Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week four}

We are finally at FOUR weeks of this series. I can't wait to see how Kyleigh and I continue grow in love for our Savior.

This past week was definitely a rough one. Rough patches like this force me into pleading for help from someone so much bigger than me or you. The results are much better when I find my strength in God, rather than trying to make it on my own. 

Here is week four of "Where I See Jesus"

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week three}

I love that I'm doing this series with my friend because it causes me to intentionally find something to be grateful for each day. I am so thankful for my God who reveals Himself to me in so many different ways. I love how He shows me He loves me in ways specific to myself and how I recognize love. He knows what my so called "love language" is. But I don't even need a test to know that I am very much someone who needs to be SHOWN love in a tangible way. I have always been a visual person. This has often caused a lot of doubt in my life because I can't see God how I see a friend, or the paper I'm writing on. A lot of my raw and vulnerable prayers to God have involved me expressing my frustration in not being able to "see" Him. But because God wants me to see Him, He intentionally shows himself in ways I will recognize. God doesn't show himself in the full splendor that would cause me to fall on my face, but He shows me HIMSELF in so many other ways. I see Him in my relationships with others, in my family members, in His creation, and in the grace that is given to me every day. I see him in ways I would've usually ignored. Now I see Him in things like having a silly little tradition of going to Starbucks with my friend each Sunday. I see Him in the quiet moments of life like in the car while I'm driving. I see Him in random road trips with a friend. You can see God in every little thing, you just have to look. 

Here's where I saw Jesus this past week:

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week two}

Here goes week two of this wonderful little series. 

This week was hard. It was one of those "bland" weeks where it's even more difficult for me to see Jesus through all of the crap. However, this made me seek Him out even more fervently. Like someone in a desert searching desperately for water. He quenches my thirst for something more. 

I need to accept that sometimes I won't always have fantastic days. Bad days (or weeks) cause me to grow. They cause me to lean on something bigger and higher than myself. 

Here's where I saw Jesus this week:

FaceTiming my family in Target.

Little animals know when I've had a rough day. 

Driving home is when I have the best talks with my Savior. 

- J

Camera in hand, seeking out the Lord. {week one}

What would your life look like if you intentionally sought out Jesus daily? Desperately seeking the beauty of God. 

It is so incredibly easy to pass through your day with a glazed over expression. How many people do the SAME thing day after day, that it's hard to find beauty in the repetition? I know that I tend to be one of those people. I'm so focused on getting through the day in one piece that I forget to just STOP for a second and look around me at the wonderful world my God has created. I sometimes feel as though I don't "see" God in my daily life. And in all honesty, I had been blaming GOD instead of looking inward.

 

I expressed these feelings to a close friend of mine, Kyleigh. She is a fellow dreamer. In fact, she's the one who inspired me to start dreaming BIG again. We regularly talk to one another about what we want to "be" when we grow up. She's taught me that I don't have to limit myself to one thing. If I want to be a musician/blogger/traveller/designer/photographer, I CAN BE. She's what one would call a super encourager, and I love her to death for it. 

In my conversation with her, we uncovered that we were BOTH having a hard time seeing/feeling God in our lives. I found that I was the reason I wasn't seeing God, because I wasn't LOOKING for Him. I was too wrapped up in other things not as important. So instead of continuing in that way, I feel as though God showed us something we could do about it. 

We both are very visual people, and we LOVE taking pictures and blogging. So here enters our idea or "exercise". We decided to combine our passions and start what I like to call: "This is where I saw Jesus today." We will be intentionally looking for God in our lives, once a day (or more), one week at a time, and documenting it with a camera. My friend so lovingly called this using our "Jesus lens".  The possibilities are endless. We'll be posting our seven days every Sunday. (Yes, I've already missed the deadline. Whoops.) God has already revealed His amazing glory so much in week one of this exercise. He is completely WORTHY to be praised.

I pray that God will use this exercise to help Kyleigh and myself to see Him in a whole new, and loving way. I also pray that God would use us to point others to Him in all that we do. 

You can see Kyleigh's week one post on her blog here: www.kyleidoscopeoflife.blogspot.com

Here is where I saw Jesus in the past week: 

- J