God Lense

Read to the bottom. I have another GIVEAWAY for you.

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My Dad’s Camera Shop

Last week I shared about Jesus filters. You can read that here. I want to take this thought a little further. As I pondered the various types of filters; air filters, fuel filters and I even had one reader remind me of computer software filters. These filters block things out.

Thinking along these lines, it took me back many years to my dad’s camera shop. I was what we call in Texas, just knee high to a grasshopper. I was young. The store had a unique smell of darkroom chemicals and always felt full of life. Most customers were regulars, so each time they came in, it was like welcoming a friend into your home.

At this young age, I was the marketing manager. At least I thought so. I would color every bag with the store’s name and decorate it with some type of camera related picture. Between drawings, I would meander around the store to find things I had never seen before. I always stopped though at the carousel display of camera lense filters.

Camera Filters

These filters fascinated me. They were all different colors and sizes. I would hold them up to the light and look through them to see how they changed my vision. It intrigued me how each one could change the way the camera took the pictures. These filters would change the color of the image or intensify the light. They would bring out more details or make things more visible in the dark. With modern technology, we don’t need these filters as much because we have photo enhancing software that will do it for us.

As an adult, my dad taught me more of what these filters did and how they change what we see when we look through the lense. Taking what I learned from him, I thought of a God lense, and how I see the world through my eyes and wondered what God sees when He looks at the same thing.

Looking Through A God Lense

When we add these filters, they enhance or alter what we see. I asked God to allow me to see myself and others through a God lense. With this prayer, I ask God to let me see myself and others how He sees us.

When I worked as a 911 operator, I had to do this a lot. When dealing with hard people at their not-so-best moments, I would pray for God to let me see them as He sees them and to allow me to respond to them in the way He would respond. This practice made me more prone to doing this all the time.

When we look at life through a God lense things become clearer. He enhances things He wants us to notice. He shows us people He wants us to pray for and invites us into a deeper place with Him.

"When we look at life through a God lense things become clearer. He enhances things He wants us to notice. He shows us people He wants us to pray for and invites us into a deeper place with Him." Share on X

Farm To Film

As I mentally prepped for this blog, I saw a post asking if anyone would share a children’s book on their blog. I looked further and saw the book, “Farm To Film,” by Hannah Miles Pierrou was about taking pictures.

I could not resist. Cameras have a special way of taking me back to my childhood, and this book did just that. Of course, since the book is about visiting grandma’s farm and using grandad’s camera, I felt the need to do the same. I went out to the farm where we keep our horse and had some fun taking pictures.

The baby cows were very curious about me this day and posed well for the camera. Most of the horses were too busy trying to get the last of the green grass before the next snow arrives, but sweet Dolly wanted to check out the book.

This precious children’s book with gorgeous illustrations, also made by the author, teaches kids about farms while going through the ABC’s. C is for cow and H is for horse, but that is all I will give away.

Going down memory lane and thinking of looking through the camera lense, made me pause and think about what God asks us to do.

“One day, some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.’”

Mark 10:13-15 NLT

“For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” ~Mark 10:13-15 NLT Share on X

Childlike Faith

We are to come to Him as a child. I think of this as coming to Him without all the opinions we have and personal agendas. But, coming to Him with a pure heart just to be with their Father.

With childlike faith, I encourage you, as I remind myself, to ask God to let us see life through His lense.

• What will He show us?
• Will we notice someone who needs a hug that we would normally have passed by?
• Will we take notice of His creation in a new way?
• Maybe He will even invite us to see specifically what someone needs prayer for.

Come open and allow Him to show you through His beautiful lense the things He wants you to see.

GIVEAWAY!!!

Check out this sweet children’s book here. It would make a great Christmas present.