“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

“LOOK TO CAPTURE A STORY:” Most of my readers know how much I enjoy photography; and you all know that I love to post great photographs. My favorites are always images that tell a story.

“Don’t limit yourself to taking pictures of something pretty,” I like to tell budding photographers when I get the chance; “When you look through the lens, look to capture a story.”

Ninety-nine percent of the time the pictures I use are mine; but once in a while I run across something from our daughter, Naomi, that I simply have to share.

Case in point, this image of my grandson, David, taken on the beach during their Jersey Shore vacation this week.

A little background: First, he’s 22 months. Second, first day of vacation the beach freaked him out; the sand, the  texture, the waves, everything.

So now (in the picture) it’s a new day, and David is ready to go. Got his sense of purpose; got his direction; got his truck; got some kind of a plan going. The sun is casting its good light on the situation; the sand is firm; David’s shadow is clear; it’s, “Onward and forward into the day.” Nothing’s going to stop him now.

At least that’s what he thinks. And at this point what David thinks is all the reality that matters, because when you’re not even two yet, inconveniences like imagining what’s likely to happen five minutes from now don’t really factor into the equation.

WAKE FOREST: It’s kind of how we’re approaching things here in Wake Forest. We’ve got our sense of purpose; we’ve got our direction; we’ve got some kind of a plan going.

And, to continue the rephrasing of the David picture: The Son is casting God’s good light on the situation; the ground is firm; the Word is clear, onward and forward into the day. Nothing’s going to stop us now!

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.“

Press onward! Look ahead! Reach up!

Stepping out in faith – DEREK