TLJ Nicholas Photography With A Personal View: December 2008

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Joy to the World the Lord has come

LET OUR HEARTS SING…

LET OUR PRAISES RING…

LET OUR HEARTS SING…

LET OUR PRAISES RING…

JESUS IS CHRIST THE LORD OUR SAVIOR AND KING!

CELEBRATE GOD’S GIFT OF LOVE!

SING GLORY TO THE NEW BORN KING

LJN,

Trish,

And Family

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:11-14

Friday, December 19, 2008

Stress, Frustration, and Anger

The reports about the state of our economy seem bleaker and bleaker every day with little hope in sight. Be it big businesses or small businesses, construction, housing, auto, retail, hotel, casino, travel you name it, unfortunately the list can go on and on… everyone is effected. And the countless heartbreak stories of this “recession” can go on and on as well. People are becoming extremely frustrated and angry about the state of affairs in this country and abroad, which brings me to an experience that took place several weeks ago.

Before we could even get into a store to do some Christmas shopping, we had a guy who was already parked in a parking space blow his horn at us as we were pulling into another space. We could not figure out why he had blown his horn at us? I then notice that this guy pulled out of his space, which was two spaces away from us and pulled directly behind our vehicle. He then proceeded to get out of his vehicle and approach the driver’s side of our vehicle. LJN put the window down and the guy said “I was parked in a reserved space and I had been waiting for that car to pull out”… WHO KNEW! I heard LJN reply “hey if you want this space I can move, there are plenty of other spaces here." Other people have not been so blessed to have an ending such as this. They have become the story on the evening news, victims of someone’s anger over a mere parking space.

People, please find some other way to reduce the amount of stress, frustration and anger in your life. Ever think about volunteering some of your time at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, or after school program, or coming up with a way to help someone in need, be it food, clothing, or shelter. I recently heard a story on the news of a woman who hung Christmas wishes from needy children on a Christmas tree outside of her home. People in the neighborhood and surrounding area would come by and take a wish off of the tree and commit to fulfill that particular child’s wish. What a really good idea... I wish I had come up with that one. See what a little thinking can do to help someone else. And whether you realize it or not you are also helping to take your mind off of your problems and the current stresses that we all have been feeling and experiencing lately.

Trust me getting involved outside of your world will make all those little things seem like just that, very small and inconsequential.

Trish

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” Maya Angelou

Photo Poinsettia Light

by LJN @ Through the Viewfinder

http://www.tljnicholas.com/

Photo of Grandson behind the Christmas Tree

by LJN * Courtesy of LJN Archives

Photo Snow Star

by Trish @ Through the Viewfinder

http://www.tljnicholas.com/

Give – to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

35th High School Reunion

One week prior to our 35th high school reunion we decided to go… ok I was the one who decided for us. We were so, up in the air, about whether or not we should attend this reunion. There was my health to consider which lately has been more bad days then good days, the emptiness of the loss of two dear family members and the coming Thanksgiving holiday dinner.

My mind was on having a joint family Thanksgiving dinner with my sister-in-law and her children and grandchildren. You see she had suddenly lost her husband in June and then her son in October. I knew that this holiday would be quite difficult for her and our nieces and nephew. I thought that a joint family dinner would be a good thing for all of us this year. I could only seem to focus on them, not our 35th reunion which was scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving.

I called my girlfriend who has always been more like my other sister to let her know that we would not be going to this reunion. She said that she could understand especially with everything that has taken place over the past five months. After I hung up from talking with her I said to LJN well it’s done… we are not going.

On Monday I began receiving email after email from some of my classmates, “We hope you can make it,” “See you on Nov 28th” and “Go to the website and register.” I started thinking about our decision and I asked myself, why did we decide not to go to the reunion? Was it totally because of my unpredictable health? I heard myself answering with, no not really. As I continued to probe my mind I realized that the ‘no’ decision was coming from a feeling of loss, and I thought that I would be disrespecting that loss by going and having some fun at the reunion.

I called LJN and told him I was thinking about going to the reunion. I remember him saying to me do you think you will be up to it? I said, I can only hope and pray that I will be having one of my good days. Later that afternoon I went to our high school reunion website and sent in our registration. Then I sent an email to my girlfriend telling her that we would be going… Yes we will be attending!

I am glad that I took the time to really inspect my decision to go. We both had a good time seeing our fellow classmates and socializing with them. Once again we reconnected with a past stage of our lives as adults with more life stories to share with one another.

If you have never attended your high school reunion I strongly recommend that you do! You may not think so but you will have a lot of fun. And in order to really enjoy yourself remember that you are not stuck in the year that you graduated but you are now an adult reuniting with other adults who all have different life stories… so yes, get dressed up, look your best, be yourself and have fun seeing the hottest cheerleader, the handsome quarterback, the class president and the class clown… we are all grown up now, but still very, very young at heart!