"What kind of camera do you use?"
It's the question I most often dread.
I'm truly an amateur. When I describe my little point-and-shoot Sony set on manual mode, I'm confident that anyone who knows photography is going to scratch me off their list of serious photographers.
"Who do I think I am anyway."
Embarrassed. I come this close to deleting "photographer" from my profiles.
But I'm quickly humbled. And ashamed.
Am I denying a gift and therefore refusing the Giver?
Is my embarrassment just another way of failing to acknowledge the all-sufficiency of the Creator from Whom all blessings flow?
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." ~ II Cor. 9.1
Is my embarrassment - my apologies for the weaknesses and failures and lack of knowledge - nothing more than a sad commentary on my pride? A reliance on my abilities and professional equipment?
I realize my arrogance - the foolish assumption that I'm responsible. For the beauty. For the good things.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." ~ James 1.17The ESV Study Bible comments "there is nothing in this world that is truly good that has any other origin than from above."
I take a deep breath and step out on the faith limb.
"I'm good enough with a Sony point-and-shoot, because it is all good - the gift, the camera, and God is my All-Sufficiency."
What about you? Do you know the gift you have been given and that it is more than enough?
10 comments:
Humility is a wonderful thing. However, you bring a lot of people joy with your gift of your 'photographers eye. Please don't ever doubt that!! And your camera is more then plenty good enough! I love you Patricia Ann Hunter. Donna
you do a wonderful job of capturing God's creations and helping me see and appreciate it more. Please don't ever stop.
I think the gift God has given me that I don't use enough is the ability to listen and understand.
I do not think that the name or type of camera makes a difference.You are sharing god's beautiful creation,the way you see it,and that's what matters.Keep on sharing these lovely images,and thus encourage my heart.
Blessings,Ruth
With God's beauty seen through your eyes... the type of camera really doesn't matter. God's gift of His Son is definitely "more than enough" and more than I ever deserved. Contentment.
Patricia!!! I love the look of this new blog!!!
Please do keep stepping out on the faith limb -- your pictures and godly expressions are an inspiration to me, and many others!
I love you dearly!
Sweetheart, you pictures are astounding - do you know that I got the same camera, because I was hoping to get pictures maybe HALF as good as yours? I don't have your eye, I don't have your gift, but maybe with your camera I can take some passable quilt pics, lol. And I must say that my former photographer hubby LOVES this camera.
Hm....humility or false humility....it's a struggle to understand, for me, which is which in my own life. God HAS given me a gift, to work with fabric, and I want to do the best work I can for Him. It's not a prideful thing to recognize that you can do something well, because the Lord has blessed you with that gift. Especially when you put in the hours to master it, because you MUST do that, the gift itself is nothing without the work. When God blesses us with a gift, He does expect us to put in the effort to grow it. And you have done that, sweetheart. By all means keep the photographer next to your name. You've earned it.
Sometimes, when people insist that you have a gift for something you just do because you can't NOT, it can sort of produce a self-consciousness and stirs up all sorts of insecurity. What starts as encouragement and gratitude from friends can become almost...binding.
I think the reason I love your pictures is because I love your voice, and they simply echo that in a visual sense.
Dear heart, you DO have a gift. And I'm so very grateful you share it! I think the Lord has given you a special lens...one that starts in your heart, and stirs ours.
:)
oh this resonates for me so much, patricia....I can hardly bear to add "writer" to my name. I'm so embarrassed! but the Lord really did challenge me to claim His gifts and just walk out in what He's given.
but dear heart, you ARE a photographer and your work is astonishingly beautiful. and you do all this with a point and shoot? it shows how good you really are.
love to you and thanks for sharing.
Thank you all. Such sweet, kind words of encouragement...that bless. Oh, how they bless. ((((Tonia, Mary, Allie, Christina, SRP, Ruth, Kaye and Donna))))
my dear friend...you use your camera and words to show my glimpses of my Father's heart and the work of His fingers...and there is no greater gift!! Don't ever stop :)
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