Welcome to my new blog. I'm glad you stopped by.
Here you will find updates from my life as a child of God, a Husband,
a father of five, a missions mobilizer, an orphan advocate and a photographer.
For those who read my previous blog you know who I am and what you might expect from this new blog.
I'll post pictures from recent photo shoots as well as pictures from our adventures in Honduras.
I'm contemplating writing a book so you might get some test chapters here as well. I'm honored that
anyone would be interested in what I say or what I do. I hope you'll be encouraged and blessed!
@louderthanwords twitter updates...
RT @MarkBatterson: God hovers over chaos. He has since begining of time. bringing order out of chaos is His ancient specialty.// Amen! #9 hours ago
In our house it’s “fundue”! If we ask our children what they want for dinner almost always they’ll answer, “Fondue!” Most of the time when Amy and I hear that word we cringe, because fondue in our house is so messy. Yet when you think about it, with five children at the dinner table most anything can become messy. Last night Amy and I caved under the pressure and had a “fundue” night. Our kids had a blast! We did chicken and cheese. As I thought about it, it became evident why our kids like it so much . . . it’s homemade cheese sticks and chicken nuggets!! I don’t usually take pictures at dinner, but I made an exception last night. Hope you enjoy the fun we had . . .
I’m trying to get better at blogging and keeping up-to-date on my Facebook fan pages. I just uploaded a few pictures to the Seniorzrock fan page from T. Brack’s senior portrait session. I’m still booking sessions for the class of 2010 and recruiting models for our Seniorzrock spokesmodel program. Details are on the Seniorzrock website. See more of T’s photos on the Facebook fan page.
I admit it’s not the greatest promo video, but when all you have is iMovie HD it works! I made this video to promo a special project for the children’s small groups at our church (Bethlehem Church). If you have questions about this year’s camps or would like to sponsor and orphan to go to camp you can email me (info (at) louderthanwords(dot)org). You can sponsor an orphan’s trip to camp by giving securely online here: SEND AN ORPHAN TO CAMP.
This past week I taught my students about “leading lines” in photographic composition. There assignment this week was to photograph leading lines of any type. My promise to my students is that I will not go back through my files and pick out a photo that fits the assignment. I went out yesterday with a couple of our children and in just a few minutes captured my shots. For me, this was my favorite assignment so far. Next week’s assignment – “fill the frame”.
This week’s photography class assignment was to take a portrait and practice the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds divides the frame into three rows and threecolumns. It’s a visual way to help people think about moving their point of interest from the center of the frame. Thats a very basic explanation. If you want to know more about the rule of thirds – just google it!
This past week I borrowed my friends $100 point and shoot camera to take my picture this week. I had planned to do all my pictures with my point and shoot camera, but Mariah (our three year old) dropped mine and it doesn’t work anymore! Yes, I used photoshop . . .
I’ve noticed a lot of whining all over Facebook this week! It seems that ever six months or so Facebook undergoes a major overhaul of its services to us its customers. It takes a few weeks to get used to the new settings and features, but it seems like the moaning and groaning quickly subsides.
I’ve been thinking this week about how customer feedback affects customer service of most small businesses. It seems that Facebook has become one of those companies that could care less about what its customer think. It is so big and has so many users that a couple weeks of whining doesn’t affect desire to constantly change their product.
If Facebook were a small business it would be more concerned about what its customers thought. If my businesses periodically ticked off our customers we’d quickly be out of business! Do I really care that my Facebook changed this week? No at all. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but I’m getting the hang of it. Am I leaving Facebook – not any time soon.
It has caused me to think about “what’s the next big trend” in social networking. I put in my request for Buzz this week. I haven’t gotten my invite yet, but maybe they are the next big thing. I’ve started “tweeting” and I have to say I really like the quick little tidbits of knowledge I have gained over the past couple months on Twitter. Yet Twitter doesn’t seem to have taken hold in the 16 – 24 year old segment of the social networking market.
What’s the bottom line of this post? Facebook has control of our lives! We use it to keep in touch with people with whom we’ve lost contact for years. We use it to promote our causes and businesses. We post pictures of our friend and children. We even dig through our boxes and put up pictures from 20 years ago (at least us 40 somethings do). We use it to raise awareness of the things we’re passionate about. Some people farm, join the Mafia, feed their fish and post annoying clutter all over their friends walls! Facebook has become an indispensable part of our lives . . . at least until the next big thing comes along. For me, I think I’m ready for something new! What about you?
A couple months ago while in Honduras I had the opportunity to attend a bible study at a local body shop in Tegucigalpa. The bible study was started by two of my friends in Tegucigalpa (Esdras and Daniel). One of the guys at the body shop asked them if they would come once a week and teach a bible study. They whole-heartedly agreed and began going each Wednesday at lunch. The news must be spreading because a few weeks ago another body shop approached the guys about doing one at their place. I’m excited for these guys because they are “taking the Gospel” to the streets. Well, maybe not to the streets, but out into the public workplace.
This is a challenge to me because too many times we as North Americans build buildings where the Gospel is proclaimed. If you don’t come to the building then you don’t hear the message of Jesus. We don’t intentionally think that the message of Jesus can only be taught in a church, but too few of us talk about Jesus in the places we work or the stores we frequent. The Good News of Jesus cannot be contained in a building! This is challenging to me. If people are going to see Jesus in me then I’ve got to go to places where they need to see Jesus. I’ve got to talk about Jesus. If we only talk about Jesus in church then many who need to hear the Good News will likely miss it. I may not have access to a local body shop in which to teach the bible, but I certainly have opportunities each week to share the Good News of Jesus. What about you?
One of my favorite times of the year is coming . . . Orphan Camps 2010. I get excited about it because these children rarely ever leave their “compound” to run and play out in wide-open spaces. Several years ago God gave me a vision for taking these children to camp like many Christian children in the States go to camp. We rent out a “real camp” just outside of Tegucigalpa and put on a 5 day camp full of fun and learning more about Jesus. I’m sure over the next few weeks I’ll be writing more about our upcoming camps . . . stay tuned for more.
Some of you know that a pastor friend of mine from Guinope, Honduras recently passed away unexpectedly. He was a young man. Younger than I am. For several years now we’ve been working with orphans in Honduras (and here in NC). James 1:27 says that pure and faultless religion is to “look after orphans and widows in their distress”. Since the passing of my friend Nery it’s renewed my thinking about “looking after widows”.
I’ve been contemplating why God connected orphans and widows together in this verse. I can figure out that orphans and widows have both experienced loss. Yet, one of the things I’m perplexed by is why has “the church” renewed its vision and response to orphans and rarely mentions widows? Do you have any thoughts on why God connected “orphans and widows” in this verse? Do you have any thoughts on why “the church” has often neglected widow care?
I’m excited about the possibility of several widows joining us for our orphan camps this spring. Doña Marina (widow of Pastor Nery) wants to join us at camp with all three of her children. I looking forward to what God is going to do during that week. If you would like more information on our orphan camps write a comment to this post and I’ll get you more information. Pastor Nery and his Daughter – July 2009
I’m teaching a photography class to about 20 homeschool students this semester. I give them a “homework” assignment each week. This past week’s assignment was to practice what we have been learning about aperture and take a picture of “something old”. I do the assignments with them each week instead of going through my files and picking out a picture I took in the past. It helps me practice what I teaching as well. My first thought of something old was of my wife’s grandparents reading an old bible. So, here’s the end result of my homework assignment for this week – the hands are those of Amy’s grandmother and the bible was the bible that belonged to Amy’s great grandfather.
