I See

great lyrics from a great lyricist...

When the Saints
by Sara Groves

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul
I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear
I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side
I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door
I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
and when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them

All for now,
Lisa

Perth, Western Australia

This is my first try at doing photomerge in Photoshop. Actually, I took these photos in October, 2008 using my trusty little point and shoot camera that I carry most places. I just did a best guess as I took a few shots of the Perth skyline and the Swan River without a tripod.

I've had the photos for a while and didn't know how to photomerge them until recently. At the time I took the shots, I had the idea of printing them and merging them manually. The more interesting thing is that I took these photos long before I bought Photoshop or the Canon 40d. I guess God knew what was coming in the future. I like that He knows those kinds of things! :-)

I've also posted the panoramic on my smugmug site. It may provide a better image quality.



All for now,
Lisa

Photojournalism

I recently watched "The Endurance", which is an amazing account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 ill-fated journey to Antarctica. It's truly a take of survival! I quote the American Museum of Natural History here:

Just one day's sail from the continent, the ship Endurance became trapped in sea ice. Frozen fast for ten months, the ship was crushed and destroyed by ice pressure, and the crew was forced to abandon ship. After camping on the ice for five months, Shackleton made two open boat journeys, one of which—a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island—is now considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Trekking across the mountains of South Georgia, Shackleton reached the island's remote whaling station, organized a rescue team, and saved all of the men he had left behind.

There was an expedition photographer aboard capturing the 22 month journey. Frank Hurley was called a "warrior with his camera". His photographs are truly amazing. You can see more about him and the story of the Endurance here: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/endurance/

I am intrigued by photojournalism... truly trying to capture a story with photos. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. But how do you get across more than words? How do you capture the experience?

Who else is known for their photo journalism? Anyone have any recommendations?

All for now,
Lisa

Thoughts from 75 miles on my bike

All went VERY well yesterday as day 2 of the MS150 ride went on as planned. Many kudos to the MS150 organization as they did a wonderful job preparing changes (at very late notice) for yesterday. If you didn't know the rain had come on Saturday and cancelled all of that day (and evening) you would not have known it. I know they worked VERY hard and it went off (as far as I'm concerned) without a hitch. And the traffic getting to La Grange was not nearly as difficult (or stressful) and I thought it would have been.

As you may know, on the second day of the ride, there are usually two routes you can take - one is the "challenge" route (which goes through the park and consists of some pretty tough hills). The second route is called the "lunch express" route - which basically takes HWY 71 into Bastrop. I've done the park a few times before, and having re-injured a bad knee this past October doing the half marathon in San Antonio, I had decided a few months back that I should not do the challenge route this year. Well, let me tell you, the relentless WIND made the express route (in fact, the whole ride) a little more challenging than usual. We had a pretty stiff head wind the whole 75 miles (well, except for about 100 yards where the road winded around and we got a full tailwind!). Regardless, the trip was fun, challenging, and encouraging all at the same time. I want to leave you with three snippets of memories I have from yesterday:

1) twin tandem cyclists
I rode up behind a set of tandem cyclists. Both of them were father/daughter teams. The one on the right was a younger set; the girl was probaby 8 or 9. She was doing quite well and you could tell she was enjoying the day. On the left was an older set; the girl was 21 (she had said it at one point) and she was also enjoying herself - telling about her plans for college and afterwards. I don't think the two teams knew each other. Yet I marveled at the mirror image; it was also a bit of a time machine. I could see how the right team could be the left team in a few years. And I prayed that it would be. A family that cycles together stays together. :-)

2) hand cyclist
I have seen this guy a few times on the Chevron-sponsored training rides and saw him again yesterday. I passed him a few times on the ride yesterday so I can only assume that he either gets a sag once in a while or never stops at any of the rest stops (or lunch). This guy is amazing. It was hard enough for me to do it with two legs, I can't imagine doing it with two hands. My hat is off to him! :-)

3) wheel-chair bound dude with big grin handing out strawberries
At almost the end of the race, I came upon a tent with a few people cheering riders on. That's always encouraging. What really caught my attention was one guy who was in an electric wheelchair. Now this wasn't the kind of wheel chair that had two big wheels and two little wheels. It had four little wheels. The most interesting part of it was that he made it to where he was just up on two wheels (I suppose to make him tall enough to reach cabinets). But he was up on these two wheels cheering us on and moving the chair forward to offer riders strawberries that he had on a tray. It made me smile. I so appreciated his effort to cheer us on. His smile was so beautiful! :-)

So, there you have it: three smiles from a ton stored in my head from yesterday.

One last story, I was at a rest stop toward the end when an older gentleman (probably in his late 60's) came in and was taken to the medical tent. I had put my bike near the tent so I saw him as he came in - with some contusions on his face and pretty bad cuts on his knee. He had obviously gone down pretty hard. He had road rash around his eye, what looked like he would have a black eye, a cut on his eyebrow which would need stitches, and (when he pulled away the ice pack from his nose) looked like what would have been a broken nose. What I was surprised at was his remarkably cheerful disposition. Now that's the mark of a true cyclist!

To end this on a happier note, I was also happy that I got to catch up with a friend - who was kind enough to pick me up and take me back to Houston - but first was taken to see his Austin house renovations (and got to use a shower, praise the Lord), and got to see 200+/- beautiful acres in Paige, TX.

What's next for me? I think the MS150 waves to wine might be in the cross-hairs!http://bikecan.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_CAN_homepage

All for now,
Lisa

Messiah in the Passover

The celebration if Passover tells the story of the redemption of the Israelites - from the bitterness of slavery in Egypt to the sweet hope of teh freedom in the Promised Land. But Jesus (Yeshua) is the fulfilment of the Hebrew Scriptures. And Jesus is the sweetness of our bitter experiences. Dr. Mitch Glaser, a messianic Jew, came to my church last Thursday to give an understanding of the Passover and how we can plainly see Jesus in the Passover meal.

The "script" for the Passover meal is the Haggadah (literally, "telling"). I want to give a few points here of what I heard about the passover meal:

Purity
Always prefaced with purification. It's about removing leaven from their houses (removing sin from our hearts). It is about preparing our hearts. Usually also involved washing hands... Jesus washed the disciples feet at the last supper (which was a passover feast).

Presence of God
to start the passover meal, the woman of the house lights the lights of the festival - which represents the shinah glory - the presence of God. They thank God for entering a new season (from one passover to the next).

Passover
The seder begins. 4 cups celebrated along with a meal. Elijah's cup always poured out (waiting for Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah). We are spared because the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The meal is full of interesting pointers and references to Jesus Christ. From the cup of redemption, to the lamb shank bone representing the spreading the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites, to the special three-part pouch that hold the matzah.

Other thoughts (from Dr. Mitch Glaser):
When redemption is near, even the bitterness of slavery is sweet. Stay sweet in hope because Jesus is near. Life without God is bitter. Life with God is sweet.

When we, by faith, apply the sacrifice of Jesus to the doorposts of our hearts, then the wrath of God passover over us. Hide behind the blood.

It all points to Jesus.

All for now,
Lisa

The Jeselsohn Stone: Gabriel's Revelation: God's Truth

I visited the Houston Museum of Natural science with a friend yesterday afternoon. There is a wonderful exhibit called, "The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story" that I had been wanting to see. And given this is Holy Week, I thought it would be a very appropriate time to see it. I was not disappointed. It was a very good show. And I'm sure it would not been as good had Kelley and I not latched on to a docent or two who added so much flavor to an already rich experience.

The exhibit explores the cultural, political, and personal environment that surrounded Israel 2000 years ago. I learned quite a bit about the Hasmoneons (Macabbees) reign. And having already been to Israel, it brought back wonderful memories of that land. The best part was the second half, with the Dead Sea scrolls of Matthew, John, Galatians (and a missing Isaiah scroll that I would have loved to have seen). And then there was the Jeselsohn stone (also known as "Gabriel's Revelation").

It is a three foot tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew text. That's not so amazing. Experts date it to decades before the birth of Jesus. That's not so amazing either. What is amazing is that the text speaks of a Messiah who will rise from the dead after three days!

I guess it brings new meaning to something being "written in stone". But I didn't need it to be written in stone to believe it either. It's written on my heart.

He is Risen indeed!

All for now,
Lisa

P.S. You can read more about the stone in the NY Times article here
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/world/middleeast/06stone.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

You can see the Hebrew text here:
http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=34&Issue=1&ArticleID=16#BSBA340124

You can see the English translation here:
http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=34&Issue=1&ArticleID=16#BSBA340123

Just Keep Walking

This was one of the first songs played on Pandora this morning. I've been listening to "Third Day" radio on Pandora for the last few months, but I think this is the first time this song really sank into my heart. I thought it was worthy of sharing. It just reminds me that joy is... because... regardless.

Take It All
by Third Day

All the promises I've broken,
All the times I've let You down,
You forgot them, but still I hold on to the pain that makes me drown,
But now I'm ready to let it go, to give it away.

Take it all,
Cause I can't take it any longer,
All I have, I can't make it on my own,
Take the first, take the last,
Take the good and take the rest
Here I am, all I have,
Take it all.

And all the roads that lie before me,
All the struggles I go through,
Give me a secondary reminder that it all belongs to You,
Now I'm ready to let it go, to give it away.

Take it all,
Cause I can't take it any longer,
All I have, I can't make it on my own,
Take the first, take the last,
Take the good and take the rest
Here I am, all I have,
Take it all.

And ever since I died to myself,
You gave a better life to me,
I give You my finest moment,
I give You the last breath I breathe.

Take it all,
Cause I can't take it any longer,
All I have, I can't make it on my own,
Take the first, take the last,
Take the good and take the rest,

Take it all,
Cause I can'y take it any longer,
All I have, I can't take it on my own,
Take the first, take the last,
Take the good and take the rest,
Here I am, all I have,
Take it all.

All for now,
Lisa

Turned on the Radio at Just the Right Time

Coming back today from lunch (with an incredible friend), I turned on the radio in the Jeep at just the right time to hear the words (in bold below). Thank you, God, I needed that.

Always
by Building 429

I was standing in the pour raining
One dark November night
Fighting off the bitter cold
When she caught my eye
Her face was torn and her eyes were filled
And then to my surprise
She pulled out a photograph
And my heart just stopped inside
She said he would have been three today
I miss his smile, I miss his face
What was I supposed to say

But I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
He will be with you always

He was living in a broken world dreaming of a home
His heart was barely keeping pace
When I found him all alone
Remembering the way he felt
When his daddy said goodbye
Fighting just to keep the tears
And the anger locked inside
He's barely holding on to faith
But deliverance is on its way

'Cuz I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all hope is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
He will be with you always
Friend I don't know where you are
And I don't know where you've been
Maybe you're fighting for your life
Or just about to throw the towel in
But if you're crying out for mercy
If there's no hope left at all
If you've given everything you've got
And you're still about to fall
Well hold on, hold on, hold on

Cuz I believe always always
Our Savior never fails
Even when all faith is gone
God knows our pain and His promise remains
Always, Always
He will be with you always
He will be with you always
He will be with you

All for now,
Lisa