Through a Glass Darkly

Finally! A P365 update!

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:57:08 +0000

How could I help but go completely shutter-happy with such a precious subject? I was so excited to get the call (or text, as the case may be) that the time had come to document this little one’s arrival.

123/365

1.2.11 – 3:45 PM
Body: Canon Rebel t1i
Lens: 85mm

Welcome to the world, Colton Joseph Brachle!

‘Tis the Season…

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:38:54 +0000

…to make warm things for myself.

Ages ago, inspired by my favorite muse, I felt the need to attempt to unravel a particularly ugly sweater for the yarn. I meticulously followed an (apparently) unhelpful tutorial and wound up with a whole mess of 12 inch shreds of yarn for my troubles. Useless. I had given up hope completely. But then I made a new friend. And my new friend told me his parents do this all the time while they watch TV together (cute!!) and that he was sure they’d be happy to teach me.

Sure enough, he was right.

I got four skeins– that’s right, FOUR SKEINS — of chunky wool/angora blend from ONE small ladies’ sweater that I believe was purchased for a dollar. My fellow fiber snobs should know that’s easily $40 worth of yarn. I’m making a giant infinity scarf, which I may or may not wind up keeping for myself, since off-white is not really my color. However, I’ll be very sorry to see it go if I do give it away because this yarn feels downright decadent.

Unfortunately for you, I’m still slacking on P365. I feel like snow might inspire me, but so far there hasn’t been much of that. Kind of shocking for December in Minnesota. Dontchaknow.

O Holy Night! (…and other things that bless me)

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:15:15 +0000

This week in church we sang a few Christmas carols in our worship set– which has never really blessed me quite as much as it did this morning. Apart from “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (easily my favorite), I’ve never really found one that actually inspired me to really worship God. That is, until this Sunday.

See, I’ve always enjoyed the lofty lyrics and complicated melody of the traditional hymn “O Holy Night” (Adolphe/Adam), but I’d never heard it the way we sang it this Sunday in church, with the alternative second and third verses by Kevin Hartnett (2007).

“Humbly He lay, Creator come as creature,
Born on the floor of a hay-scattered stall.
True Son of God, yet bearing human feature
He entered earth to reverse Adam’s fall
In towering grace, He laid aside His glory,
And in our place, was sacrificed for sin.

Fall on your knees, O hear the Gospel story!
O night, divine! O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Come then to Him who lies within the manger
With joyful shepherds, proclaim Him as Lord.
Let not the Promised Son remain a stranger;
In reverent worship, make Christ your Adored.
Eternal life is theirs who will receive Him;
With grace and peace, their lives He will adorn.

Fall on your knees! Receive the Gift of Heaven!
O night, divine! O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!”

If anyone knows where I can find a recording of this, I’d happily knit them something warm and fuzzy.

I’m also still plugging along in “Because He Loves Me” by Elyse Fitzpatrick, which continues to prove itself a constant means of God’s grace in my life. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest you take advantage of any holiday specials you may find online today and buy yourself a Christmas present. Here’s what I read this morning that I hope will edify and bless you as much as it’s edified and blessed me.

“What does living a life of gospelized obedience look like? Is it a drudgery? Is it a grinding code of conduct that punctiliously slogs through every miniscule action joylessly, meanly flogging oneself for every misstep in behavior? Is it pinching, censorious, small, dark? No, of course not. It’s a life that’s best understood by looking at our Savior’s life. His life was a life of love and it was filled with service to sinful people. He joyously celebrated at parties, provided food for those who were about to turn their backs on Him, hung around with thieves and prostitutes, turned water into wine. He allowed the tears of a sinful woman to wash His feet; He sat down in a crowd and spoke the truth in love. He overturned the tables (and lives) of those who sought to sell righteousness; He calmed storms and the fears of His followers, He walked up Calvary’s hill. His life was marked by one conspicuous trait: love. Because He has laid down His life, because His life is coursing through us by the Spirit, we can have hope that as He was in this world, so are we. (1 Jn 4:17) Because of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we can wholeheartedly pursue gospelized obedience. The sins that so easliy beset us, the proud self-serving that colors all we do, can be warred against by the love that He has placed within us. War it is, yes; but it is a glorious, confident, courageous war. It’s a war of love, and we already know the outcome.”

and also:

“Remember, real progress in the Christian life is not gauged by our knowledge of Scripture, our church attendance, time in prayer, or even our witnessing (although it isn’t less than these things). Maturity in the Christian life is measured by only one test: how much closer to His character have we become? The result of the Spirit’s work is not more and more activity. No, the results of His work are seen in our quality of life; they are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23) It is life like His. In order to grow in Christlikeness, we’ve got to intentionally apply the Gospel to everything we are and everything we long to do. We’re not to sever our obedience from His perfect sinlessness nor disconnect our mortal life from His resurrected life. We’ve got to understand ourselves in the light of our new identity, seeing ourselves as we truly are: sinful and flawed, loved and welcomed. Only these Gospel realities have enough power to engender faith, kill idolatry, produce character change, and motivate faithful obedience.”

Thank you, Jesus, for all that you’ve done and all that you are doing. Your unending steadfast love and faithfulness are astounding.

One Massive Update

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:52:59 +0000

It occurred to me recently that I haven’t updated my blog in over two months. That’s astonishing.. and frankly unacceptable, since I started this year saying I was going to blog at least twice a week. It’s also unacceptable in that I committed to completing my Project 365, and even though one of the main reasons I agreed to take on this project was that I was going to do it in my own time and not be stressed out or constrained by the whole “You have to take and upload a photo every single day” thing, months of time lapsing between updates is just not okay in my book. So I have to apologize, gentle readers, and ask for grace as I try to be a better blogger.

For those of you who are wondering about my trip to Romania, it was amazing but extremely challenging. There were a lot of things I found difficult, for one reason or another, but throughout the entirety of my time away, I keenly felt myself being sustained by a constant stream of God’s grace and the prayers of so many people I love. The Lord did some truly amazing things, especially in the orphanage, and those things made every difficulty infinitely worth it.

Below are a few of my favorite photos that I’ve taken in the time that’s passed since I last updated my P365. Notes are included on each one. I’ve also included several from my trip to Romania near the end. Enjoy!

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103/365

8.23.11 – 8:16pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 75-300mm Telephoto
Notes: One of several favorite shots of my favorite local band (Zoo Animal) from their show at the Ritz in Northeast.

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104/365

8.23.11 – 9:17pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 75-300mm Telephoto
Notes: Thad and Tyler from Leagues, a new favorite of mine. If you get a chance to see them live– TAKE IT!

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105/365

9.30.11 – 4:16pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: SO hard to choose a favorite from my session with the Sutphens. They’re all such a lovely, photogenic, cheerful bunch. And I just adore that baby girl!!

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106/365

9.30.11 – 4:38 pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: BAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Death by cuteness!!

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107/365

10.8.11 – 6:38 am
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: These lovely and oh-so-talented ladies are new friends of mine from church. They made their dresses apparently quite some time ago and were kind enough to model them for me. This was, without question, one of the most enjoyable sessions I’ve ever done. So much freedom for creativity, so much loveliness, so little need to worry about things like time constraints. Thanks again, ladies!

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108/365

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109/365

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110/365

10.8.11 – 4:35 pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: Yup, you read the dates right. It was a double session Saturday. CRAZY! But so fun. Love this family from my small group.

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111/365

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112/365

10.22.11 – 7:51am
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: These next few are from my session with the Brachle family, who are the leaders of my small group and very dear friends of mine. I adore their two girlies and can’t wait to meet the newest addition to the family!

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113/365

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114/365

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115/365

10.22.11 – 2:35pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: Both of these fall photos were taken outside the Hosmer Library after seeing The Poor Nobodys– another amazing local band who I (for some odd reason) didn’t think to photograph.

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116/365

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Here begins a small collection of photographs from Romania. Enjoy!

117/365

11.5.11 – 12:26pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon 18-55mm kit
Notes: Taken from the pedestrian bridge in Oradea, RO.

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118/365

11.5.11 – 4:18pm
Body: Canon Rebel t1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: This and the next few are all very sweet Roma (Gypsy) girls in Batar.

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119/365

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120/365

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121/365

11.8.11 – 4:00pm
Body: Canon Rebel t1i
Lens: Canon 85mm
Notes: A man in Petrani prays with two of the American team members.

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122/365

11.11.11 – 8:26pm
Body: Canon Rebel t1i
Lens: 85mm
Notes: Why yes, I did overcommit myself on my first weekend back in the States, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Especially this show with Tarlton, Nona Marie & The Choir, and Zoo Animal.

Because He Loves Me

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:40:30 +0000

Every time I pick up this book, I am blessed by it. I purchased “Because He Loves Me” by Elyse Fitzpatrick shortly after hearing her speak at the Bethlehem Women’s Conference this spring. I know I’ve quoted her in the past on here, so allow me to share a few excerpts that really ministered to me this evening.

“I have written about eternal suffering because I want you to savor and employ the full blessing of your inheritance. Rather than relegating eternal life to a future day, we must realize that we possess His life now, especially on those days when we struggle against unbelief and sin and are tempted to think that He is so disappointed in us that He has to forsake us. The Gospel tells us that being forsaken is part of the punishment for sin that our Savior bore in our place. If you are in Christ, no matter what your day has been like, no matter how many ways you blew it, His life is yours. ‘His mercies are new every morning’ because He is faithful to renew and sustain those who are His (Lam 3:22-24); indeed mercy is what He has declared over you. His love has forever banished the futility and regret of eternal condemnation from your soul. Unwavering faithfulness is His distinctive, not ours.”

In response to Romans 5:1, she writes:

“Please don’t be confused here. The peace that God has granted us is indeed a calmness of soul, but it is not primarily that. It is the cessation of hostility between us rebels and a righteous, omnipotent ruler. In granting us peace, He is saying that although we were once His enemies, He has removed the opposition that He had toward us. We who were once children under His wrath (Eph 2:3) have now been brought near through the blood of Christ (2:13). We who were once ‘alienated and hostile in mind… He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death’ (Col 1:21-22). The payment he demanded, He has provided. He is not like some pagan god, demanding a blood sacrifice to appease His capricious wrath. No, He is a holy King who has been deeply offended by our rebellion but has taken the punishment He demanded for that sin and placed it entirely upon Himself. Because of this, we no longer need to fear approaching Him with our sin. All the just wrath He felt toward His rebellious children was spent on His Son. We can come boldly before him now, without trembling and in confidence. When we approach Him, He extends His scepter of peace toward us and speaks words of welcome.”

And last, but certainly not least:

“When we struggle with sin and wonder if our faith pleases him, or if He is, in fact, with us, we can know with certainty that He is now and always will be completely reconciled to us. Would He ever tell the Son that His sacrifice just wasn’t sufficient and He has more wrath to pour out? Of course not. And He won’t say that to us either.”

Thank you, Elyse. And thank you, Jesus.

This Week’s Photo Challenge

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:13:58 +0000

This week’s photo challenge on the I Heart Faces Blog is to pick and post your favorite “face photo” from this summer.

I think my brain just exploded.

It’s also going to be judged by the public. So hopefully, if I make the cut, I’ll be inviting you all to head over and vote for me.

This was an extremely tough call because I happen to live with and nanny for a family with a whole bunch of completely adorable children that I often photograph. I also had the privilege of photographing several other lovely friends of mine over the summer and loved the outcome.

But if I have to pick just one and if it has to meet their criteria, I think I have to go with the infamous “Rocker Rocker”.

8.25.11 – 2:02 pm
Body: Canon Rebel XS
Lens: Canon 85mm prime

Another Contest

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:02:35 +0000

I’m really trying to grow as a photographer. One of the ways I’m doing that is by taking some of the challenges laid before me by various blogs I follow. For example, Digital Photography School, a long time favorite blog, often issues a weekly challenge. For several months now, I’ve been ignoring them. Also, I found this amazing group on the Flickr Blog called the 100 Strangers Project, which challenges the photographer to approach a stranger, ask permission to take their photo, have a brief get-to-know-you conversation, and then hand them a card where they can view it. This is supposed to help us grow in making our subjects feel more comfortable in front of a camera. As soon as I read this article, I knew I had to do it. You can be sure that will definitely be coming soon.

However, more recently the I Heart Faces blog has caught my attention with their weekly photo challenge. This week’s theme is “A Touch of Sun.”

So. Here goes nothing.

102/365

9.12.11 – 6:52pm
Body: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm kit lens
Notes: One of my favorites from the Jones family photo shoot at Clifton French Regional Park in Plymouth, MN.

I need your help choosing a photo for a contest!

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:15:36 +0000

Dear friends, I need your help!

There’s a photography contest for the 2011 Minnesota Renaissance Festival and I want to submit an entry or two. Would you please take a quick look at last year’s winners here on their official website and then come on back and help me choose which of my photos to submit?

Please leave the image number (or numbers) in a comment and a brief explanation why you would choose to submit that image if you were me.

Thank you!!

1. “A Draught from Lady Fair”

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2. “It Comes In Pints?!”

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3. “Lemonade Girl”

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4. “Renaissance Woman”

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5. “I’ve Got A Dream” (ala “Tangled”, not MLK Jr.)

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6. “The Once and Future King”

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7. “For the Love of Camelot!”

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8. “Baubles”

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9. “A Pirate’s Life For Me”

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Thanks again for your help!

“You Change Your Mind Like I Change the Time…”

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:27:29 +0000

I changed my hair. Again.

I do that a lot.

I’m happy with it, but still a little self-conscious about the intensity of the red. It’ll definitely take some getting used to.

And while I’m procrastinating about dealing with this small mountain of photos to sort, organize, edit, and use for P365 updates, I figured I’d give all of you lovely readers a few before-and-after photos.

Here’s the before:

And after:

Colored, cut, and styled by the brilliant, lovely, and talented Katie (Steller) Schultz (with a little post-salon fussing by myself). I am always so encouraged after the time I spend with her. I love what she does with my hair and really enjoy our conversations. She just loves Jesus. And she loves people. And I just love her. So if you’re looking for an amazing stylist in the Twin Cities– look no further!

The Goodness of God and His Sovereignty Over Suffering

thatsnotfunnymisskatie — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:43:13 +0000

Most of those closest to me (or those consistently following my blog) already know how lately the Lord has been teaching me about His goodness– that my Father knows how to give good gifts to His children. He added another brick to that foundation this weekend through Pastor Rick Gamache’s sermon on the death of John the Baptist in Mark 6 this Sunday at church. If you haven’t already heard it, allow me to suggest that you do so now. If you have already heard it, allow me to suggest that you do it again. I remember being struck by it at the time, but the Lord reminded me of it this morning and hearing it afresh has blessed me beyond what I can put into words at the moment. Here’s a brief excerpt to whet your spiritual appetite:

“He is sovereign over suffering.
And this might be your opportunity to really believe that.
Not only is God completely sovereign but He is committed to working it all for your good.
Now, you might believe that in your head, that might even be a central tenet of your faith, but if you’re wavering in your trial today, if you’re doubting God’s goodness and the wisdom of His plan for your life– this is an opportunity to really believe it, not just with your head, but to embrace it with your heart and then live like you believe it, like John (the Baptist) did.
Let the Gospel work to drive out doubts.

If God could allow His Most Committed Servant– the Servant of servants, His only Son– if He could allow Jesus to suffer horrifically, far worse than any of us ever will, if He could allow that suffering for redemptive purposes that NO ONE REALIZED AT THE TIME, then can He allow other servants, disciples, to suffer for redemptive purposes as well.

God lets bad things happen to good people f o r r e d e m p t i v e r e a s o n s .
How do I know that?
Because the worst thing ever, the murder of the God-Man,
happened to the best person ever– Jesus Christ–
to accomplish the greatest purposes ever– the vindication of God’s righteousness and our salvation.

He can and will take your suffering and redeem it.“

Go. Listen. Strengthen your faith, and be refreshed in Christ.
You’ll be glad you did.