Since starting my MBA in Creative Writing, I haven’t had a chance to do much personal photography or filmmaking. I did a couple episodes of Dying Breed which I’m grateful for because it got me behind a camera every day, but it was for work, not pleasure. I have committed to myself this week to take a picture of something every day.
Today’s picture focuses on the concept of LINE. I have some caution tape around a patch of ground outside my place.
Giving Up Control
To Something Greater Than Me
It Is Quite Freeing
There are many things that I could deem greater than myself. A good cause, a drug, a desire. AA and NA say that something greater than yourself could be as simple as a door knob. There are many things in this world that are greater than I am. I am, however, referring to God Himself. Over the last 9 months God has taught me how to let go of the situations and people in my life that I sought to control out of fear. It has only been through giving it to Him that I’ve been able to experience peace in the midst of the destruction going on around me. I thank God for His peace.
Image by lechenie-narkomanii @ Pixabay
I gave the Lord some things tonight that I’ve held onto my whole life. Tonight was the first time ever I was able to smile back at the man I saw in the mirror. Thank You Jesus. He that Jesus sets free is free indeed.
There has been a lot going on since my last post. Shame on me for neglecting my writing. Well wait a minute. I haven’t been neglecting it at all. Three months ago I began a masters degree in creative writing.
I really questioned my choice to pursue it during the first two weeks of the first course. It was daunting to begin a masters degree and I didn’t think I had what it took to start let alone finish the program. But, I stuck with it and am almost a third of the way through the program and achieving the standard I’m accustomed to with my grades.
In addition to going to school, my son Lukas lives with me now. My daughter decided to stay with her mom in California. We have grown a lot the past few months together. It’s been a time of joy and even some frustration as we learn to live together in a modified space.
I realize I haven’t written anything in a while. As mentioned in my previous post, my life has been turned upside down. Things are still taking shape, but I have grounded myself even deeper in the Lord, which has helped greatly during these changes of location and relationship.
I will elaborate more on the changes in the near future, but today I wanted to write a note about respect. There is a common saying, “respect is earned, not given.” Let’s dissect that for a moment.
If something is earned, before it can be given out, some sort of action or actions must precede the giving of that something. In other words, it’s condition based and therefore can be taken away if the conditions of someone’s subjectivity of what earns their respect are no longer met.
God calls us to love. Inherent in love, is respect. Even in the face of adversity and trials. It’s not based on conditions. It’s freely given, even to those putting us down and talking bad about us behind our backs. The saying should say, “respect is given, not earned.”
I’ve found myself many times acting on the version that says respect is earned. I have seen it in my actions toward other people, even those I “love.” It has taken great intentionality on my part to retrain my mind and root out the lie I believed about when to give respect.
Good morning. I will be hitting the road by myself tomorrow morning, the destination will be back to Idaho. Some life changes have come up that are splitting my family apart. I’m not sure if it’s temporary or will have long term effects, but I will be relocating to my home town. It will be the first time living there since I moved out when I was 18. It’s been over 20 years.
Words cannot express the emotions that I’m feeling right now. It’s a whirlwind of emotion. Regardless of these changes to come, The Other Dog Films will move forward, but based out of northern Idaho now. New landscapes, new people to work with. Future Fade episodes will adapt as well and be limited to time spent with my kids. Lukas for sure has expressed interest in continuing the stories. Stay tuned for more as I get settled in. Thank you for reading and God bless.
We arrived back home yesterday afternoon. It was such a lovely trip to my hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho. It was great to see family again and begin a business journey with both my brother and father. Stay tuned for more adventures combining the teams of The Other Dog Films and Amped Pump & Controls and Skyranch Innovations.
We took the road this past Friday to work with my brother to make some training videos for his company. Amped Pump and Controls out of Northern Idaho. This will be my first official job under the heading of The Other Dog Films. Not only that, I get to visit my old state and see my hometown. It’s always a joy.
After graduation I plan to tackle a few new endevours.
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