Aim. Click. Focus. Click. Adjust. Click. Zoom. Click.
"Any created thing of which I am amazed, it is the glimpse of His face to which I bow down. Do I have eyes to see it's Him and not the thing? ~Ann Voskamp
I am completely mesmerized by the ocean. I live in an ocean of corn fields, not of water. Some may find it crazy that I yearn for the ocean and will drive 20 hours to see it, walk in it, soak it in. I cannot meet the ocean waves without quoting Job 38:8-11 in my head,
"Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?"
And therefore, I stand at the waves with their boundaries on the shore, totally in AWE of my God.
His grandeur
His unlimitless size
His grace
His creativity
His forgiveness
His provision
His Beauty, He is Beauty
His love
I've realized my yearning for the ocean is my yearning for God. The Beauty is God. Ann says again, "Is the longing for the Beauty the happiest place of all? Longing to gaze upon the Beauty of the Lord and to seek Him, the place where all the joy spills from."
With my camera, I shoot and shoot, trying to get that exact replica that I see with my eye to register on film. It rarely happens, but I continue my quest to capture it. This has become part of me. It is a part that God created.
Author Gary Thomas describes Sacred Pathways....paths we take to experience the presence of God. God created me to be a Naturalist, to find him in nature, to see Him in his handiwork. Through nature I worship God for who He is and what He has done for me. It is here that I feel His closeness.
So I continue to focus, click, adjust, click, zoom, & click, always watching for the Beauty around me so I can worship the Beauty who created me.
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I have two places where I post my photos, so if you care to share with me in my hunt for the Beauty Maker, click on over to my photo blog, Capturing Beautiful, or my Flickr account, which I just opened.
I feel the same way about the ocean! I grew up on the West Coast, and even after being in IN for many years, I still miss the ocean. Whenever I get to be there I sing the words to a very old worship chorus:
ReplyDelete"Have you ever stood at the ocean, with the white foam at your feet? Felt the endless thundering motion? Then I say--you've seen Jesus my Lord!"
your pictures are just beautiful. thanks for sharing a slice of the ocean with us today! what a wonderful creator God we serve!
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