Wherever You Are, Be All There!

Greetings on this gorgeous spring day! Our weather has been uncommonly lovely for May; it's been the kind of weather that makes you want to pack a picnic lunch with a red checkered blanket and head out into the wild blue yonder. I enjoy walking around our neighborhood simply to breathe in the scent of the Confederate jasmine in the air, and I can't pick enough blossoms from our blooming gardenia bush to satisfy my love for that flower.

I honestly didn't realize that it had been so long since my previous blog post until I looked back at the last one. My eyes widened and I vowed to be a better blogger... Our book business, travel, photography, and attempting a short-term rotation on the GAPS diet- among other things- have kept me occupied lately. Our busy book season is creeping closer and closer, and life is about to become crazy once again. A lot of people think that summer is about kicking back and heading for the beach, but that's not the case around here (although I do love me some beach time)! ;)



Lately, I have been thinking about a quote I read from Jim Elliot. His words turned my stomach upside down. They made me feel guilty. They showed me a piece of my heart that needed to be fixed. They inspired me to do better- to do more. They made me think about who I am, and who God is...

“Wherever you are, be all there!

Live to the hilt

every situation

you believe

to be

the will of God.”

-Jim Elliot

Those words came from a man who was later martyred. Clearly, he had his priorities straight. As my pastor said on Sunday (I'm paraphrasing), it's not that God should be at the top of your priority list, followed by your spouse, your children, your church, your neighborhood, etc. No. God needs to be at the center of every area of our lives; everything else should revolve around Him. We cannot merely compartmentalize God into a space up on a shelf. Christ should be central to every thought we think, every word we say, every relationship we pursue, and every task we perform. He is cardinal to our happiness, our well-being, and our successes. Our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, but we cannot do that if He is not an integral part of our lives. "He must increase, but I must decrease." -John 3:30



Jim Elliot's admonition is simple to understand but difficult to follow. How often are we distracted by the internet, social networking, our daydreams, and frivolous pursuits that take us away from being where we ought? How often have important tasks been cast by the wayside in pursuit of something more fun or enjoyable or interesting? How often have we begun projects only to let them sit half completed because we became tired or bored with them? 

“Wherever you are, be all there!" Those few timeless words are convicting. I want to frame them in large letters and hang them on my bedroom wall. They make me want to be purposeful because life is short! Will we be focused on building Christ's Kingdom during the few years we have been given on this earth? Pondering this subject reminds me of an ageless poem by C.T. Studd, with which I will close...

“Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say 'twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.”

Reinspired on a Rainy Day

I mentioned in my last post that I had been struggling with a case of photographer's block, if there is such a thing. I just couldn't seem to pull myself out of the creativity rut I was in. That rarely happens to me in regard to photography, but there it was. I felt hopelessly stuck.

Enter a series of dreary Florida days.

The grey skies and drizzle carried on for a few days like they sometimes do. Normally, dark skies and dripping rain make me want to snuggle under a cozy blanket and read a thick book, but this time something was different. This time, as I watched the heavens open up and the fat raindrops beat down on our back porch, I felt thoroughly inspired. I suddenly had the greatest urge to grab my camera and shoot- so I did just that. I snapped one picture after the other and completely lost track of time. It seemed as though the wet day washed away the fog in front of my eyes. I felt like I could see clearly again. 

Creativity can be unpredictable, seeming to roll like the waves of the sea. Normally, the waves are steady, ebbing and flowing with the tide. But sometimes the sea is calm, and you can't figure out why- until a storm hits you with more inspiration than you know what to do with.

If you feel uninspired today, take heart and know that your inspiration is making its way back to you. Just keep shooting through the lull. One day, when you least expect it, a swell of creativity will all but knock you over.  :)

"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:

but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. 

Come, ye children, hearken unto me:I will teach you the fear of the Lord."

-Psalm 34:8-11

Where I've Been + What I've Been Up To

You've probably noticed that I have been rather scarce around here lately. There a few good reasons for that, so thank you for bearing with me in my absence. I've been dealing with some "technical" difficulties the past couple of months, like lack of computer storage and problems with Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately, those problems led to a chain reaction of other problems that kept me from being able to do much shooting. It also caused my creativity to take a temporary downturn. (More on that in a forthcoming post.)

Last week I was finally able to purchase two terabyte hard drives that are in transit! (Thanks for finding that deal for me, Joseph!) My computer's hard drive is nearly full, which has made loading new pictures onto it a temporary impossibility. Plus, I have a lot of photos that are not backed up anywhere, which is definitely not good.

On top of that, due to problems with my Photoshop CS4 program, I now have Lightroom 4. I am positively loving it! It has really helped to streamline my work and does an amazing job with basic editing. First opening up Lightroom was a little like opening up Photoshop for the first time.  My thoughts ran something like this: "Wow, this looks so cool! Now what?" I decided to sign up for a free trial on Lynda.com and have been taking virtual classes specifically made for learning Lightroom 4. Boy, has it saved me hours of time already! I still have a lot to learn, but feel as though I'm progressing quickly through the basics.

On the practical side of life, I have been working on starting up my photography business!  It's been a lot of work, as starting a business always is, but very rewarding. Hopefully I'll be ready to launch it in a couple of weeks or so. Stay tuned for updates!  In other news, we are gearing up for our busy book buying and selling season, which is about to begin again. Summertime is going to be a crazy time, that's for sure.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to Greenville, SC to spend the week with my friend Christiana and her family. We had an absolute blast together, and I am so thankful that the Lord has put her in my life. Her friendship has encouraged me in so many ways!

Hopefully I'll be able to blog more now that I have things straightened out. Before I go, I thought it might be fun to post a collage of some of my Instagram photos from the last few weeks to give you an idea of what I've been up to. (The corresponding numbers and text below are from my Instagram captions.) All of these pictures were taken on my 5th gen iPod Touch. I've been loving the versatility of Instagram. Even though the iPod's quality isn't the best, it lets me be creative and spontaneous in a different way.

By the way, if you want to find me on Instagram, my user ID is: laurenbhope 



1. Volleyball braids! I've really come to love Thursday nights! #cantwait In other related news, watching someone attempt to braid their stubborn curls is pretty hilarious...

2. Rich double chocolate cookie dough- mildly sweet with a dash of saltiness... Not sure how much of the cookie dough will actually turn into cookies. ;) #cookiedoughgoodness

3. Almost cookies! #gooeygoodness

4. Workspace.

5. Stranded at the Sanford airport all by my lonesome. My plane was grounded, so they're waiting on another one to fly in. It's going to be a while... At least they have WiFi! #everyoneischeesed ;)

6. Still waiting.... Just chillin' while I watch the orange sunset and eat my PBJ. And take pictures as people look at me strangely... Nothing new there! Allegiant tried to appease everyone with juice and soda. haha #gorgeousevening #stuckinsanford

7. First time at a Sonic today- with the lovely Christiana Kendall, no less! ;) Shared a huge Route 44 Cherry Limeade during Happy Hour... #yum

8. Riding around the lake on Furman's campus was so nice. Also, I think I love baskets on bikes! Just a lot. :)

9. Cycling fun with Christiana today around Furman... Gorgeous bike riding weather and scenery! Thank you, Lord, for such a blessed day! #weshoulddothismoreoften

10. Ducks are my favorite. And so are flowering trees... Just a little taste of the beauty we enjoyed today; our Creator's handiwork is breathtaking!

11. Our first Gardenia flower of the season! I watched it blossom from my window today while I worked, and ran out to pick it as soon as it opened up! The fragrance of gardenias has to be one of the freshest, most uplifting scents ever. #gardenialove

12. Old fashioned strawberry milkshakes before bed. Now all I need is a straw... :) 


Thanks for listening to my scattered thoughts and ramblings today! 
It's good to be back to blogging again.  ;)

My 2013 Reading Plan

Ah, reading...

When I was younger I was a complete bookworm. You could find me with my nose in a book just about anywhere- sprawled out on my bed or on the couch, outside at the park or walking the dog, in the car at night (holding my book up just so as the tailing car's headlights illuminated the pages), following my mom around the grocery store, or curled up in the empty bathtub in our back bathroom (What can I say? Quiet places are sometimes hard to come by ;). Home education nurtured my bookish tendencies even more. I would go through enough books in one summer to fill up the BOOK IT! sheet a few times over.

Fast forward to the present and you'll find a girl who still loves to read, but has tempered that love with a copious number of other interests. Perhaps all that reading eventually helped to broaden my interests. Having more diversified interests tends to mean that your time is more divided, thus causing your book choices to be more varied. I'm sure it's healthier that way. ;)

Last year was probably the first year I hardly picked up a book since I learned how to read. But it's no use trying to make excuses; the truth is, I just didn't make reading a priority. Work and life were filled to the brim and I spent too much of what down time I had in front of the computer. Don't get me wrong- I read plenty on the internet, but that kind of reading just isn't the same as reading a book from cover to cover.
 
By the end of 2012, I realized that I needed to strike a better balance. Reading isn't just something to enjoy, though it is that, but also a means to grow by. Books take you places and teach you things in a way that little else can. So I made up my mind to be purposeful about my reading. 

Back in December, I began to look through our bookshelves and pick out books I had never read. I made a list as I went on my iPod touch, and ended up getting a little carried away. By the time I had finished going through our entire house, I had a list of 80 books (plus several devotional books not on the list). oops. Could I really get through that many in single year with everything else I had going on? I wasn't sure, and knew I wasn't an incredibly fast reader, but decided to try anyway. Nothing like making up for lost time with a vengeance, right? ;)

My next step was to break these books down by genre. Admittedly, I am an organizer at heart, so this was fun for me.  :) I like neatness and order when they are practical, and my book list was no exception. I converted the finished list it into an image so that you can better understand what I'm talking about. Simply click on the photo below to enlarge it, and then again to zoom in on it.

My next step was to evenly distribute the books across a 12 month time period. This was a little more tricky because many of the books vary greatly in length and difficulty level. I was trying to make sure I didn't overwhelm myself one month and underwhelm myself the next. Thus, I had to go around and check to see how one book compared to another during this step. Again, simply click on the photo below to enlarge it, and then again to zoom in on it.

Once that was finished, I took January's book list and brought out all of the books for my first month's reading. Then, I broke down the books into weekly reading assignments (for lack of a better term). I decided to do this step month by month instead of doing all 12 months all at once. That way, what I have ahead of me for the upcoming month will be fresh in my mind. I know to some people this step seems rather excessive, but it helps me to know how well I'm staying on track. Plus, as I mentioned, this kind of thing is therapeutic for me. ;)

So that is basically how I formulated my reading plan. I hope it helps those of you who had asked me about how I came up with it. Nothing super scientific- just books selected on a purposeful whim (if there can be such a thing) and then organized and scheduled.

I know that I may not be able to finish all of those books this year, seeing that I'm already about a month behind, but I am going to give it my best shot anyhow. Difficult goals are good because they give you something to reach for, right?

If you have any questions, just leave me comment and I'd be happy to answer them! 
I'd also love to hear any thoughts you'd like to add. :)

"Therefore, 

whether you eat or drink,

or whatever you do,

do all to the glory of God."

-1 Corinthians 10:31