learn anywhere else, the good things and the bad things.

Children see us at our worst and our best.

Educating children in our home gives us the opportunity to teach them life skills as they happen. When the car breaks down, when the washer overflows, when the neighbor needs help…all the things that happen in the day in, day out happenings of our lives. Even things like laundry, meal prep, grocery shopping, housework, yardwork, basic home repairs, etc. When your children are educated at home, basic home life skills become part of your education plan.

What things have your children been able to learn at home?

An Unsuccessful Photography Experiment

So, I decided to give something a try.

I thought..oh, I have a Nikon DSLR with a few lenses. Let me see if any of them fit my Nikon FE2.

I decided to see if my 35mm lens would fit, since the ‘only’ lens I have for the FE2 is a 50mm lens.

The opening was the right size.

The lens snapped into place it seemed.

So, I loaded up the camera with a roll of black and white film. Took a few photos around the house before taking the camera with me on a day trip to Yosemite.

The first thing I noticed is that I had no idea what the aperture was. I would just rotate the lens to try to focus each picture as I was taking them.

I didn’t think this was going to be an issue at all.

I just figured that the lens fit, I was able to get images into focus, so I just happily snapped the whole rest of the roll while riding my bike around Yosemite.

Sent the roll off to be developed and was super excited when I got the email that my pictures were ready to be viewed and downloaded.

But…most of the photos did not turn out at all!

So, this was an unsuccessful photography experiment where I learned that just because the lens fits, doesn’t mean that it will actually work on that camera.

Have you ever had a completely unsuccessful photography experiment?

30 Day Photography Challenge

Years ago, I used to always take pictures with a 35mm film camera. I still have boxes and boxes of double prints and negatives from photos I took when our children were little.

Then, I slowly transitioned to a digital camera…a Kodak EasyShare was one of the first digital cameras I used. I even took two cameras on a big family vacation to Washington DC, shooting both film and digital. Just in case the digital camera didn’t do all that I expected it to do.

My current iPhone takes better pictures than that first digital camera I used.

Eventually, I took a photography course and learned how to use my digital camera in manual mode.

I know this is a scary thing for a lot of people, but I loved learning how to have more control over the settings of my camera and using Lightroom to make some simple edits to improve the final image I captured.

Last summer, my dad gave me his Nikon FE2, 35mm film camera with a 50mm lens. It has been interesting to see how my photo journey has brought me back to using a film camera. But this time, I know so much more about camera settings and photography in general.

So I decided to see how my newest digital camera compares to the images I can capture with the film camera. I found a 30 day photography challenge and have completed a couple of the days so far.

It is going to take a bit of time to complete this challenge, especially since I will have to send out the film to be processed. But I am looking forward to seeing the results!

What type of camera do you currently take pictures with?

Words

I love to read.

I am often reading many books.

My Bible in the morning, as well as a couple of devotionals. Something in the non-fiction genre to keep me learning, and something in the fiction genre to help me escape.

I was one of those kids who would read with a flashlight at night, until my parents took my flashlight away. Then I would just read by my window at night.

In high school, I did not enjoy reading the books that were assigned. I never enjoyed being forced to read, especially when we had to write book reports and try to determine why the author wrote the book.

I just wanted to read for the pure pleasure of reading those books filled with words.

As a child on the playground, we often heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

Deep down, I believe each one of us know that words can hurt.

But words can heal also.

I have been encouraged lately by listening to the words of a homeschool mom who is sharing her heart for making a positive difference in our society.

I believe we need to be very careful with what words we allow into our minds and our homes.

Truth is truth.

What are you reading? What are you listening to?