Outsider View

Two of my most appreciated photos from this month have to do with where people live. And what is kind of strange is that the photos are of ordinary things. These are things that the people who live in these homes see often yet, like so many things that are common place, they go unnoticed or unappreciated. Until...

Until an outsider comes along and takes a picture.

Granted, there is something to be said for photography techniques, composition and post-processing. But a big part of the attraction of these photos is that I, as an outsider, take a picture of what is unusual for me, though commonplace for those who live in that environment.

In this first photo, I was walking to the home of a family member. Two things struck me as I approached the home. One is that the glow from the windows matched the color of the sunset sky. But the main thing was the "warm" color of the windows looked particularly inviting as I was walking along the cold, snowy road. It was not just the warm temperatures I was looking forward to, but also I would soon be surrounded by the warmth of relationships with family.

The next picture was also taken as I was walking toward the home of a cousin after parking the car at the beginning of the driveway. Because of the colder than normal temperatures, they had not gone out to clear the driveway of snow, which made it harder for driving into the yard. What was hard for the car, though, was nice for the photo, as there was lots of clean, white, snow to make for an idyllic scene. It was actually starting to get dark (mid-afternoon in northern latitudes) and I had to play with the photo a bit to bring out the colors.

Where am I going with this?

I, as an outsider, can bring a different perspective.

Sometimes (often?) we find ourselves so surrounded by the problems we face and the situations we're dealing with, that we lose hope. We can't see a way out or a reason to continue going on. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but we're still trying just to find the tunnel.

Then someone comes along, who is not having to deal with all the very real problems we have and, without diminishing the difficulties,  reminds us of all those other good things that are hard for us to see or, perhaps we just quit noticing.

There are many days when life and ministry can be quite challenging. I said to my wife recently, "I'm tired and I want to go home--except I don't know where that is, actually."

What helps me during these times is to hop on my bicycle and go for a ride among the rice paddies and rubber plantations with all the ponds and bogs that constantly interrupt the otherwise agrarian landscape. And as I'm pedaling past the paddies I find myself saying, "I can't believe I get to live here!" Because it really is quite beautiful, but I often don't have time or take time to appreciate that.

Sometimes, when even the bicycle ride is not enough to clear my vision, we'll get a visitor who'll point out these amazing things that we haven't noticed or that seemed inconsequential in our view. It really is helpful to have people in our lives that can give us an outside perspective.

When the photos above were taken, we were in Northern Alberta, Canada, to help some family members as they were dealing with some challenges in their lives. It was not a time of year I would typically pick to visit that part of the world. But in spite of the cold atmosphere and the chilling effect of life's events, there was still the warmth of family to be had. And it really is a pretty place to be. I'm just the guy who happened to have a camera at the right time to take a photo to remind us of those things. (But I am happy to be headed south to warmer climes.)

Proverbs 17:17 reads: A friend loves at all times (not just the good times), and a brother is born for adversity. (NIV, parentheses mine.)

I'm thankful for these friends and "brothers" who help us see from a different perspective.