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billy was my closest friend back home… he helped lead the addiction recovery ministry when i came to the church with only a couple weeks clean time and was a huge help to me… as time went by, we became not only close friends but partners in both that ministry as well as working with the homeless…
billy is known as a bit of a cartoon character come to life – lively and a little eccentric, definitely someone you remember after only having spent a few minutes with him… he is outgoing and talkative, making friends where ever he goes – always the one talking to new people at church or even just in line at wal-mart, he is incapable of keeping to himself…

one day, a year or so ago, he came over for coffee and we hung out on my balcony and talked and i snapped a hundred or more pics… these are my favorite three…

firstly, here is a glimpse at his more upbeat, whimsical side as we had a good time…

but, we also discussed serious issues…

and, this one is just billy to me… i don’t think i could have a better picture of him – this is the man i know and love… always a smile, but i know how much is under there and i see all of it here… this one is framed in my bedroom…

when i showed these to billy and his wife, tara, billy made the comment (on more than one of them) that he had never seen that side of himself before… that is the biggest compliment a person can give me when i shoot them… because to me it says that i did it right – that they are seeing them the way i see them… that i managed to capture what i saw… and that’s what it is all about to me – why i love photography so much… you can see something or someone so many times, but then someone with the gift can photograph it and you can see it in a way you never have, even if you had stood at that same spot or seen the same moment… or you can see, frozen in time, something you HAVE seen before, so many times, but it was always fleeting and an artist knows just when to snap that shutter to catch what can be missed in a blink…
the ART is first to see and then to be able to capture what you see…

i am still trying to learn both 😛

it is the age-old question, but i feel like i got a fresh answer today when someone asked me this, so i thought i’d blog it…

she said she had all these things throughout the day – work, housework, shopping, eating, time with her son, whatever – all on this tight schedule and then tries to squeeze in time at the end of the day for the word and prayer…
i asked her, “of all those things, what is currently most important? what do you not ever put off until another day, you do it everytime, and on time?” she answered “my job.” and so i “informed” her that her job is put above even time with god.

her job consists of appointments throughout the day and so i told her if she has an appointment at 930 for an hour and one at 1130 for an hour, she needs to now have one at 1030 when she gets away somewhere and has her devotion time… and treat it the way she would the others – no excuses, no being late – give it equal importance… and on her days off keep that appointment…

and maybe this isn’t the literal best answer, but the point is decide what is most important in day-to-day life, not in some vague, big picture way, figure out how it is important – how you make it most important, so to speak – and make sure god gets the same priority and at least a little more (i.e. keeping the appointment on days off)…

i need to ask myself these questions and do likewise… i am there at the church, everyday before 6, but my own quiet time is lacking… hosting proverbs at the church is more important than my own time with god – YES, even ministry can interfere with our own one-on-one relationship with god… and i warn people from time to time to not let the proverbs group be their only devotion time… god wants you alone, too…

think of a marriage…
how would your spouse feel if you only ever spent time together in a group and you said “we DO spend time together!”… or a few minutes talking in the car, on the way somewhere… or just continually telling the spouse that you wish you had time, but you’re too busy… at the end of the day, your spouse feels heart broken that you never get time alone… the bible uses marriage as a picture of the relationship between god and the church and thinking of it that way presents some convicting parallels… i know i personally am not a very attentive spouse…

i am one of those busy busy life people and it is a very tired statement to say “you have to make time”, but if we look at what we never fail to do or show up for and don’t treat time with god the same way, it is time to come up with a new plan…
god cannot be the top priority on a list of ten – we must make him the ONLY priority on a list of ONE… matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all the “necessities” of life will be provided for you…

[posted from my mint metallic green Motorola Q9c]

• Took a pretty long nap, still feel tired, irritable… Maybe i’m getting sick? #
• And if my site was a house, i’d be tempted to burn it down and move… not necessarily in that order… #
• Ok, i think i worked out a halfway decent system to get various stuff to auto-post to the blog… We’ll see over the next few days… #

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