Cat Photography! Cat Resting

"Cat Resting"
(C) Allen Pearson

Several years ago, when I began photographing dogs for PetConnect Rescue to help them find "Forever  Homes," I began adding cats to the mix. Mostly because my wife loves cats and wants to see them find "Forever Homes" too and because I love my wife. She and our first cat taught me how to love cats!

"Cat Resting" is available on printed products including traditional quality archival papers you can frame, metal, canvas, standouts, posters, and notecards. To learn more, please visit My Cat Gallery.

If you are interested in other products, like coffee mugs and journals, please email me from my website.

I have opened a store on CafePress: Allen Pearson's Photos making it possible for you to have my images on other products. If you are interested in other products, like coffee mugs and journals, please visit the site or email me.

Wednesday's Words! Encouragement from God's Word

(C) Allen Pearson

"The steadfast love of the Lord

never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness."

- Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV

Sunday's Thought!

"Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, United States"
Photo by Cristofer Jeschke on Unsplash

Choosing Your Destiny

by Jack Graham, PowerPoint Ministries

"Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…" - Mark 10:21

I want to talk with you today about one of the most tragic pictures in Scripture. Jesus had just told the rich young ruler that he must sell all his possessions and give to the poor in order to follow him. The man went away brokenhearted because he was clearly unwilling to do what Jesus required.

Do you know what Jesus did next? He did nothing. He didn’t cajole him and say, “Oh, come on back. I’m sure we can negotiate something.” He let the man go.

This young man who had it all lost it all in an instant. He might have become a mighty preacher or used his wealth to the glory of God. He could have laid up treasures in heaven! But none of those things happened.

Now you have a choice to make too. You can choose to follow Christ and to be with him forever or to be separated from him for eternity. Jesus will not force you to follow him, and he will not change the terms of salvation. You come to Jesus on his terms, or not at all!

Right now Jesus is looking at you and loving you. And he invites you to turn loose of anything and everything that would keep you from following him.

Pick up your cross. Follow him, trust him, believe him and receive him into your heart right now.

JESUS WILL NOT FORCE YOU TO FOLLOW HIM.

To learn more about following Christ, trusting Christ, believing Christ and receiving Christ into your heart, please visit PowerPoint Ministries with Jack Graham, New Life in Christ.

Devotion used by written permission of PowerPoint Ministries with Jack Graham.

Wednesday's Words! Encouragement from God's Word

(C) Allen Pearson

"Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the

springs of life."

- Proverbs 4:23, ESV

Sunday's Thought!

"Top Sail Beach, North Carolina"
(C) Allen Pearson

I just returned home from a week at the beach. A quiet natural beach, Topsail, NC. It is one of the most beautiful beaches on earth. I was surprised to find the ocean water was blue. Yes, blue. The last time I'd been to a beach on the Atlantic, the water was browner than it was this past week.

Our drive to Topsail, NC, was anything but eventful. We had ridiculous traffic for the first few hours of travel and a few really powerful thunderstorms which caused us to get off the interstate to safety in the later hours of our trip.

"View from the Car Window"
Photo by Charlie Deets on Unsplash

When we got off the interstate to get out of the rain monsoon, we found the roads to be flooded really bad, probably a foot or two. However, we needed to get to safety as it was still raining really hard making it difficult to drive and see where we were going.

We did our best to get to the parking lot of a gas station and quickly realized we needed to change locations as the rains weren't subsiding and the fire hydrants we saw along the road were quickly disappearing. We determined we could get across the street to the other gas station safely if we acted quickly. As we surveyed our surrounds and where we thought the road might begin and began our journey. My wife was driving our Subaru Forester so I was confident we could make it without any trouble and breathing a prayer wasn't out of the question and done with a precise request of "Lord. please get us through safely" and a huge "Thank You LORD!" when He did. However, the situation would have been dangerous if we were in a sedan or smaller vehicle so be wary of flooded roads in vehicles as we saw a few "almost" attempts which would have been dangerous if they proceeded.

Our vacation was really great. It was really quiet. That is after I determined the noise I was hearing was the ocean and not the local traffic as it would have been back home. We went to a few local establishments for dinner, the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Hospital Center, Surf City, NC, the Tiki Water Tour, and the beach several times.

I loved the beach. Noah and I walked it several times. It wasn't crowded and the people were friendly. We had to be aware of the Sea Turtle nests and to stay away from them. Disturbing a nest would be a federal crime. We saw one nest but kept our distance as Noah's hound qualities and traits are always in excellent form. One of the purposes of our trip was to see Sea Turtles born and head to sea. As I walked the beach, I couldn't help but be amazed at the beauty of God's Creation along the seashore. I see it quite often back home near the mountains with all it's trees and green but I don't have the opportunity to see the shores.

The week seemed like a weekend. Not even a long weekend. I guess it's the problem with aging, the days get faster and faster and faster, and well, faster.

"Lightning Storms"
Photo by Leon Contreras on Unsplash

As we headed home, it was sad to leave the beautiful island of Topsail. I wasn't cut out for the large beaches with all the fun hoopla but the more natural beaches like this one. Our drive wasn't as eventful as the drive down. We had traffic and plenty of it and a few rain storms or thunderstorms but not like the ones on the trip down.

The storms got me to thinking. Life is full of storms. Whether it's weather-related like snow, rain, thunderstorms, tornadoes or the loss of a loved one, a loss of a friend, a loss of a job, a bad car accident and this list can go on and on. In my life, I've been through many storms. Some of them weather-related while others, like losing my family or many health issues or the loss of my brother-in-law and mother-in-law, are sad life events which happen as they do.

Through life's storms, I've noticed that God has been there all along. He's helped, comforted, calmed, and helped me through those rough times. He never failed. He never let me down. He never failed to show up at the right time just when I needed Him. Even without, at the time of the event, asking Him. It's an amazing journey which I wouldn't change for anything.

If you would like to learn more about the Christian life, becoming a Christian, becoming a follower of Jesus, please visit Peace with God.

Wednesday's Words! Encouragement from God's Word

(C) Allen Pearson

"For while bodily training

is of some value,

godliness is of value

in every way,

as it holds promise

for the present life

and also for the life to come."

- 1 Timothy 4:8, ESV

Sunday's Thought!

(C) Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Has He Made Your Heart New?

by Billy Graham

The Bible gives us this glorious promise: God will give you a new heart. If you will come to Christ and surrender your heart to Him, God says, “I’ll take out the old heart. I’ll put in a new one.” An old heart will not do. He must give you a completely new heart. God doesn’t just patch you up when you come to Him. The Bible says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

And in Ezekiel 36:26, the Bible says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Would you like to have a new heart? Change the whole direction of your living? Change your whole moral life? Change your affections? Surrender your life to Christ and have Him give you a new heart.

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You that You love us so much that You sent Jesus to the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we can be made new—heart, soul and all—for all eternity in and through Him. 

In His Name. 

Amen.

If you would like to learn more about surrendering your life to Christ and having Him give you a new heart, please visit Peace With God.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Adapted from “Spiritual Heart Disease,” by Billy Graham, Decision magazine, February 2018.

Devotion used by written permission of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Wednesday;s Words! Encouragement from God's Word

(C) Allen Pearson

"If the world hates you,

know that it has hated me

before it hated you.

If you were of the world,

the world would love you as its own;

but  because you are not of the world,

but I chose you out of the world,

therefore the world hates you."

- John 15:18-19, ESV

Sunday's Thought!

"Lightning Strike!"
Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash

A few days ago, I was busy working in my studio on my writing when I realized I needed to work on my photography for a while. I’d been so busy writing, posting, social media, and some gardening chores thrown in, the time had gotten away from me.

I recently photographed a PR event for a local dog rescue at an assisted living/memory care place. As I was going through my images, I noticed the clouds beginning to gather forming a storm. I enjoy storms and have a magnificent view of the skies as they go through the area plus they darken my studio a bit making it easier to work. I didn’t pay much attention to it as it was just another summer storm coming in. This summer, though, it is a bit odd as we have had no rain much less thunderstorms. Good, we need the rain so maybe I can quit watering my plants every day.

As I began going through the images I was quickly distracted when I realized the storm was going to be more severe than I realized. The rain began and quickly turned to a very heavy rain with the winds blowing. As the winds blew and the rains began to almost come down in a straight line, I began wondering if a tornado might be in the making as the winds seemed to be getting stronger and rains heavier.

I went back to going through my images to be processed periodically looking out the window keeping an eye on the storm. Then, suddenly, it happened. A bolt of lightning strikes the ground across the field from my house, not as far as that description made it seem. A little closer, it might have hit the power lines a little further away, a home might have been struck. WOW! Truly amazing!

"Lightning in the Skies"
Photo by Leon Contreras on Unsplash

The lightning strike reminded me of my boyhood days sitting on the porch at my grandmother’s house during a thunderstorm. A train was supposed to be coming and we thought it was really cool to sit on the porch watching the storm while waiting. May not have been the wisest idea and my grandmother repeatedly reinforced it wasn’t.

After my grandmother went inside, I stayed on the porch to watch the storm and wait for the train. Within seconds, a bolt of lightning hit the rail of the railroad track closest to the house. The bolt bounced up and down on and off the rail for as far as I could see. Even the train signal flickered with the strike.

At that time, I didn’t think much about it. After all, I was a curious kid thought, whether I knew it or not, nothing was going to hurt me! Of course, I was wrong as it certainly could have! Now that I am around 45 years older, I am more contemplative and analytical, probably some cynical and sarcasm thrown in too. I’ve thought several times about that incident and the more recent one realizing my life could have been over in a flash. Literally.

I got to thinking more and more about that point. In both instances, if the lightning had been a little closer, I would have been seriously hurt, maybe even killed. Am I ready for what could have come next? Yes, I am. As a Christian, I know that when I die, my soul will go on to live with Jesus in Heaven. It's not over. I’m not at the end of the line. I’m headed to heaven. It’s a blessed assurance that I was given when I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was a teenager.

The wisest and greatest decision I have made in this life was when I became a Christian those many years ago. If you would like to learn more about the Christian life and becoming a Christian, please visit Peace With God,

Railroad Photography! "Green Light! GREEN LIGHT!! GREEN LIGHT!!!"

"Green Light! GREEN LIGHT!! GREEN LIGHT!!!"
(C) Allen Pearson, All Rights Reserved

"Green Light! GREEN LIGHT!! GREEN LIGHT!!!" is dedicated in loving memory to my brother who passed away several years ago and my grandmother who did the same a year before him!

When I was growing up, one of the exciting parts of my summer was going to West Virginia to see my grandmother.  She lived across the street from two railroad tracks which were part of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Baltimore and Ohio railways. Of course, for me, trips to Grandmother's house were made more awesome because of being able to sit on the front porch in a swing and watch the trains go by! I had a front row seat for every show.

When my brother and I went together to visit Grandmother, when we heard a train coming, we would holler as loud as we could, "Train! TRAIN! TRAIN!!" Whenever we went out front if the red signal had changed to green, we would holler, "Green Light! Green Light!! GREEN LIGHT!!!" so the other, and everyone within hearing distance, would know a train should be coming soon.  Of course, for two young boys that began the longest hour or so in our lives! It's no wonder my grandmother didn't like the two of us to stay with her without our parents!

"Green Light! Green Light!! GREEN LIGHT!!!" is available on printed products including traditional quality archival papers you can frame, metal, canvas, standouts, posters, and notecards. To learn more, please visit my Railroad Gallery. If you are interested in other products, like coffee mugs and journals, please email me from my website.

I have opened a store on CafePress: Allen Pearson's Photos making it possible for you to have my images on other products. If you are interested in other products, like coffee mugs and journals, please visit the site or email me from my website.

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Wednesday's Words! Encouragement from God's Word

(C) Allen Pearson

"You are

my hiding place

and my shield;

I hope in your word."

- Psalms 119:114, ESV

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