25 August 2016

Marvin and Ranelle {Engaged}

It doesn't seem real at all...! My sister is getting married!!! πŸ˜† Like soon! πŸ˜„
I'm so excited for Marvin and Ranelle, and I appreciate their relationship with God and with each other so much! When I grow up, I want to be just like them! ☺️ ...oh wait... 😝

Hehe, anyway, they got engaged in July when our Campmeeting at Monark was going on, and so I got to take engagement pictures for them! :)








Personally, this picture would show you why I enjoyed my evening taking pictures  so much! πŸ˜‰πŸ˜Š







Look at those horses running around in the background!! πŸ˜„



-MarLeahJoy

 
 







 


 

14 August 2016

Enjoy Life



This last week hasn't been perfect in a natural sense, but it's actually been as close to perfect as everyday life can get. ;) Anytime the Lord talks to you personally, it gives quite a refreshment and uplift to your spirit!

Actually, the things I'm going to mention today aren't even half of the things the Lord has encouraged or helped me through this week. 



Green Sands Beach, Hawaii - April 2016

We heard about bearing fruit with patience today in church service.
Which was just what I needed, both spiritually and temporally... Because I had actually been asking the Lord to bless me with some patience this week. :P
It was brought out that patience is part "you wanting it really hard", and part "God's gift to us."
One of the areas where we can help ourself in patience is to envision the very end goal that we are reaching for. No matter what circumstances come along or what anyone else says, as long as you keep the vision, then you have no reason to give up or fail! Just keep going on!! :)



Kona, Hawaii - April 2016

I've always loved the book of Ecclesiastes, and this week I came to love it even more! :)
It's such a completely different book than any other book in the bible. In some respects, it almost seems to give a lot of contradiction to the rest of the bible, but honestly it's just completing everything else and giving a well rounded view on life.

One of the places I opened up to first was Chapter 11
"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth."

I've heard "casting your bread upon the water" with several different meanings... all in the light of making an investment. Maybe an investment into gaining other souls for the kingdom, or maybe making a personal investment for our own souls. 
But the commentary on these verses says that it's actually talking about literally investing money or goods.
Here's what my commentary says about  Chapter 11 and verses 1-6.
"These verses focus on making sound investments. It may seem odd that the Bible has such teachings, but much of Proverbs is concerned with advice on how to avoid poverty by prudent action. Most of us need a certain degree of prosperity in order to have a good life, and the advice here is valuable for both ancient and modern readers.
Verses 1-2: These verses deal with financial investment, not charity. The phrase 'bread upon the waters' refers to investing in overseas trading ventures, which may result in a return on the investment. The words 'seven' or 'eight' refers to diversifying one's investments."

So anyone who knows me well... knows that I get my little nerd glasses on when it comes to investing money. 
Well, sadly this year has kind of got me off track, and I've lost my vision about investing. I've been trying to get back on... and, you know what...? The Lord has actually been talking to me through many different verses in the bible this week about having wisdom with my money. I won't bore you with the verses, but they are found in Proverbs, just like the commentary mentioned.
It was sooo, so much of an encouragement to me that God would guide me to those verses. It gave me the little extra boost and challenge I needed to keep on track with my finances. Also, I have no human understanding as to what to do for my life in preparation for anything. And I mean anything! God understands my life and the path before me, and I'm grateful for the little nudge he gave me to be sure to stay on track with my financial goals. So, If he has opened up some scriptures to me this week about planning financially, then I am certain that he will order and take care of the rest. Because to be honest, I would tend to personally say that, financial wisdom is the least important of all other wisdom in the whole scope of things. But yet it DOES hold a degree of importance. ...And God has shown me that he cares to guide me in that area! 😊 May I listen and take heed in this area and others -- so that He can bless! 



Hilo, Hawaii - April 2016

Have I told you I loved Ecclesiastes yet...? ;) 

Well the next thought the Lord has blessed me so much with is from parts of Chapters 8 and 9... about enjoying the life the Lord has given us.

Once again, I'll share what my bible's commentary has to say about this part of the book: "This does not involve neglect of other duties, because there is a time for everything under the sun. But a life without enjoyment is no life at all."

It was just what I needed to read to finish off all the things I've been pondering and musing over this week. Basically reading this I just felt the Lord smiling at me and saying, "I love you, and I care!" :)


-MarLeahJoy







09 August 2016

I Crashed


Lately, I've been feeling this extra connection to nature... and an extra desire (than normal) to capture it. So yesterday evening, I loaded up my camera pack, grabbed the dog, and set out on my bike to go find me a pretty spot in the country to watch the sunset. I had made it up the first major hill and was going down a little incline and somehow totally wiped out on my bike. Oopsie... Hehe! I walked home because my bike was in no condition to ride after that... Not to mention my knee and hand.
I cleaned up pretty fast and decided I should just drive out to the countryside and hopefully be in time to catch the sunset anyway... because something inside just told me that it would probably be a beautiful one. πŸ˜Š

Go here to watch the video I made from the evening...




I wanted to include a clip of myself doing a cartwheel in the video... :P But then I looked at my hand... and at the pavement... πŸ˜ Hmmm, maybe not smart. But then I thought, "Eh, it can't hurt too much more than it already does." πŸ˜­


These pictures don't even begin to do justice to the beautiful sunset...


And to think that God paints us a new one each evening!


It did me a lot of good to just spend some time outside enjoying it! :)


For most of an hour, I stayed stationed just right by the fence watching the colors change and the clouds morph and mold.



Just an old country road, but it brings me much peace. :)

-MarLeahJoy

06 August 2016

355


I'm blogging twice today... because I'm editing my sister's engagement photos and my heart is overflowing with love!!

Love for my sister and her fiancΓ©!
Love for love!
Love for their pictures! 
And Love for Lightroom and it's magical powers!

Here's a little screenshot of a before and after.


By the way... this is my three hundred and fifty-fifth post!! :P Hence the title, because I had nothing else creative or descriptive. ;)

-MarLeahJoy

Weekend Journal



Oh my... I have a bit of a problem when it comes to videos.
I don't have that much knowledge about how to make videos that really flow and all, but I'm so addicted to making them because I LOVE all the good times they bring back. 

I just finished up a video from my last weekend... nothing that special, but just kind of a weekend at home with a bit of a "to-do" list and then some time at the lake. :P







Then I made a quick video of Hawaii... Most of my videoing was done on GoPro, but I have a good "recap" of Hawaii on just the videos I shot on my Canon 7D, so I just compiled a few of those clips. Someday I'm gonna have to go through allllll of those GoPro videos and try to make a few reasonable videos out of the trip. :P





Ya'll have a wonderful weekend!!

-MarLeahJoy