goodnight, august

(see more of this set on Flickr)

my creative peace

Someone once encouraged me to live, looking to “behold the beauty of the Lord” in all things (Psalm 27:4). When I seek His beauty in my everyday, whether I am standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon or the whirlwind of laundry and toys in my living room, I have joy in my heart. I am more thankful. I let go of the frustration and exhaustion that daily come with mothering, as He cares for me and gives me peace (Numbers 6:24).
This is why I take pictures.
Their still beauty quiets my soul and causes me to know His loving kindness.
And photos by nature are something to be shown, shared. I share them with you in the hope that you too will know the awesome wonder of a creative God who loves you.

I'd love to tell you more about this hobby of mine if you'd like to read my interview over at Robin's blog, My Creative Peace.

back to school...?

next week, perhaps.

clap your hands!

I got my camera back.

eleven years

project 52 ~ week 33 ~ slow down and look back

her new favorite thing

his new favorite thing

photo editing catch-up day 2| at the beach

{walking away from photo editing today for some fun at the beach. these photos are from April.
so now you know just how far behind I really am.}

photo editing catch-up day 1 | baby with the sapphire eyes

{this jewel-eyed cutie is my niece, Rori. she's coming to visit us next week -hooray!}

I bet it's quiet up there...

quiet water beach, pensacola, originally uploaded by KelliCampbell.

heavens declaring

Psalm 19:1, originally uploaded by KelliCampbell.

yellow and blue make pretty

fresh, originally uploaded by KelliCampbell.

flying again, and...

project 52 ~ week 32 ~ theme: sky (or: where daddy goes to work)

shawn started flying again last week. and today I feel selfish as I thank God he is flying here for now, not there. and I pray for the families who are receiving the worst news today. and I wonder how my prayers could even make a difference for them. and I remember my sister's words from yesterday. and I keep praying.

weekending

"The source of my prayer is Christ. The same one who gave me these words when I first prayed for a child: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4).  Back then, I read those words and knew that my prayer had been answered. 

Now I know that “answered” is not really the best word-picture for what sometimes happens when we pray.  Instead, it is less like being spoken to and more like being swept away by water that was always already pushing in the direction we longed to go.

We don’t need to fight to get God’s attention. We do need to remember that our Savior with the voice like water has never stopped praying over us." -Christie Purifoy 

(What, Then, Is Prayer?, posted at There is a River, Aug 2011)

Take a minute this weekend to read Christie's full post.

something worth keeping

we do a lot of messy art projects around here

paints, water, play dough, crayons, markers, pencil shavings...

these get cleaned up as regular as the breakfast, lunch and dinner crumbs

we keep very few of our projects -the fun is in the process, the mess making

but this one was different, this one was for dad

we set out to create something worth keeping, something worth giving 

something that said-

You are Ours. We are Yours. Let it always be so.

Happy (so very belated) Father's Day

after a rain shower

the art of a dysfunctional camera and the august break revisited

Last August, I stumbled upon the August Break just when I needed it. Looking back, some of my favorite images on this blog fell into that month of photos. It was just the thing I needed as I was settling into a new home and community, winding down summer, preparing for school, lamenting the heat...
what would a photo of Déjà vu look like...?

This summer, I decided to revisit the August Break. I am settling into another new home and community, preparing for another new school year, feeling like winding down summer although this heat is, I'm sure, here to stay. Forever. And ever.
There is another reason I feel the need for a break (of sorts) and that is, I have no choice.
Unless I want to record the next few years of my family's lives in strangely beautiful abstract images.
Here is Kenna dancing in her fairy dress and soccer shoes while Kate chases her with a toy light saber...

And this is Tristan at the beach, wearing those silly goggles...

Right, it's not really working is it?

There's just no avoiding it. My camera will be packed up and shipped to New York this week for who-knows-how-long and for who-knows-how-much-cash-I-don't-have.

The thing is, I'm ok with it. My camera was in serious need of a professional cleaning long before the sticky-shutter problem began, and in the past few months I've been feeling more behind than ever -and not just when in comes to photos.
I needed to be forced to slow down, rewind even. I needed to remind myself that I don't take pictures for the sake of taking pictures only to drop them all into a grid of a thousand icons in a little yellow folder.

I take these pictures, these images of light, for the sake of reflecting on, savoring and sharing all the blessings this short life on earth holds. Which means before I even bother to pick up a camera, I should living with an undivided heart for the One who blesses.

I love the words of Psalm 36:9, 

For with You is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

In the coming month I'm sure I'll be using my phone a lot to snapshot the everyday memories, and I'm sure I'll have to fight moments of I-miss-my-Nikon grumbling, but I plan on using this time to go back through the past few months of neglected images to see what I can see. I plan on focusing less on me and mine in the light and more on the Giver Of Light. The One who promises that He has a plan and a purpose for me in this place.

And that is what you'll most likely find here if you choose to visit the zinnia patch this August. Photos, yes. And quiet. And hopefully, some things of Him with very little of me.