At the end of April, I took a weekend to go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina; ever since I left there in September, I had been wanting to get back sooner rather than later. One of the days I was there, as I was trying to take some photos, a gust of wind came by and blew over—and broke—the $20 tripod I had just bought two days before (thankfully, my DSLR was not on it when it fell over). I called all around the area to see if any stores sold tripods but had no luck. That afternoon, I took the ferry over to Ocracoke Island, and while I was there I came across a hardware store; I asked if they sold tripods there, and looked all over, but couldn’t find one. I didn’t take many more photos that weekend, since most of the photos I take—such as HDR and long exposure—require a tripod. Lesson learned: don’t cheap out; it will end up costing you more in the long run.
I still enjoyed myself though, and met a lot of great people. I was thankful as well to have taken this shot of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse before that happened.
(The rest of my photos are at DanGaitanis.com/obx)
As you may know, I love lighthouses (who doesn’t?); one of the many reasons I love going to the Outer Banks is because there are four lighthouses that you can visit, all within a few hours. A Lighthouse is a good reminder that Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12), the only true light that shines in darkness; the darkness comprehends it not (John 1:5).
Three weeks ago tonight, I went to the local ballfield with a few friends, to watch the total lunar eclipse. I got out my camera, formatted the memory card, and headed to the field; when I got there, for some reason, the camera wouldn’t turn on—at all. Nothing. I ran back home and tried a few different batteries, to no avail; I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, I had an old camera that I hadn’t used in a long time, as well as the battery for it, so I put the battery on the charger, went back to the ballfield for a little while to enjoy the start of the eclipse, then came back home and grabbed the battery and camera before heading back to the ballfield for the rest of the evening. The sky was clear until the moon was about 95 percent covered by the shadow of the earth; then it got really cloudy all of a sudden. Even so, I still managed to get a couple of shots of totality through breaks in the clouds. Not waiting by my phone for National Geographic to call, but it’s better than nothing.
(Mysteriously, the week after the eclipse, the camera started working again, of course as I brought it to Richmond Camera for them to have a look at it; then last weekend I planned on going to a Flying Squirrels game and wanted to take some photos there, and the camera was back to not working again. That camera is relatively new, so this is incredibly disappointing, but I’m holding out hope that it’s an easy fix)
The Lunar Eclipse happened exactly when we were told it would happen; it was right on time. And it didn’t announce that it was starting; it just did. The heavens have such an order to them, that scientists were able to pinpoint the exact time the eclipse would start and end. The LORD’s promises are as certain as the Sun rising in the east and setting in the west; everything he said would happen throughout history, did happen, exactly the way he said.
Just because clouds got in the way of the eclipse didn’t mean the eclipse wasn’t happening; we just couldn’t see it. In the same way, the LORD is always working, even if may not seem so at the time. If you have thirty minutes or so, read the entire Book of Esther; God’s name is not mentioned even once, yet his hand is visible throughout the story, in delivering his people—the Jews—from their enemies. Today, we don’t have direct revelations from him, but it is so clear that he is at work; the question is, will you let him work in you and through you?
The LORD told his prophet, “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told (Habakkuk 1:5 NIV).” If his promise to send the ruthless Chaldeans to punish Israel for their sins was so incredible that Habakkuk wouldn’t even believe it, how much more good will the LORD do for those who love and obey him?
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Ephesians 3:20 NIV).”
Grace and Peace,
Dan
Dan Gaitanis 