Looking Lens

I am still figuring out what I'm going to be when I grow up. I have so many interests, it's hard to narrow them down -- or imagine having time to pursue them all.
I am inspired by teaching, would love to own a gym someday, enjoy cake decorating, love studying about the human body, am absorbed by painting, love working with people, am calmed by being organizational, and enjoy taking pictures -- I'll stop there for time's sake.
I would also love to pursue photography. I've always enjoyed taking pictures, especially of landscapes and children. I remember taking pictures with an old 35 mm camera and the anxiousness of waiting to have film developed!
Teaching opened my eyes to the world in such an amazing way. I see a potential lesson in everything around me now, which has benefited me as a parent tremendously. Planning for and watching my students -- and now children -- learn about the world around them is so invigorating, fueling my own curiosity.
When I have a camera in my hand, I view the world differently, too. I see the colors more vibrantly, the details more closely, the form more uniquely. I think looking at things through a photographer's lens helps me focus more clearly on the amazingness of God's creation. Everything and everyone seems so much more awesome. Not because it changes the subject, but because I am changed. I slow down to appreciate it all.
I certainly don't have the talent of some of my dear friends, but I have a desire to learn some of the mechanics of photography and practice the art of it to the extent of what little talent I have.
For me, photography, painting, teaching, and other creative pursuits are a form of worship ... slowing me down and allowing time for reflection and renewal.
So, I commit to myself that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, I will pursue more creativeness and will encourage my kids to find their own forms of creative expression so they, too, can appreciate God's creation more richly.