February 2009

A whole month flew by without me writing. Funny how with the New Year usually comes for me a new commitment, but instead I let go of it all...... At first it seemed a response to some unanswered questions I had asked God- the fleece I had laid out towards the end of 2008 appeared very dry and brittle, and for me that meant only one thing- I couldn't write, I didn't want to write. Around mid December the work on my novel came to a standstill because I reached a wall with it, one I couldn't seem to get over. I felt I needed to go back to the beginning and fill in gaps but had no idea what to put into those holes I clearly saw in the story. In my human logic the best thing seemed to shelve it and so I did- I packed it away with my Christmas decorations and it went into the attic. The sense of loss I felt was incredible but I knew this step was necessary. The first weeks of the New Year were marked with a deep feeling of loss and emptiness, but now I realize there is great purpose in me temporarily letting go. I have been resting, sitting cross-legged at a crossroads, waiting for direction. In the meantime I have had the privilege to read two great books- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Night by Elie Wiesel. I will share more about these stories and what I have been learning through them here on my blog in the future.

If there came one bit of clarity for me as 2008 wound down it was the refuge I have found through my photography and being outdoors. It gives me great pleasure to see the beauty of the world around me through the lens of a camera. I will be doing alot of that in the future.

I have posted a few recent photos I have taken. I love to view trees in winter, when all their branches are bare. As beautiful as those green leaves are in spring and summer, there is something awesome and majestic about the bare trunks and branches of trees reaching towards the heavens against a blue sky.