Don't forget to check out my photo blog at 
www.blacklampphotography.blogspot.com 


I had the pleasure again last week to visit the beautiful Northwest - I just love Washington. The more I visit, the more I love it. Yeah, yeah, it rains a lot - Honestly I don't care one bit. 


First of all I like rain, but most importantly, it is so stunningly beautiful when it has stopped raining (storm clouds still in the sky) and when it is not raining (clear and bright outside) that it far overshadows the dreariness of sequential rainy days. 


While I am up there, I don't fear going outside - My pasty white skin does not sunburn in 5 minutes flat! At least not in October or February, the 2 months I've visited WA. I don't have to wear sunglasses or else feel my pupils dilating to a tiny 1mm circumference. And I can flaunt my love of scarves and layers without having to worry about 40-50 degree temperature fluctuations between day and night! 


Speaking of which, what is going on down here in sunny San Diego? The high today at my house was 84, and the low 39. WHAT?!? That's just freakishly bizarre. I in fact need A/C during the day while my house is baking in the sweltering sun, and then at night I use 3-4 blankets and bundle up lest I freeze in my 55-60 degree bedroom. 


55-60 degrees is okay outside, when you're moving around and such - But indoors, when you're laying still... It's a tad chilly. Though admittedly I do love it cold so I can burry myself in blankets while I sleep. I think it's just the psychotic temperature difference between day and night that is making it a little funky. That's autumn in SoCal for you though!


I can't believe it's already the end of October. When Tuesday comes, it will officially kick off the "holiday season" - Halloween will be over, and I can freely focus on sweet cinnamon spice, pumpkin, turkey, family togetherness, thankfulness, fall colours, and... saving up money to buy Christmas presents! haha. 


Happy Autumn everyone! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 
Cheers :)
~D

REMEMBER.

By Deanna L. Teske

I never thought I’d see the day when love was growing old;

When dreams that held the future still had simply all been sold.

What tiresome ways we follow in our old, begotten years;

When youth is buried, joy forgotten – Awaiting unknown fears.

What apathetic tones we sing which carry not too far;

Our hallelujahs cease their ringing and nary reach a star…

Oh love once filled these pews with patience, with unencumbered praise;

But sorrow’s woes have overcome us in these latter days.

What has come of Christ our Saviour, who set us free from death?

Our hearts once yearned though now have turned to seeking so for wealth.

Oh Lord have mercy, knowing that our frames are earthen dust;

And light a fire e’er burning which leads us to the Cross.

In humble adoration bow before the Throne of old;

Upon it seated, risen Saviour whose sorrows could ne’er be told.

The pain He suffered, cruelest tortures to purchase you and me;

None can fathom, time precludes it for all eternity.

Set your gaze upon His eyes which burn with holy fire;

Take up your cross and follow Him – He’s all of man’s desire. 

The Joy of Thy Salvation

The Lord is so awesome ♥

Last night I made it home just in time to catch prayer time at the end of home fellowship - And just laid out all the questions and confusion and (ahem) lies that had been plaguing my mind for days, weeks, months... Who knows how long. And the Lord used that to bring me a renewed sense of joy in His great salvation, and to bring me the peace that I so needed.

It's funny too - Because it's not like there was a lot of discussion going on, or Bible verses discussed, to bring mental clarity on my questions... Rather, we just prayed. There were a couple thoughts shared, but mostly prayer. And I left thinking, "Hmm, well, my questions remain..."

Afterward I sat and played some piano with my landlord's daughter, and then walked back to my house. And by the time I got home, I had a great desire to keep playing... I had played a couple of my songs while over there, and they really ministered to me... Like some epiphany, the lyrics struck me as deeply true... "Have I never heard these lyrics before?" I thought; "Did I not write them? Why do they seem so foreign?"

I had so divorced myself from the heart that wrote... That I did not even recognize it when I heard it. But suddenly it was all flooding back in... And songs burst from my heart like a cry from a newborn baby.

That's not to say I had the most amazing songwriting session ever (though I did compose the framework for my first song since May - and I am liking it! It's very different!) - But rather, what grand thing that ensued was the freedom to express thanks and praise and to let gratitude to my King freely pour forth... And that just filled my heart with a peace and joy which I hadn't felt in some time.

Over the hurdle - But not done with the race! But my God is here with me - And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am eternally thankful for His love, and for His mercies which are new every morning.

Amen ♥

Time Flies!

Wow oh wow, does time fly! I can't believe it's already October 5th - It seems like I was just wincing at the summer heat and fanning myself all the day long... And now it's raining and blustery, cold winds are sweeping through the land.

Today was a sad day as we mourn the loss of a true creative genius, Steve Jobs. A friend posted on FB and I watched his Stanford graduation address on YouTube. A week ago a friend-of-a-friend suddenly passed away from a massive heart attack as well... It makes one think... This life is oh, so temporary.

Tomorrow is promised to no man, and our lives - Even if long by human standards - Are but a vapor and then are gone. Only what is done for eternity will last.

I've been pretty discouraged since turning 30 a year or so ago... Thinking that my opportunities to live the kind of life I always wanted were now severely limited, or even gone. I am not married, not in a relationship, haven't graduated college, don't have a career, and am still renting (and not even able to afford to rent on the market!).

I have many talents and things I love to do - But I get overwhelmed by the need to pay bills and the time I have to spend working, and feel like I just don't have the energy or time to devote to these true interests. In addition to that, they are all quite expensive hobbies and I have very little money to spend on the good equipment that I would like to have. Lately I have been noticing a few things in regards to this...

(1) People aren't likely to take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously - That is, if you are interested in photography but are always telling people your photos aren't very good, or saying that you don't have this or don't have that to be a "real" photographer... If you're always waiting for some level of status before you DO anything with your interest/talent... People aren't likely going to "buy your product" (believe in / support you).

(2) Pretty much everyone starts out as a nobody - And they just use the gifts God has given them to the best of their ability, and God is the one who raises them up as He wills. I mean, there are some musicians who I think are really super lame. Yet they are famous. How on earth did that happen? Some things just can't be explained logically... ;)

(3) Life doesn't end at 30. I know it FEELS like it does - But it doesn't. The age of 30 is not some mystical deadline that says, "If you haven't done it, or at least started doing it by now, it's too late." I take great hope from the people who have met and gotten married to the love of their life after 30. Who have discovered their calling in life after 30. Jesus began His ministry at 30, and changed the world forever...

Well, I suppose that's enough rantings for the moment. I will leave you with this one thought - Make the most of each moment, and do what glorifies the Lord for eternity... For only those things done for His glory will last in the end... Time is short. Amen.

Black Lamp Photography

So I have created a new blog just for sharing photos I've taken.

I'm really enjoying photography, and thinking about perhaps taking some online classes in the field.

"Black Lamp Photography" is the moniker I've created for my photographer's identity - Check it out! You can follow me either on Blogger or via email (there's a little box on the right side of the page to sign up for following via email).

Visit Black Lamp Photography

Thanks! :)

"The Search"

A poem.

We all search for meaning,

For what we think is truth--

Deep inside, a longing

To be recognized;

Not sufficient to be known,

Nor simply to be heard--

Our heart's desire: full embrace!

True love to bridge the gap...

Yet all the while, yet unknown,

The Bearer of our burdens

Stands aloof with outstretched arms

To ease our endless shame.

Awake! my heart, to hear His voice!

Awake! my soul-- Take flight!

I never did find another

Who'd all my sorrows bear,

Nor did I e'er cease my longing

For such a love to share;

Yet from the darkness, dim and hopeless,

A brilliant light poured forth--

Aching ceasing, pain releasing,

My soul had found its rest.

Though insufficient: man's appraisals,

Our value to define,

I've found a love, outlasts all others;

I'm His and He is mine.

~D.T. 9-4-11

Choices, Choices...

I am reading a book by Kevin DeYoung called, "Just Do Something" - And he so clearly demonstrates my generation's tendencies to be indecisive. I'd have to agree I very well fit into that category! But I'm learning and growing :)

I have been thinking lately about the many gifts and talents God has entrusted to me-- I am good at music and that's been my main creative outlet since I was around 12. But I also really enjoy and have potential in art, photography, writing, and baking...

I currently use writing at work (though it's audit reports - Bleh), and I randomly bake goodies to bless my friends and family. I am really starting to enjoy photography, but I definitely need to read my book and get to a place where I can more consistently and intentionally take good photos. I haven't done much with art in quite some time, but get me in an art store for a few minutes and suddenly I'm drawn to it... No pun intended! (But that was a good one, wasn't it?)

I would love to be able to perhaps use photography to earn some money... And I would absolutely love to have more time for music. Whenever I finish re-recording my demo I could send it to a record company... Choices, choices. So many options. DeYoung points out in his book that this is part of the blame in our indecisiveness! Don't I believe it!

But I just thought I would muse on the matter. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done!

Romans 9:16 ~ So then, it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of the One having mercy, of God.

It is not by our wills, not by our efforts, but by God's mercy that we are saved. Sure, we choose to respond to God's offer of mercy, but that the offer was ever extended to begin with is purely His mercy-- For He can choose whomever He wills. And not only that, but without His intervention we were not even free to choose to respond-- For there is none that seeks after God, no not one.

And this is eternally comforting, in that He is 100% infallible and 100% capable-- And because of this we needn't fear that His salvation will falter, or His work fail. For not one will be lost of all that the Father has given, and no one is able to snatch us from His hands. ♥
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Better still, He is faithful to complete the work that He started until the day of Christ Jesus-- And He is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us before the glory of His presence with exceeding joy...

And it is He who works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure. There is no part of our salvation or our sanctification which relies upon our ability to be holy or righteous (or we'd all be sunk!). It is His Spirit at work in us and His sacrifice for us which sanctifies us and secures our eternal destinies.
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Thank God--And what a load of pressure off us! Not only to understand that I myself don't need to measure up to earn His pleasure-- But that I CANNOT measure up to earn His pleasure (yet He loves me anyway)... This is indeed oh, so freeing!

And what are we thus freed unto? Nothing less than a thankful heart of praise and gratitude. I think we all-too-often neglect the art of thankfulness-- Not just mouthing the words, but truly reflecting upon His selfless gift of salvation and pouring forth praises from a sincere and thankful heart.

Amen! ♥

Apathy

Apathy has no place in the character and nature of God as revealed in scripture.

Not apathy toward you, toward me--Not toward our feelings or joys, amusements or pain... He is not apathetic toward sin nor toward the plights of mankind.

Though He seems to delay, this does not convey apathy, but rather supreme wisdom, patience and love.

Amen.

God Means What He Says

God Means What He Says

Romans 9:9 ~ For the word of promise is this, "According to this season I will come, and a son will be born to Sarah."

While reading Romans 9 today this thought occurred to me - God's promises are specific. He doesn't need to be vague or general (for His word to come to pass), and there is no cause to think maybe He meant something less than what He said.

He told Abraham that he would have a son. Naturally one would presume that meant that God would overcome (supernaturally) the barrenness of his wife, Sarah, and that of his already-existing marital union he would have a son. And surely that's what Abraham thought... Until several years (13? 25? I forget) passed on... And still no son.

Then Sarah gets the idea (but note, Abraham doesn't object!) that maybe God REALLY meant that Abraham would have a son by some other means than Sarah. (I mean, surely God would've done it by now if He'd intended to, right?) Maybe, after all, God was just telling Abraham the future of what would happen, and not promising to overcome some impossible obstacle. So... Enter Hagar and Ishmael.

But God came back later, not acknowledging Ishmael or Abraham's attempt to fulfill God's promises, and says, "Abraham, you're going to have a son-- Through Sarah." Abe must've thought, "OOOOooohh... So God really DID mean what I thought He meant all those years ago! (Doh!)"

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In this we see God didn't say one thing (that would have had an obvious interpretation by those to whom He spoke), yet mean something else. He is not trying to confuse people.

It is true that He is entirely above and beyond us-- However He has chosen to make known His plans to us (some of them anyway). And we have no reason to think that what He said should be interpreted any other way than it originally would have been by those to whom He first spoke.

We see this happening centuries ago, even while the N.T. was still being penned-- People were trying to "reinterpret" what Jesus had said... It was said that Jesus would return "in like manner as He'd ascended" (that is, bodily, in the clouds). Surely what the hearers understood that to mean was that He would return, bodily from the clouds to the earth.

Yet people started coming up with bizarre ideas about Jesus not coming back, or because it didn't happen when they expected it to, that He was going to come back "spiritually" rather than bodily... Or that it had some figurative meaning.

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We get ourselves into a lot of trouble because of our expectations of what God ought to do. We expect God to do things within a certain span of time, and if/when He doesn't (which is very often the case), we draw false conclusions. And then we carry out faulty plans of action based on our false conclusions-- Even up to forming a worldview and/or theological concept based on such false conclusions.

We decide that God either isn't real, or that He isn't interested in or concerned with us, or that He doesn't relate to us personally-- Or that He doesn't mean what He said, because that isn't our experience. Then we become either forlorn in attitude, hopeless and discouraged, or we start to go out and "make things happen" on our own and disregard seeking Him all together.

Perhaps though-- And almost certainly indeed-- God intentionally waits for that certain point in time (which only He knows)... That point we have either consciously or unconsciously set in our minds, by which time God "should have done" this-or-that (if He truly cared about us)... He waits for this point, and then (to our utter and intense dismay), lets it PASS.

And He lets more and more time pass from that point-- Because, of course, we have set up NEW points and timeframes. And He lets, one-by-one, those new timeframes and points fade into the distant past, leaving us (seemingly) broken, confused, and in despair.

Perhaps it is that He does this to test and to grow our faith. Will we abandon Him if we don't get our way? Will we, as Satan accused Job, curse God to His face? Or will we (like Job) say, "Though He slay me, yet shall I praise Him," and, "Naked I came... Naked I shall go... Blessed be the name of the Lord"?

This is not to say that God purposely withholds every near and dear thing from us to prove our faith. But it is to say that if it seems there is some sizable delay in His performing His word, in His answering prayer... That it is NOT because He is not faithful... It is NOT because you haven't performed well enough to earn His blessing... It is NOT because He really didn't mean what He said in His word...

But it MAY be that He is waiting for your expectations to die-- So that He gets all glory, and you remember that He is high above you, and answers to none-- Though He has chosen to become the servant of all.

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So take heart dear sister, dear brother-- For the promise shall not delay-- Though it does (seemingly) delay, wait for it-- For it will surely come... HE will surely come. :)

Note - Though God is perfectly able to speak in prophetic visions and such to His children, I am not only speaking of this (for these we have little way of standing firmly upon). But we have His word that He hears us when we pray... That the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much... That the prayer of faith will heal the sick... That if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness He will add all things necessary for this life unto us... And that if we ask anything in His name (according to His nature) He will give it. ♥ ♥ ♥

Summer is Here!

As I walked through the yard today, I came upon the realization that indeed, Summer is here! And it has truly been a long time since I have seen it - Last year it never quite seemed to stick around, and was dubbed, "The Summer that Never Was". But 1 week into July, the pool is up, the AC roaring, and the plants thirsting!

What does this season of swelter hold in store?? Thus far, I have gotten a fabulous new vocal microphone which I absolutely love... I used it for the concert night my church held last week and it was SO sweet - My voice was a bit hoarse both before and after the concert, yet on stage I could sing like a bird... It feels like my mic is an extension of my vocal chords. I love it.

I also recently got some MIDI cables to hook up the electric piano at my house to my computer, as well as an XLR to USB cable so I can use my mic with my computer. With the MIDI cables I am able to use all the synthesized sounds in Garage Band (strings, etc.) and so now I think I have the ability to do a fairly decent demo CD - This is on my to-do list for the summer for sure!! :D

I also had a lot of fun taking pictures at my little sister's wedding (okay, younger sister...) - And wedding photography seems to be of more interest than I previously thought. I may actually decide to learn a bit more on that and finally finish reading my photography book. Maybe one day I will be able to make some money doing it! That would be awesome. But perhaps a long way down the winding road of life. ;)

I hope that your summer too is blessed and full of adventure and exciting new opportunities! Our God is a good God, and (as is the title of my blog)-- HIS PLANS ARE GOOD. ♥ ❧

Welcome to the DSLR World... :)

So recently, prior to my trip to Seattle in February, I purchased a DSLR camera. A Canon Rebel T2i, to be exact. And I must say... Wow. I love this thing! I admit, it takes some getting used to when all you've ever known is being able to carryyour one-stop-shop digicam in your pocket everywhere, but it's so worth it!

I've recently updated the photos in the background/frame of my blog to include some pictures I took with my new camera.

Check this photo slideshow of select pictures I've taken with my new DSLR... Enjoy! :)

It's Been Such a Long, Long Time...

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything, I know... I just haven't had the time to sit down and write!

This year so far has been very, very busy with work, and excitingly my personal life is getting busier as well! Since January I have traveled to Orange County (CA), Las Vegas NV, Houston TX, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, Atlanta GA... I may have left one out. But that's a lot for 3 months!

Next week I am blessed to be traveling for pleasure rather than for work - I will be visiting my friends up in Oregon for a week! Originally it was just a trip to visit, but the Lord has opened up doors for me to be able to minister at their church through music. I feel so unprepared and unworthy to be playing for an outreach to the kids up there... And all alone! *Gulp!* Hehe - I know the Lord will be faithful, as He always is, to carry me through.

Another blessing is I have been able to play music with a friend of mine recently. He is going to be playing with me at a gig I have at a community arts & crafts fair at my church this coming Sunday. He also knows a bass player who may be able to accompany us on a few songs, and we might have someone to play djimbe too (a hand drum - "jim-bay")!

The Lord has just been blessing me SO much, though I am SOOOoooo unworthy... He has also been teaching me a lot about surrender, and trusting Him. It's been a good year so far, though very, very busy! I'm very much so looking forward to what He has in store around the next corner... :)

Until then, peace out!

~D~