This is a reduced and cropped composite of around 11 shots, taken with an 18-200mm lens on my trusty Nikon D80, @ 18mm, f/11, 6 seconds per shot.
See that rock in the middle? Pao and I were there at least one time before. We almost broke up there when we made one mistake too many.
Involving God in our relationship initially meant that we needed to hold each other up to a standard 'to keep Him in the center.' The problem with that was that we were, in our church's terms these recent months, 'keeping ourselves under the law'; i.e. we were too caught up in guarding ourselves in our own efforts that it was inevitable that we would make a mistake and our relationship would consequently take a turn for the worse. It was all about our own performance, and that simply would not do, for us as individuals or as a couple.
The moment the love we have does not come from the cross, the moment we love without realizing that Christ loved us first, all sorts of crazy things happen.
One famous verse we see often shared in Christian circles is Proverbs 3:5-6; "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This verse certainly applies in relationships as well. In our case, we make it a point to keep recognizing Jesus Christ as the reason and purpose of our relationship; we acknowledge that it is only by the grace of God that we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit to keep on going, together.
I simply cannot share this photo without that message. God bless you.
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jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26
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