June 7, 2013

  • “Soothing, breaking one by one,
    Peaceful brushing on the shore
    In crescendo and then back down
    My soul is asking for much more.”
    ~Aufie Zophy

May 19, 2013

  •      
     
    “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”

    You call me out upon the waters
    The great unknown where feet may fail
    And there I find You in the mystery
    In oceans deep
    My faith will stand

    And I will call upon Your name
    And keep my eyes above the waves
    When oceans rise
    My soul will rest in Your embrace
    For I am Yours and You are mine

    Your grace abounds in deepest waters
    Your sovereign hand
    Will be my guide
    Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
    You’ve never failed and You won’t start now

    So I will call upon Your name
    And keep my eyes above the waves
    When oceans rise
    My soul will rest in Your embrace
    For I am Yours and You are mine

    Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
    Let me walk upon the waters
    Wherever You would call me
    Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
    And my faith will be made stronger
    In the presence of my Savior

    I will call upon Your Name
    Keep my eyes above the waves
    My soul will rest in Your embrace
    I am Yours and You are mine

    by Hillsong United

May 2, 2013

  •  



    Father, we come to You to pray for our nation, the United States of America.

    How You have blessed us through the years, Lord! We rightly sing, “America, America,
    God shed His grace on thee.” Yet we see trouble in our culture today.
    We see the breakdown of the family, crippling addictions, and random acts of horrific violence.

    Lord, we need Your help in America. In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have “forgotten God.” But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.

    Scripture tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs14:34). Lord, in Your mercy, we ask that You would exalt our country again. We have had a number of great awakenings in America. We have experienced times of refreshing, and revivals that changed not only the spiritual but also the moral landscape. As the psalmist said, “Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6)

    That is our prayer for America today, Lord. Send a mighty spiritual awakening that will turn the hearts of men and women, boys and girls back to you. You have told us if we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will forgive our sins and heal our land. (2 Chronicles7:14)

    Forgive us today, Lord, and heal this troubled land that we love so much.

    We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ.
    Amen




     NATIONAL DAY of PRAYER by Pastor Greg Laurie
    May 2nd, 2013


April 25, 2013

  •  
    Brianna and Jonathan

     

      


    So what do you do when your daughter gets engaged
    and  you’re a photographer?
    Why you use your networking resources
    and hope your favorite photographer is available!

    I’ve worked with Brett Hickman as his assistant and ADORE his work,
    I was so pleased when he took the job
    plus Bri and JJ really liked him and plan to stay in touch after the wedding.

    The three of them hiked out to one of Bri‘s favorite
    mountain bike trails to capture these stunning images last week.
    Click on this link to see even more:
    http://bretthickman.com/2013/04/jj-and-bris-engagement-session/

    The wedding is just 10 days,
    lots to do,
    but as you can see the wedding photography is covered!

April 8, 2013

  •  

    “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
    Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
    neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
    not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.     
    No power in the sky above or in the earth below—
    indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us
    from the LOVE of God
    that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.    “

    Romans 8:38-39 NLT

March 30, 2013

March 24, 2013

  •  
       
    Here comes the Bride…
    in 42 days!

    Yesterday my mom hosted the first Bridal Shower for Bri at her home.
    Dear friends from Laguna and homeschool days were invited
    and about 24 ladies were able to attend.

    Each person was introduced and shared a story about Bri…
    so many fun memories.
    She opened half of the wonderful gifts…mostly things for her kitchen and bath,
    then we played the first game of 16 questions
    to figure out how well people knew Jonathan and Bri:

    1.Where did JJ ask Bri to marry him?   Mountain High Ski Resort
    2.How long have Bri and JJ known each other?  Over 3 years.
    3.Where was the first time they held hands?  The $1 theater in Irvine.
    4.What are 3 favorite sports they enjoy doing together?  Snowboard, Rock Climb, Mountain Bike
    5.What is a JJ’s fav color? Red
    6.Name one of Bri’s 3 favorite colors?   Mint, Coral or Dark Turquoise.
    7.What are their birthday months?  March and August
    8.What two sports did JJ teach Bri?  Snowboard and Baseball
    9.What subject did Bri help tutor JJ in?  Learning to be an EMT
    10.What job does Bri have now?  Doctor and Office Assistant
    11.What does JJ do for work?   He’s a Motorcycle Safety Coach
    12.What instrument does JJ play?   Drums
    13.What did Bri study when she went to college in San Diego?  Interior Design
    14.Where are they living the first month after they are married?  In Laguna
    15.What is Bri’s favorite beach in Laguna?   Goff Cove
    16. What new activity did they try and love in 2013?  Cross Fit

    Tie Breaker Questions:

    What happens when Bri laughs? She snorts!
    What makes Bri blissfully happy?  Swimming in the ocean…even better now with JJ
    Who was Bri’s 1st Love?  Jesus!

    After the laughter and teasing subsided from that game
    people were invited to take a break to get some more food and take in the view.
    Bri then opened the rest of her gifts…people were so generous!

    Finally it was time for the last game.
    If you look at the photo again, you’ll see it was making bride gowns
    out of toilet paper and sea shell beads!

    Then before everyone left, we gathered around Bri to
    bless and pray for her and Jonathan.
    The room grew quiet, sunlight filtered in the windows,
    with the soothing sound of the ocean waves in the background
    and God’s peace blessed us all.

February 9, 2013

  • Our daughter Brianna is engaged! Her beloved Jonathan, arranged a snowboarding trip with friends to Mountain High, where he taught her to snowboard 3 years ago when they first fell-in-like. She was totally surprised when she got off the chairlift with her girl friends, to be handed and bouquet of flowers and saw Jonathan waiting off to the side for her, plus friends with cameras and huge smiles on their faces. He asked “Will you marry me” and presented his great grandmother’s vintage ring. Her smile says it all!  (And yes, he asked our permission before hand)

    “Congratulations [again] to my awesome brother, JJ
    and the love of his life, my best friend, Bri.

    It’s been 3 long years of watching, waiting, praying and hoping
    as these two grew into the amazing people
     God wanted them to be for each other.

    Bri has loved my brother with the depth and promise
    that can only come from the Lord.
    I can’t wait to call her my sister
     and look forward to sharing life with them both {FOREVER}. ♥ “

    Rach Dodson
    http://rachelphotographie.com/

January 6, 2013

  • On the 12th Day of Christmas…
    I woke needing hope, read this devotion.
    Joy filled my heart.

      
    The Christ child is born!

    All you who would find Him,
    prepare for a journey, as determined as the Magi.

    All you who would praise Him,
    come with the faith to follow but a star.

    All you who would worship Him,
    come with humility to the child
    who shows forth the immeasurable riches of God.”

    “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
    For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
    but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.
    Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. “

    Isaiah 60:1-3

    An epiphany is a sudden realization that sheds light on our lives and our experience.
    It’s like the light bulb that turns on in the thought-bubbles of cartoons and comics.
    The sudden brightness of that light that allows us to see
    and notice what we have not been able to see before.

    In Christian tradition,
    Epiphany is associated with the Magi who visit the baby Jesus from a far away land.
    The Magi followed the star in search of the birth of the Light of the World.

    As we follow the star, walking with the Magi on a journey to seek the Christ-child,
    what is God trying to teach us today?
    What epiphanies and realizations await us along this journey? 

    Joann Lee

    Dearest Jesus, sometimes even the smallest amount of light helps us through the darkness.
    May Your light shine in my life, so that I may share that light with others.
    Amen.

January 5, 2013

  • On the 10th Day of Christmas…

    *I woke up at 4 am. For some strange reason I started thinking about the upgrades I need to do with my Adobe Photoshop. That made me think of how little I understand PS and how I’d loose some of my fav actions Matt had installed….finally I fell back to sleep after tossing and turning for an hour.

    *The next thing I knew it was 8 am and I was hearing Bri arrive home. She had been house-sitting all week and had to drop off her clothing and groceries before work. Made coffee and after a prayer, started searching for help…found it! One of my friends is teaching a FREE continuing education, photo-shop class this semester and another friend is going to help me purchase and install my new PS upgrade…that’ll I’ll be able to buy with my new student discount

    *Meanwhile, Spence got up and announced he has to wax my car…I wasn’t going to argue!

    *Later I made it to the gym and then joined the gang from http://stunewslaguna.com/ for their weekly coffee and conversation gathering. They’ve published a few of my images this year and it’s been great for PR…for example, my mom hears all about me from her friends and I have many people recognize me.

    *The rest of the day past quickly. Spence and I talked about what a quiet Christmas season this has been.
      Many plans fell through due to Spence’s cold, then our cousin John got pneumonia and had to cancel
      his family vacation to spend a few days with us. Yet I read something on Ann Voskamp’s blog
      that makes it ok:
                   

    “It is Christmas forever now —because Christ is always with us.”

    *AND now for Part 2 from yesterday’s adventure to Irvine Regional Park:
      Photo highlights from our visit to the Orange County Zoo.

      
     Peacock


    Hedge Hog

     


    Barn Owl

        
    Mountain Lion


    Garter Snake


    Coyote


    Mule Deer


    Brushing goats in the petting area


    David


    Rachel


    Feeding a sheep…
    and then it’s play time.

     

       

         
    I’m so blessed to have these little ones in my life.