Project the Light
with Kristenn Jones Photography
Welcome to my blog! I hope you love it! I hope you stay, and read a bit. "What's it all about?" Well, it's hard to say other than that I hope it sheds light on scripture, I hope it reveals small bits of God's truth, I hope it makes you smile, and mostly- I hope it points you toward Jesus!
The Glitter Shot
If you go back two whole blogs, to my first one from almost two years ago, you will see I had this amazing goal. I was going to write photography/spiritual/whatever was going on in my head blogs. I was really excited about that. But life happened, I got busy, and I've not posted in quite some time. Not that God hasn't been generous in giving me ideas but me getting them written is a whole different story.
Well here goes with my first one of the year. It was inspired by photography failure. Let me tell ya, there are a whole lot of those in my life.
Failure is a word that we are all too well aquainted with. There are days where it seems everything I do is a huge fail. Let's see just how long this list can be? I have my moments of failing as a Christian, wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister. I've burned dinner (taco shells burn like paper in case you didn't know). The house isn't clean. The clothes aren't washed. Didn't have time to read my bible. Not enough time for prayer. We forget birthdays, anniversaries, and who knows what else. We don't always pay the bills on time, or get the oil changed when we need to.
On a larger scale, we may not have the career we dreamed of or the house we wanted. We don't live where we planned to. Health issues come unexpected. Marriage isn't easy and kids aren't perfect. Finances are a struggle. Addictions we never planned for control us. Tragedies we couldn't have possibly known creep up on us. We've let people down, they've let us down. Life just does not seem fair, most things aren't what we signed up for.
Some days, weeks, and years- it feels as though nothing is as we planned. The good thing about that is when things turn out different we learn to accept challenges or limitations. When things turn out opposite of the plan, we learn to make adjustments. We learn to live with less. But less is not always less. Sometimes less is a lesson, or an improvement. Its often God's free college course on humility. Because isn't humility to act of learning to have a modest or lower view. Is it even possible to get there without challenges, limitations, or unexpected endings. I don't think so.
I feel like with every life alteration, whether it's due to failure or not, I am beginning to gain a better understanding of Romans 8:28.
And we know that all things work together
for good to those who love God
and are called according to His purpose.
This verse is so simple. So complex. Incredibly mysterious. It factors in our choices, failures, accomplishments, tragedies, right along with God's authority and sovereignty. It doesn't take a whole lot of creativity to unpack it. Do you love God? And by "love", I mean believe in, trust in, and rely upon. If you answer yes and you've committed your life to Him, you are called according to His purpose! That's great news because it means no matter how messy things get, how wrong they seem, how unexpected they are, that it will all somehow work together for good.
This is not a good we will always be able to see. We might not ever be able to make sense of the big picture in the way that God does. It will be frustrating at times to feel that we worked for one thing and gotten another. But you know what? It's going to be ok. Were going to keep on keeping on. God is going to keep on keeping on...and life becomes way easier when we get on board with the fact that He knows how to work things for our good.
And let me show you a little proof. The Glitter Shot. Several weeks ago I was doing a senior photo shoot for Miss Mikah Boyd. She didn't ask for much but she really wanted a glitter shot. And I would have loved to deliver. This is one of the hardest working kids I know, smart, and dedicated, valedictorian of her class. She wants a glitter shot, she should definitely have one.
We get all situated for the shot. Hands full of glitter. We've got it all planned out. We will try with eyes closed, and eyes opened. We've discussed how horrible one can look when they are actually blowing the glitter. I've considered lighting, distance, aperture, shutter speed, all the things that matter for this picture to turn out. Well have a look below to see what we ended up with.
I know, I know. There isn't any glitter. But isn't she beautiful! And would you believe this turned out to be one her favorites out of about 80 options. This glitter-less glitter shot is one she choose for her invitation. It wasn't as planned, but it was better. It wasn't what she asked for because she would have never known to ask for this.
It's like life. We aim for one direction but land in another. It isn't God's way of making it hard, it's His way of making it great.
I'm so thankful that in the midst of my failures, accomplishments and everything in between- I've got a God who knows how to give me just what I need even when I've no clue that I need it. That's a lot of pressure off of us. We follow Him, trust Him, and we can know that He is working Good things. This is not always an easy road. But it is a Good road.
I think we would be wise to re-evaluate often. To ask ourselves if this wrong turn is such a bad place to be. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Ask God to help you make your next step. In doing so He will guide your next turn, and bring you to your next road. It's really our ability to see Him in every place we go that will grow our faith and help us stand. Christian, be assured that He has good plans for you. He leads, you follow, and the good will unfold.
Light it up
Let me tell you something about photographers, amateur in my case, we never start shooting without considering our lighting source. Photography is all about light, dependent on it, existing because of it. A photograph taken without light isn't a photograph at all, it is only the absence of light.
I love the concept of light, it's just hands down preferable to darkness. It guides us, reveals what's happening in our surrounding area, allows us to see things that we need to see, and it exposes truth; as opposed to darkness, which hides things, takes away our vision, and causes us to stumble and fall. Yea, I'm all about keeping a light on!
I'd like you to go on a little imaginary photo shoot with me. Pretend we have just entered a dark room, as in zero light, and conveniently our camera has no flash. We can't capture an image because capturing images requires light. But you, who were super prepared for such an event, pull a box of matches and a candle out of your pocket. You light it, stand in the center of the room, and smile because you just illuminated the pitch blackness. This darkened space now has light and the smallest amount of light can change the darkness. We can add more and more light until the darkness is no more. We can physically alter darkness and make it light.
Have you ever thought of that? We can bring light into darkness but we can't bring darkness into the light- not in the physical sense anyway. As an aspiring photographer and growing Christian, I thrive off of this truth. Photography does not exist without light just as a Christian cannot exist without the one, true light, Jesus Christ.
Lets take a look at scripture that pertains to what I'm talking about.
I am the light of the world, he that follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life, John 8:12. Just as my photography books tell me I need light to photograph, John is telling us that you gotta have the light of the world if you wanna see where your going on this spiritual journey.
Perhaps, you're like me, and you find yourself wandering in the dark from time to time. If that's the case you might like to pass a sarcastic smile and say, "Life isn't that easy and the light isn't always on." To which I would reply, "My thoughts exactly!" All the while my mind would know the truth, we follow the light but our actions and choices are often the cause of it growing dimmer by the minute. I hope I would be wise enough to tell you the words penned by a psalmist thousands of years ago, because within those words are beautiful truth.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path- Psalm 119:105.
I would tell you the same thing I've told myself so many times,"Our light grows brighter when we study God's word, brighter when we spend time in prayer, brighter when we spend time in Christian fellowship. " I would tell you that dark days come and go but the light can extinguish the darkness in a way that the darkness will never be able to erase the light. I would tell you that photographers chase light because without it there is no point in taking a photo, and in the same manner Christians chase light because without it there is no way to know God or shine for Him. Let's work together, let's shine together, let's become so bright that the darkness begins to fade because ultimately that is what God has called us to do in this dark World. He wants to shine in our lives, so that we may shine to those around us.
Family Devotion- Seeing the Light
You will need a flashlight for each person in the room, a bible, and a dark room.
Start your family devotion off by reading the following scriptures, Matthew 5:14-16
After reading and discussing gather your family, give each person a light and tell them to leave them turned off. Turn off all the lights in the house and get the space as dark as possible.
Ask
What do you see?
Why can't you see?
What do you need in order to see?
Now have everyone turn their light on one at a time. Point out that a little light changes the darkness but that a lot of light begins to erase the darkness. Explain that God gives us the light and that once we have that light it is our responsibility to share it with others. We share the light by telling others about God, and also by our words and actions.
This devotion can take so many directions, personalize to work for your family.
Faith and Photography
It's morning, and I've got a houseful of boys ranging in age from 8-18. I'm tip-toeing and trying really hard to be quiet because though we have bedrooms and beds they are all crashed in the living room. I would photograph them for you but that might wake them and then I'll have to deal with them way too early. So I'm being quiet, such quietness requires sitting, and such sitting requires thinking. What I realize this morning is that I'm incredibly restless. I've got this insane restlessness in my spirit, I don't know guys maybe it's really just too much coffee but I'm inclined to believe its the Holy Spirit giving me a push.
Lately I see God everywhere, and in everything. I want to tell someone about it, write about it, photograph it, ideas just keeps coming. My journal is full of this ridiculously long list of ideas to share but I never actually sit to do it. Well today is the day, if your reading this you know I've gathered the courage to hit submit, so lets go.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a bible believing Christian. I've been working out my salvation for about 25 years now (Phillipians 2:12). Some days I soar and others I face plant but I find myself moving forward. I'm a thirty something year
old wife and mother of three. I tell you these things first because they are most important to me and when all else fades away those are the things that will matter the most!
Now what else? I'm a college freshman going on 17 years now, the finish line is out there somewhere. I'm heading into my eighth year as a homeschooling mom. So now you see what happened to my college degree, can I get credits for teaching my incredibly brilliant children? I've also trained to work in crisis pregnancy counseling and spent about ten years in various areas of children's ministry. I've spent bookoos of my husbands money in an effort to become the worlds most mediocre, amateur photographer. Which brings me to my next point which is I love photography, writing, and teaching scripture.
People who love photography see the world through a lens. I see life as a series of portraits waiting to happen and find myself forever frustrated if I can't catch a sweet moment or beautiful image. So I am constantly looking and thinking of angles, lighting, and the notion that it should all be captured because its here and gone and if I miss it, everyone else has to miss it too. In these moments, I see the Lord and His goodness.
I see lessons and scriptural teaching. In my understanding of photography I find that it aligns so perfectly with symbolizing aspects of God's word. When these light bulb moments go off, I want everyone to see it just as I do. I go to my audience of three who are my kids and they remind me, "You've already told me that" or "I've heard this lesson at least 10 times." What I'm really hearing is that I need a bigger audience.
So here I am, attempting a blog and holding onto the belief that at least the most loyal of my friends will read it. I'm not going to name call but they know who they are! If anyone else joins along, just know that will put a BIG smile on my face.
I'm not sure exactly how this blog will play out. But I can tell you it will always be Christ centered. The inspiration may come from a photo session, past or present experience, old or new concepts, random everyday objects. It will be simple enough to share with your family and hopefully bring fresh insight about scripture. By the way, while you're here you should definitely visit my homepage and learn about PROJECT THE LIGHT and find out how you can be involved.