Self Portrait

Our assignment for photo club was to come up with a self portrait. How do you take a picture of yourself and yet do it in a unique way. The other night I took a trip to Perch Lake Bridge to see what i could come up with. I hung over the edge of the bridge and pulled the trigger on the camera a few times. The final result is this picture. It looks a little surreal and alien like. Seeing I enjoy sci-fi, this probably fits me. Either way, the picture was chosen as the "winner" for the month of August, whatever that means. Can you tell who it is? I always enjoy the photo club as I can learn more about what is involved in taking pictures and working with them on the computer to make them better. My goal is to use these things for God's glory.

Camp 2010

It always seems a little weird that we prepare for months for camp and it is over in a batting of an eye. This years camp went quite well. We had 64 kids and about 42 adults helping. One of the big highlights for me happened during missionary hour. I had quite a few things to do that day, so i was not able to be in the chapel during that time. Toward the end of the missionary hour, I was getting ready to go into the chapel, but I stopped at the door and peeked in. What I saw was simply amazing. Almost all the campers and staff were at the front of the chapel with their heads bowed and praying. Many were making some very serious decisions about serving the Lord. To me that is what camp is all about!
It amazes me that this year marked our 20th year of camp! Next year we are planning a a time of celebration and praise. Like the theme for this year's camp states "What a Mighty God we serve!!!"
This picture is free for anyone to download and keep for their own. Enjoy and as you look at it start now to pray for next year's NorthLand Bible Camp.

Ever since we came to Trego, 22 years ago, we have had the same mechanic that works on our cars. I hate to even think of how much money we have given him over the years to fix everything from transmissions to spark plugs. Early this week I called him to find out what a tune up on our van would cost. The first thing he said was "You are just the guy I wanted to talk to?" All I could think of was What did I do now? To my surprise he said "I'm not a religious man, but you can help solve a dispute we have been having." Then he asked, "Jesus is God's Son isn't He. Does that mean that He is God?" I simply answered his question by saying, "You won, yes He is!". My mechanic is far from being a Christian, but perhaps God is starting to get him thinking.
Then yesterday, I decided that I could tackle the job of replacing the rear brakes on my van. HA!!! It took my almost 45 minutes to BEAT OFF the rotors. They have never been replaced on the 2002 van. They finally came loose and were they ever in bad shape. Then I got a look at the emergency brake. What a mess of frozen, rusted parts that were beyond any salvaging. Guess who I called - my mechanic. When I brought the car to him, I told him, "From now on, I promise you that I will stick to the preaching and you can do the repairs on my cars." He just laughed and I handed him the keys to the van. More money, but hopefully more conversations.

Old New Pics

One of the things I really enjoy doing is taking pictures and then modify them in Paint Shop Pro. I found a spot not too far from here that is simply beautiful this time of year, even though every things tends to be dark and gray right now. There are no leaves on the trees and the grass is plain brown and ugly. But that just added to the beauty of this spot. The water looks black and the trees look very eerie, almost Gothic. Because it was already dark, I decided to print the pictures in Black and White. One of the pictures I even made into an antique looking photo. To me it looks like a scene from an old horror vampire movie with Vincent Price. (No I haven't gone over to the "dark side"). It just amazes me what you can do with a little computer modification.

Hoar Frost

This past weekend we were in the Twin Cities visiting our sons and families. Friday night an eerie fog moved in over the area. The result was that in the morning everything was covered with a glistening white hoar frost. (At least that is what the weatherman called it). I took some time to try to study at Mc Donald's down the road from Eric's house. I wasn't able to concentrate just thinking about the beauty of the landscape, so I quit and went out and took some pictures. This willow tree really caught my eye, covered with white. All I could think was "What a majestic God and awesome we have!"
I also learned another lesson last night. I joined an area photo club and took some of these pictures to the meeting thinking that they were pretty spectacular. That is until I saw some of the work of the members on their websites. I definitely am a novice, but will have fun learning from these pros.

Let It Snow!

What a Christmas. we suppose to drive to the Twin Cities and spend Christmas with our sons, wives and grand children. Then we heard the weather forecast and changed our minds. So far we have about 9 - 10 inches of snow and are expecting quite a bit more before it is over. Recently I purchased a Nikon SLR camera, so I decided to take some pictures today outside. The picture here is of our back yard with all the snow on the trees. The elk just happened to be in the picture when I edited it. (Eat you heart out, Jim Van Voorst).
Actually I rather enjoy the snow. It covers up all the drab ground and and coats the trees with a layer of beauty that man can't create. I almost feel sorry for those who decide to winter in Florida or Arizona or Texas. They miss out on a lot of God's design.

October Youth Night

This past Friday night we had our annual youth night at the Barron Area Community Center in Barron, Wisconsin. There were 30 teens and about a dozen adults in attendance. The Trego Youth performed a drama using Casting Crowns song "Set Me Free" dealing with being set free from the chains of sin in our life through Christ. Paul Frey used that as his theme as he shared with the teens from God's Word. Paul also had a few action games for the teens to do. Attached is a video of one of the games. I guess you could call it "Paper Chase". What ever you call it the kids had a blast. Enjoy and let us know what you think.