I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14

Photo Friday this week begins with a couple of classic springtime bloom images, then turns its focus to people.

These portraits are not posed, set up, or taken and retaken until the smile is just right; they are candid observations – studies, really – of the beauty that humanity is.

• The Orlando grandchildren making, as they described it, “a Geoffrey sandwich.”
• Geoffrey playing outside with his bulldozer.
• Rebekah, sitting in the kitchen rocking chair, talking on the phone.
• My friend Bernie, visiting from Alabama, sharing enthusiastically about his church in Birmingham.

I have yet to dust off the lawn mower from its winter rest, so the property around our house (the photograph of tree limbs, just off the deck, is a great example of this) is this mixture of wild, beautiful, cultivated, and natural. A lot like the children!

At our best, I believe that in most situations there is a lot to be said for “less is more.” Less posing, less cultivation, less adornment. Our garden, and my observations of the startling beauty that is human life.

As always, my “Photo Friday” word is this: Keep your eyes open, friends, and keep your hearts open too. God is at work.

Be sure not to miss it – DEREK