Photography Scavenger Hunt

Stapler

This is what happens when staplers decide to take up acting...
Reflections
Reflecting the Sun

Leap
When I think of leap...I think of frog...I think of leapfrog!

Fears
Sitting on the fence, failing to make a difference, being neither hot nor cold

Coffee
Good to the last drop

Time
Time + Work + Filling out a timecard = Paycheck

Squirrel
The only good squirrel is a dead squirrel

White Trash
(No comment...Really)

Date
Advanced Excel Graduation

Police
"Wear your seat belt and do not speed."

Self Portrait
Pretty self explanatory...It's Me!

Making a Statement
FREEDOM

A Memory
So many memories... ask me about it sometime

Green
It just rained and everything is green

A Tool

Useless without a skilled hand

Funny
It's my family... we like to have fun!

Where Childlike Innocence Was...

Childlike innocence. Is it not amazing how children are pleased with the simplest things in life? How the smallest things bring such joy and happiness. How a game of hide and seek with friends will bring huge smiles to their faces. Somehow, as the years go by we loose that joy, that happiness that we once found in the little things vanishes.
Years pass, and as our lives become busier, we soon forget the little things, those simple joys of life. Thus, we turn to other things. We begin looking for those pleasures that will make us feel as we once did. Though now those pleasures are not so simple, they come with a price.
Alcohol in particular has had an impact on my life, though not through personal experience. Having seen the effects it has upon those I love, many tears have been shed, through the pain and hurt that it has caused. Relationships have been broken and family ties tried.
Strength, love and friends are what it promises, an escape from the pain and worries of life. That is what we all want, right? We want to escape from the hard things. We want to forget them completely. Or for some it is merely a way of life, it is all they know. You do it to be cool, to be part of the ‘in crowd.’ Mainly, you want to feel that childlike innocence once again.
Does alcohol really make that happen? Yes, for the moment you forget the pain, you forget the hurt, but you also forget everything else. You forget what it is that you once stood for. Everything you once believed and thought was right has now been thrown out the window. What are you left with then?
When everything is said and done, what will you say to explain your actions? Why did you do the things you did? The things you do not even remember doing? How did it all start? It did not just happen. It started with one, one sip, one drink and one person wanting to be free. Wanting to live without a care in the world.
Am I saying that one drink is wrong? No, but where is one going to lead you? Do you have the self-control to stop yourself from going all the way? As a personal decision I have chosen not to even have that first sip. It has been offered and I have declined.
Why? Simply because I have see the pain and hurt that alcohol causes; I have witnessed the ones I love go through things they should never have had to. And I know if I take that first step there is no telling where it will lead. I do not know if I will be able to stop.
I thank God for His grace as He has kept me from not falling into alcohol or even having the desire for it. It is only through Him that I abstain from participating in alcohol related ‘pleasures’. His strength and love is all that I need. In Him I have that childlike innocence. What about you? Where is it that you go for strength, or for love?

Music

Boom, boom, boom, I hear the cars as they drive by, windows down and music blaring. Heads begin bobbing and people turn to see what the commotion is, to see what has influenced them to want to share their music with everyone. Is it the style, beat or possibly even the words that compel them to turn the volume up one more notch?

For me it is the music that draws in, either the beat or style. They grab my attention and rivet it in place, drawing me in deeper and deeper, before I realize it I am singing along, not even thinking about what I am saying. Not thinking about what I am letting influence my life and convert my thinking.

Thinking about it I realize that the “latest and greatest” songs are played over and over again. Before long I am singing them in my sleep because I have heard them so much. Regretfully, I do not always take into consideration the impact that the music I listen to has on my life.

What thoughts do the music I listen to put into my heart and mind? What am I really dwelling on? I do not have an answer for that yet; thus far the only thing pricking at my heart is the lyrics, the words, the words that influence my life and my decisions. Words that have been set to music that somehow seek to ruin my life.

For me realizing what an impact the lyrics have over my life has drastically changed my thinking. It is an ongoing process for me; God is still working in my heart in the area of what music I listen to. Through that knowledge I have been consciously making an effort to seek out only that music that will build up and positively influence my life.

As I am writing, a verse from Philippians comes to mind. In chapter four, verse eight it says: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Think on these things…

What is it that I am letting in? What message is being sent straight to my heart? Is it going to influence me for good or evil? The choice the falls into the lap of the individual, what will you chose? What will you allow to fill your heart and mind?