A few days ago, I was driving along, singing in my car. If you haven’t seen me do this, you need to get out more because there is not ever a driving experience in my life when I am not singing. haha. Meanwhile, I was thinking about my role/my purpose as a photographer; something I try to ponder every once and a while to make sure my motives and priorities are straight. Between songs, I uttered the words: “Speak into the MICCCROOOPHHOOONE,” to my empty car. Now now—don’t judge me…Let me explain: I used to watch a hilarious mad tv skit on youtube called “stuart & the babysitter”. In the skit, Stuart is a six foot man dressed in footy pajamas who, at one point, extends his long leg toward the babysitter’s mouth and says “speak into the MICCCROOOPHHOOONE.” I know this video does not sound like a trustworthy source of inspiration worth investing deep thought in but—for a moment, those words (“speak into the microphone”) seemed so profound.
What turned my heart toward this phrase was the question: Is photography a means to learn more about God and share about God…OR is God a means to become prosperous and excel as a photographer? Both of those scenarios are good things, however one must rule my heart or I will find myself with nothing. Even if my photography business becomes bigger than my wildest dreams, if I have prayed only for a prosperous photography business, I have missed the whole point of what purpose or what business I have in being a photographer.
I have done this before in life…making God my means to an end instead of the other way around: “God, I will love you SO much if you give me a hott stud for a husband.” My favorite bible verse used to be Psalm 137:4. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But at the time, the main line of that verse (in my mind) was… “he will give you the desires of you heart.” The philosophy of that verse seemed like an equation to me: “obey the 10 commandments+tell someone about Jesus once every few years=travel, marriage, husband, great job, whatever else you want in life.” The reality of Psalm 137:4 was God whispering: “When you fall in love with me, everything else will be secondary, including your own desires. And when you fall in love with me, your desires will change to mine. When you fall in love with me, I will take care of you in ways you don’t even know you need.” You see, it took me a long time to realize that “Delight yourself in the Lord” came before “and he will give you the desires of your heart” for a reason.
If God is our means to an end (i.e. to be happy, to have a great job, to meet a great guy, to have 3.5 kids, to make a lot of money, to have a prosperous photography business), we may end up with all we have hoped for but we will still have a nagging emptiness in our hearts. we will be addicted to this substance called contentment; but, like every addiction, our means of being content will become less and less satisfying over time. Here is the truth of Psalm 137:4–> Everything else in life must be a means to the end of a deep and passionate relationship with our creator. Our marriage, our business, our friendships, our hobbies will only be found fulfilling if they point us to the love of Christ. Forsaking everything else, I will first delight myself in the Lord (that means that if I only ever have Jesus, He will be enough to delight/fulfill/excite/pleasure me) and he will give me the desires of my heart (he will romance me into a deeper love with him through any and all blessings. He will not hold back on pouring out his love completely). Do you believe that truth?
Sometimes it is scary to be the first one to jump, so it is a good thing that Jesus jumped first. He loved you when you didn’t promise to love him back. It was an arranged marriage that matched Jesus with an absolute letdown of a wife. He has already shown you how extravagant his love & blessings are by dying for you. Yes, darlin he would catch a grenade for ya, throw his hand on a blade for ya…you get the point. if you make that choice to delight yourself in the Lord, forsaking your so-called “need” for all the extra stuff God can (and might) give you, I promise that your marriage with him will be the most amazing thing you have ever experienced. You will be completely and utterly fulfilled. I am not promising that you will get that beautiful house with a white picket fence; by all means, God might send you to the slums of Africa—BUT I am promising that you will be content, whatever the circumstance. He will give you the desires of your heart.
So back to the microphone…When I blurted out those four words in the car, it hit me: Photography is my microphone. It is not the meaning of life nor an avenue of happiness. It is simply the means God has given me to tell the world about my lover, Jesus. And I will stand in front of this microphone to speak and work wholeheartedly doing photography as long as God has me turned up in the speakers…I will not quiet down until he has chosen something else for me and I will not quit a moment too soon or too late. More important than a successful photography business is that people get to know the person who truly loves them unconditionally.
It reminds me of the song “Strip Me” by Natasha Beddingfield.
Everyday I fight for all my future somethings
A thousand little wars I have to choose between
I could spend a lifetime earning things I don’t need
That’s like chasing rainbows and coming home empty
Take what you want steal my pride
Build me up or cut me down to size
Shut me out but I’ll just scream
I’m only one voice in a million
But you ain’t taking that from me.
I don’t need a microphone yeah (yes you do, Natasha, or else you wouldn’t be singing into one right now.)
To say what I’ve been thinking
My heart is like a loudspeaker
That’s always on eleven
Cause when it all boils down at the end of the day
It’s what you do and say that makes you who you are
Makes you think about, think about it doesn’t it
Sometimes all it takes is one voice
.jpg "221875_568492514579_29802964_32339241_2817847_n")
Love this shot of my dear friend Andrea and her little girl Gibson last year. Andrea’s fiance, Terry, collects antiques and he brought that cool microphone in the background. :)
