How many points do you get for 'Engagement?'

One of my housemates got engaged this fall and I was honored to take some engagement photos for him and his bride-to-be. The two of them like to go to Donkey Coffee and Espresso and play Scrabble. Of all the photos I took that day, this is my favorite.



Wishing you the best, Austin and Audrey!

And the World Spins Madly On

I went home for a visit last weekend and I was met with a very clear realization that my childhood is over. It's done, gone and relegated to memories and photographs. This realization did not come because I feel like I'm an adult, not because I'm a senior in college, but because quite literally my childhood is disappearing as half of Painesville is being torn down.

Painesville City Schools is almost done with the construction of all new schools, which in a few months will mean the demolition of every school I've ever gone to.

Hobart Pre-School: Gone.
Lathrop Elementary: Gone.
Hobart Middle School: Gone.
Harvey High School: Will be gone in the next few months.

TriPoint Medical Center opens 19 days from now. It will be a beautiful facility and I imagine the medical care will improve as well, but it means the demolition of Lake East Hospital in Downtown Painesville. I was born at Lake East (I don't remember that, but it is among the more significant moments in my life). My dad worked there when I was born and in my younger years I remember eating grilled cheese and chocolate milkshakes from the place in the lobby and watching the helicopter take off with my dad.

This is all in the name of progress. Lake East Hospital is not an especially attractive building, neither was Hobart Middle School. Painesville is in need of a face lift in a lot of ways. It's just a shame that progress means I'll never be able to take my kids to see these places where I grew up.

Pure joy in rentals

This morning my housemates and I filmed a promotional commercial for Best of Athens Rentals. It will be shown at the Ohio vs. UConn football game this Saturday. I had a hard time verbalizing what I wanted to say when the camera was rolling- good thing I'm not a PR major or anything... Oh, wait. I wound up saying something along the lines that it has been a "pure joy" to live in our Best of Athens Rentals house.

...

...

A pure joy? Really, Ty? Who says that about the house they rent? Apparently I do when I'm fumbling for words.

I did get a couple cool frames from our trip to The Convo to film. This is my housemate Joe. I couldn't resist the generous lighting. I think even a point-and-shoot would have made a pretty decent frame.



My new wide-angle lens has been fun to play with and helped to get a fair shot of the hall of fame in The Convo.

Lance Armstrong in Athens

Lance Armstrong rode into Athens yesterday to finish his part of Pelotonia '09, a bike ride to benefit The James Cancer Center at Ohio State University. Lance didn't stay long, he finished the ride, got in an SUV and split, but the day wasn't a wash.

Aside from seeing a 7-time Tour de France winner, my buddies and I got recruited to help with some set-up and were given some SWEET tee-shirts. The shirt alone would have gotten me there, that's how sweet it is. I go nuts for free shirts.

I was really hoping to get a good shot of Lance. Thankfully, the last frame I shot was pretty decent.

Pure joy in Christ

He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
[Isaiah 25:8]

What a joy it is to be in Christ! The Lord's power is limitless, greater even than the grave. It is IMPOSSIBLE for death to keep its hold of Him (Acts 2:24). Through Christ, and only through Christ, is the the sting of death conquered. It is only through Christ that we, the perishable can be clothed with the imperishable, mortals clothed with immortality. It is in Christ alone that we can boast over death, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). It is in this hope that we gain endurance as we suffer with Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3), that we can consider it pure joy whenever we face trials (James 1:2) and that we are free to count everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8).

There will be a day when THE SOVEREIGN LORD HIMSELF will wipe away the tears from all faces and remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The God of the universe, the One who is true, is faithful to us. If we are in Christ, our Father in heaven, our dad, will make all things right in a way we have never experienced. Consider it pure joy to be in Christ, my friends.

When I look at the stars...

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
[Psalm 19:1-4]

Isn't that something...

The heavens- the stars, the planets, the moons, every galaxy, the entire universe, all DECLARES the glory of God. There are no hints nor subtleties. The heavens themselves proclaim the glory of God.

No speech nor language, no culture, no people is hidden from the heavens. In all the earth the glory of God is seen! People who have never heard the name of Jesus have heard, seen, experienced the glory of God. He will be known in all the world.

Creation shouts of God. Take the time to stop and listen, and join in with the heavens.

Zealous for Jealous

I don't normally like to publish posts that are solely other peoples' words. Usually I will pull quotes and reflect on what I've read. But, I was reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer the other day and was really struck by a passage that he quoted from Bishop J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion. This is what Ryle said, as quoted by Packer:

"Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire which no man feels by nature- which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when he is converted- but which some believers feel so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called 'zealous' men...
"A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives, or whether he dies- whether he has health, or whether he has sickness- whether he is rich, or whether he is poor- whether he pleases man, or whether he gives offence- whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish- whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise- whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame- for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it- he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, work, and give money, he will cry, and sigh and pray.... If he cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. If he is cut off from working himself, he will give the Lord no rest till help is raised up from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of 'zeal' in religion."

It is my prayer that each day I am more zealous for God and that you too are "swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God."