Thank you all for the encouragement and loven we felt last week at the celebration of our twenty year anniversary. We feel so blessed to be part of this church and it is honor to be pastor here. We have spent time reflecting on lots of things. It has been fun looking through old photographs-my boys have grown up right here in Athens. We always prayed to God that they would get to be from somewhere. Thank you for loving our family in a way that this can always be home.
I was asked for a list of things I might enjoy that would be an honor and then a bit of a surprise. So I gave a list of 9 things (that was actually a fun exercise) from inexpensive to wildly expensive. I gave ideas. The one selected was fantastic. It was a camera and lense designed for bird watching or better bird photography. I have always marveled at great bird photos, but never had the right equipment. I could blame lots of bad shots on the camera or the lense. Now there is no excuse.
I got them home and decided I would read the manual before using them so that I could have a better chance of taking great pictures. The lense has more choices than I have ever had. The camera is going to require some serious study. I could not wait to get it all learned so I assembled the camera and took it outside.
I decided that the first picture would be of a bird. There were robins near the driveway as I stepped outside. Robins are the first birds that really got my mother's attention and what lead us down the path of birdwatching, so it seemed fitting. They flew away before I was ready. I stalked them for a little while. They were hiding among the leaves. Then one flew and sat perched on the gutter for just a second and I took the first image. It was not great, but it is memorable to me.
Thank you for your kindness, the gift and to our future together.
PS. On Monday April 3 at 6:15 we are going to leave (at 6:22PM) the ROC parking lot and go take pictures of a nesting pair of Bald Eagles near the lake. You are welcome to come, take a picture and look through the lense.
Go online at lovingtheworld.com go to the bottom of the page and click Pastor Kyle's blog to see more pictures.
Just look at the details in the toes!
