The Vanity of this Present Life (John Calvin)

Whatever kind of tribulation we may suffer, this should always be our goal: to learn contempt for the present life, and thus to be led to meditate on the life to come.
Because the Lord well knows our readiness to embrace the world with blind and even brutish love, he uses the very best means to part us from it and to rouse us from our lethargy, so as to free our hearts from so foolish an attachment.
All of us, in the course of our lives, like to be seen as people who long for immortality in heaven, and who are trying very hard to attain it. The thought that we are no better than the brute beasts, and that their lot is in no way inferior to ours, would be humiliating were we not left with some hope of eternity after death. If, however, we think hard of the schemes we all devise, the plans we lay, the things we do and undertake, we will find them to be mere dust!
Our folly comes from the fact that our minds are more or less dazzled by the false glitter of wealth, honour, and power, which are superficially attractive and which stop us looking further ahead. By the same token our heart is taken by greed, ambition, and other evil desires, and is held so fast by them that it cannot look higher up. Lastly, our entire soul seeks its happiness here on earth, because it is wrapped and entangled in the pleasures of the flesh.
To remedy this evil, the Lord teaches his servants to recognize the vanity of this present life, carefully training them by means of various afflictions. Lest they look forward in this life to peace and tranquillity, he allows war, turmoil, theft, and other evils to upset and trouble them. Lest they thirst too much for ephemeral wealth or trust too fondly in the wealth they have, he reduces them to poverty, sometimes by sending barrenness upon the earth, sometimes by fire, sometimes by other means; or else he condemns them to bare sufficiency.
Lest they delight too much in marriage, he gives them difficult or headstrong wives who torment them, or wayward children to humble them, or else afflicts them with the loss of spouse and children. If, however, in all these things he treats them kindly, to stop them from becoming proud in their conceit and complacent through excessive confidence, he warns them by means of sickness or peril, and gives them as it were visible proof of how fragile and fleeting are the goods we enjoy, since they are subject to decay.
Thus the discipline of the cross is of great benefit to us when we understand that the present life, judged in itself, is full or worry, trouble and much misfortune. It is never completely happy at any time, and all the blessings we hold dear are transitory and uncertain, trifling and tinged with endless misery.
The conclusion we draw, then, is that here we must expect nothing but conflict. If we would seek our crown, it is to heaven that we must look. We may be sure that our heart will never really learn to want the life to come, and to meditate on it, without first feeling disdain for this earthly life.

August 14th, 2013 (Life, Photography, and Lord's Day Quote)

I can't believe how fast this summer is going by!!

Almost September people!

General things are going on- school, house cleaning, outside farm work, cooking, photography, etc.

Photography is going awesome and am learning so many new things! It is so exciting! :) I am thinking about starting to shoot in RAW soon and looking forward to working with that! Progress- ohh yeahh!

I am also going to start up my sewing again. A skill I want to learn more of because it is so beneficial. You can also do so much at home to make money if you learn to sew.

I have made a good amount of food recently...that I really should have taken pictures of and posted on my food blog, but never did, so maybe next time!

But if you are wanting to see some of my recent photography, I'll share some from my most recent session- to see more, go to my 'Sunny Meadow' Photography Facebook Page.

A friend of mine is wanting me to take family session/ children portraits in the second week of September. So, hopefully by that time I will be shooting in RAW and editing will look better!

Here are the pictures I took recently of this beautiful girl! :)
(I told you all about doing her session on my 'July 22nd' blog post here. )

And, lastly, picture wise, here is what I had for supper... It was delicious!!!! :D

Alright, everyone have a blessed Lord's Day! Thanks again for stopping by, my friends!

"We love God’s day. We do not only keep a sabbath, but love a sabbath. ‘If thou call the sabbath a delight’ (Isaiah 58:13). The sabbath is that which keeps up the face of religion amongst us; this day must be consecrated as glorious to the Lord. The house of God is the palace of the great King, on the sabbath God shows Himself there through the lattice. If we love God we prize His day above all other days. All the week would be dark if it were not for this day; on this day manna falls double. Now, if ever, heaven gate stands open, and God comes down in a golden shower. This blessed day the Sun of righteousness rises upon the soul. How does a gracious heart prize that day which was made on purpose to enjoy God in!" ~Thomas Watson

"Philly is Ugly" (Film)

Finally! The Film is out!

Check is out here:
Philly is Ugly

Please share along with those you know- beautiful shots!!

July 22nd, 2013 (Photography)

I know what you are thinking...."Finally! She is writing again!"
Yes, I haven't written in quite some time.

So what has been happening in my life?

Well, to start it off, Ian Borowicz came for a visit from the 26th of June to the 9th of July- that went awesome!!
He helped my Dad work outside, we went shopping a couple times, and generally speaking, we all had a great time.

It is summer....obviously, but it has been in the 90s and mid 90s, so it has been pretty hot. Just making sure to stay hydrated- Water for the win!! ;)

So, we have started the garden- yes, late this year, but better late than never!
We have tomatoes, peppers, green beans, lima beans, squash, and sweet potatoes growing so far. We'll be doing a lot more in the garden these coming days...and weeks. Such a blessing to have home grown produce!

I am doing a goat trade with a friend of mine (who I haven't seen in a good while), so we both can have new blood lines for our goats and their goats. So, we will be getting Kiko and Spanish in our blood line, if the trading goes as planned. Yay! Kiko goats have good resistance to many problems goats generally have, especially with worms- so I am pretty excited with it all.

Photography has been coming along nicely. I have been editing a birthday party from June and have gatherings from June and April (I think it is April at least) that need editing. It has been fun. Editing takes forever! That is why it is best to do all you can to get your settings right- that way it needs less editing, at least when it comes to the lighting and so on. But I do enjoy it- if you don't enjoy doing something as a hobby, why do it?

Visit my Photography on Facebook here!! :D Feel free to 'like' it, if you like what you see, or contact me and maybe we can do a session together!

Sometime, this month or the coming month, I am going to do photography for a new friend of mine who's baby has Down Syndrome. They figured out after she was born that she had it, so it was a shock to the family and relatives. They are learning new things every day and I pray God will give them strength to take care, love, and thank God for her. It will be a good experience for me to meet her and take some pictures. Let's just hope they turn out!

School has been going alright as well.

Last week, my sister and I went to Shady Maple, in Lancaster, with a bunch of girl friends, for my one friend's birthday. We had a good time chatting, eating and just spending time together.
Shady Maple had great food (we went there for lunch)- broiled breaded chicken, creamed onions, stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad and salad add-ons, all kinds of vegetables, etc, etc. The ambiance especially was BEAUTIFUL!!
We went to some shops around there as well.
Yes, before you ask, I brought my camera, so I got some interesting shots of places we visited.

 

 

A fun shot of my sister goofing off.

Hope you all are having a great summer and thanks again for stopping by!!