Week 17 good to WOW SOOC Growth

This last weekend I was at a retreat with many of my friends, and I took a lot of pictures of plants and my friends.  It is hard to choose which pictures represent growth the most.  Certainly my friendship with these ladies grew a great deal, but I still don't have all of their permission to post their pictures so...

I really tried to capture the majesty and height of the trees along the path we walked.  This photo is my favorite of these.  It isn't as powerful as being there, but it still represents growth to me.  One reason is that I do really like it.  I have been taking pictures of tall trees for years because I always feel in awe, but not one picture captured that awe for me at all, so I've always deleted them.  This is one of the first I've wanted to keep.

Even though I took better pictures of God's creation this weekend, this next photo represents growth to me more than any of the others.  I have never been an outdoors person.  I'd much rather be curled up on the couch with a good book pretending to live an active life of adventure.  Since I've gotten my camera I have wanted to go out and capture interesting shots.  Aside from taking pictures of my kids, I have found a new passion for capturing flowers and animals--things of nature.  As I take the pictures and when I look at my pictures and see something beautiful, it becomes an act of worship for me.  I am constantly being in awe of God and the amazing variety and beauty in His creation.  I pray that I can retain this new awe and love for the beauty of God.

The following picture I took while I was sitting on the path waiting for my friends.  One group had gotten so far ahead I didn't know which way they had gone and one was behind me on the phone with her family.  I sat a little a ways from her and decided to spend some time talking to God.  I didn't have my Bible or my journal or lyrics to any songs, but I'd asked God to make sure I spent some alone time with Him during the retreat and this was one of the times He chose.  So I sat and prayed and sang the one song I could remember and while sitting there this moth landed.  While praising God for His creation He brought me something else to see and capture.

I know many have always seen God in creation, and the Bible says that He is visible in creation, but I feel like my camera has given me the glasses to see Him in one more place, and this is a wonderful step of growth in my life. 

Romans 1:20:  

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

Thanks for listening.  Be sure to check out the other pictures of growth over at Jill's blog.  There will be some amazing pictures to see, and some of them are a lot less wordy than I.