There can be No shadow without the LIGHT

John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Many of you know that I have suffered from depression for about 10 years now. I have 2 different kind of days when it comes to D DAYS. I have my Shadow days and I have Dark Days. Shadow days are difficult days but they are manageable with medication. Those are days I may be down but I have people around me that encourage me or I listen to Christian music or do my Bible study. Dark days are very different. Dark Days are days are exactly that. Dark. I sit alone. Those are the days I just can't move or make sense out of life. Functioning is almost impossible.

The reasoning behind the naming of my days is with God being my light, on my Shadow days I can atleast feel God's presence in my life. I may feel lost but somewhere inside of me I know that He hasn't moved and I know that there is Hope. I just haven't figured it out. On my Dark days it is exactly that. Dark. Any voice I hear is my own in my head and it is always reminding me that I'm lost.

Now the question would be why don't I insist on making sure that I implement something into my life everyday to ensure that I don't have those dark days. Easier said than done. I'll save that for another post. And I also want to add that I don't have D Days all the time. Thankfully!! Many times life can be going smooth and I can be doing great. It's hard to know when they will come or how long they will stay....

Anyhooooo......... what started this thinking...........

Yesterday I heard something that stuck with me throughout the day and the ruminating has continued this morning so I thought I would share it here.

There can be No shadow without the LIGHT.

It's a simple little fact and yet I can't even begin to imagine all the information a Google search would bring up on the subject. And so as to not confuse my mind any farther I thought it best to keep them contained and not do that Google search.,,,,,,,, (Squirrel.....................)

The photo above was a shot that I took a year or so ago in my kitchen. I remember trying to set things just the right way so that the sun would come in through the window to get the shadow in the correct form that I desired and make a heart. It would have never crossed my mind to do this photo in the evening... well unless I had lighting equipment.

There can be No shadow without the LIGHT....

Now.....I LOVE Light... Absolutely Love it!!!!! When I'm home alone I am one of those people who leaves lights on (don't tell Rob).  I LOVE laying out in the bright bright sunshine where I can hardly keep my eyes open because the sun is so bright and feeling the heat on my skin. There are few things in life that make me happier than sunshine.... sigh... (As I sit here and write we are at the beginning of a cold Wisconsin Winter with a temperature of 2 degrees out so those days happening around here are far off so it's time to get my light box out....)

 Since Jesus IS The LIGHT then anyone who walks close to him will benefit from that light. The further we move from His presence the more difficult it is to benefit from that light. I personally have struggled with this in my own life in the last several years and can say that if I could get this one truth nailed down I would have so much more peace.... I'm trying... I'm trying... I'm trying.....

 Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So Jesus never leaves us. He never moves away from us. When we cry out to God and wonder why he is silent I have to wonder how many times that silence is because we have traveled so far from the light that we wouldn't even know what to look for if we saw it. Why do we get angry with Him? Why do we feel that He has deserted us? When we are the ones slowly inching away, doing our own thing in the world thinking that it is no big deal. Once we give our lives to God he doesn't put a fence around us and tell us we aren't allowed to wander. We have freedom. So when we decide that what the world tempts us with seems "not so bad"..."not so harmful"..."what's the big deal"...."God won't really mind"...."I'll come back later"..."I'm just trying new things"... "I'm trying to find myself"...."once I have kids I'll change"..."doesn't he love me for who I am?".... We begin to make so many excuses that everything seems to be okay. And suddenly we begin to serve a wimpy God who says.... "I changed my mind... anybody can come to heaven"....... well.... I think that's probably the bible that we make up in our head when get so far from the light that we can't read the scripture and we are all huddled together saying... "yeah, that sounds good!!"...

Today I dream for you LIGHT.... Think about it in ways that you have not before. .... I ask that you remember that Jesus is the Light.........and that you would be so close to the light that the shadows would be more strong and brilliant more so than you have ever experienced

The feeling of a camera in my hand

 

The decision to open up my blog and start to look at again has made me sentimental for my camera. I can't even tell you the last time I held my camera in my hand.  I'm not sure if setting my camera down was intentional or not. I know that after returning from Bolivia I really wasn't using it much and then Becca was asking to use it more and more for a second camera for wedding shoots and so I just had her keep it unless I needed it. Life takes on so many changes. Years ago my camera was attached to me as my arm was. I saw the world through the lens of a camera. 

As nervous as I am to begin to blog again I am equally as nervous to photograph. Last night a sweet friend and I had a good talk about being a photographer. Yes we can say that we do it for ourselves and that is true because it is a love but to put your work on display is very difficult because it is a reflection of your heart. Whether it be my writing or my photography I know it is for myself... It has to be for myself... And the older I get the closer I'm getting to truly being in that spot... But we have to be real and admit that we are human....

Okay... I really need to go accomplish something today...

Today I dream for you the chance to pick up something that you have long ago put down. Something that you thought you wouldn't get the chance to go back to.... Why not??? Have a beautiful day!

 

As I opened up my blog site I was amazed at how long it had actually been since I had last written a post here. I knew it had been a long time but I had not realized that so many years had passed. I don't even need to look back through posts to remember the posts of joy and the posts that put me into some of my darkest pits.

The reasons that I haven't posted are numerous and quite possibly those reasons will come forth in posts in the future... but we will see. But I can honestly say that my heart has missed it here. My heart has missed sharing and encouraging. But although I am posting today I am making no promises for the future.... sigh..... But for today it was nice to be here again :-)

So today my friends I dream for you........ hope...... hope for your future and the blessings that God has ready to rain down on you......

Have a beautiful day.