I know my messages should be about Christmas right now, but this video made me hope for everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions. Please... do this:
What have you done today to make the world a better place for someone else?
I love life! Thank you, God, for this short time on earth.
UPDATE :Okay... This is my New Year’ resolution: Improve the world for at least one person—every single day. Whether I know them or not. It’s not about me. It’s about the Savior who redeeemed me. Here I come, world!
his past Sunday evening, December 11, a very bright light that had shone for only 66 years expired. It was her birthday, but it was also the last day she was to be with us. It was as if a star had winked out. At least, that’s how my wife put it. I was simply at a loss for words.
My memories of Mrs. Barb include the fact that she was the only person I ever knew who actually looked stylish in an AWANA uniform. You could knock on the front door of their house at any time of the day or night and the whole family (including all 8 kids) would come out to sit and talk with you as if they had nothing else to do in the whole world except devote all their attention to you. On those unexpected, crazy-hour visits their house was always in perfect condition. It seemed unnatural—and I believe it was. The Barb home was a Spirit-filled home.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
It began at the head—Bob Barb—a quiet and unassuming man, but a man who exuded character and strength. And he has continued to display that character and strength over the past six years as his wife, Joan, suffered with dementia.
All of us know adults who try to manipulate teenagers. They sit and watch, ready to pounce with venomous intensity. But few people knew of such a woman as Joan Barb. She sat and watched the teenagers. She looked at the worthless collection of angst, hormones, and dissatisfaction and saw through all of that to the diamonds that were buried down deep inside. Once she spotted the diamond, she made her move—encouraging each teenager to pour all of their effort into those areas of good that lay buried and often dormant beneath the ugly surface.
Joan Barb was a true encourager and she impacted more people’s lives than can be counted.
She left behind 8 wonderful children and almost 20 grandchildren... and a husband who loved her every step of the way.
Yes, it’s true. A star has winked out. But perhaps that’s because stars don’t belong here on earth. They belong in heaven, where Joan Barb is now—shining brightly as she enjoys the company of the one she loved more than her grandchildren, more than her children, even more than her husband—Jesus Christ. She had to leave us because Jesus really wanted her to be with him. He’ll bring us along one of these days too. And I hope that when I go I will leave this earth with the grace with which Joan Barb left this mundane place to be with the divine.
Goodbye, our dear friend, Joan. We love you and we will miss you.
I walked out the front door of our house last week to this scene. I love living in Front Royal!
I love the Star Wars movies. I love the cello. I love creative musicianship.
This video combines them all and adds a large dollop of fun.
I went for a short ride around town the day after Thanksgiving to find a good scenic place so I could photograph an amazingly beautiful sky. Not far from my house I passed this shed on the side of the road, so I stopped and took a few pictures and made this HDR composite. It really was a beautiful day.
n 1976 my 17-year-old sister was madly in love with a 26-year-old man. I remember her staring longingly at his picture, which was inside my favorite album of all time—Frampton Comes Alive. I was amazed to hear that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the release of that album. I remember standing in line at the record store, waiting to buy my first record album—The Singles: 1969–1973 by The Carpenters. A very cool looking hippie-type at the front of the line said, “Hey, do you have that new Peter Frampton album?” The clerk said, ”We did, but it sold out as soon as they delivered it.”
That album was Frampton Comes Alive. I was 15 years old. And the Carpenters album got thrown away because the back cover had a quote on it from someone who called the Carpenters’ music “rock,” so a group of crazed fundamentalists convinced my parents that it must be bad stuff.
Now I’m 50 years old, I probably shouldn’t mention my sister’s age, and Peter Frampton is now 61. As I remembered those years long ago I became curious to know what Peter Frampton is up to now. So I went on a search and found out about an album I had not even heard about—Fingerprints. Released in 2007, this album has some awesome jazzy guitar and shows a new side to Peter Frampton’s amazing guitar playing. Here’s a sample:
While I was looking up the video I came across this wonderful ad:
I might have to buy that game just because of the ad!
ront Royal’s Annual Festival of Leaves brings a flood of people into the Shenandoah Valley to visit our quaint little town and to enjoy Skyline Drive as the leaves begin to show off their fall colors. It’s a wonderful time to live in the Shenandoah Valley.
At this year’s Festival of Leaves, I took quite a few pictures that got lost in the shuffle of the next few days, when I had a ton of other events to photograph. So today, as I was trying to wrap up things for another one of those photographic events, I noticed this picture that had fallen through the cracks. I just think it’s precious.
Edgar Alan Poe visited our library a few weeks ago. Well... an actor playing Poe visited our local library. And he was fantastic.
The photo in this blog header is from that event. Poe was known to have enjoyed red wine, so they put out the decanter with grape juice for effect and so the actor could sooth his throat as he presented a phenomenal and emotional recitation of quite a few of Poe’s poems and stories.
It was a very enjoyable event, which our son completely loved. And now he is a full-blown fan of Edgar Alan Poe. So the presentation did some good.
ometimes photography is as simple as just keeping your eyes open and having your camera always at hand. This past Wednesday was one of those days that proved the truth of that statement.
The cloud-covered sky was absolutely beautiful all day—and I had been admiring it all day and thinking, “I really need to take some pictures.” The clouds were heavy, but they were broken up so that the light shone through, creating wonderful highlights along the edges of the clouds and sending sunbeams through the cloud cover.
Living in the Shenandoah Mountains made it all the more beautiful as the dappled sunlight hit the mountain peaks and created a wonderful animated effect as the cloud patterns changed.
So in the early afternoon I headed down a road along the edge of the Shenandoah River and just looked at the scenery—hoping I’d stumble across a particularly picturesque scene. After a short drive I saw this barn on the side of the road. I parked the car, set up my tripod in the middle of the road and took these pictures.
I really love photography. And I really love living in Front Royal, Virginia.
