In this post I highlight three iPad apps, Photoshop (PS) Express, PhotoPad, and Sketchbook Pro. All of the apps above seem to hone in on different areas for photo editing and they each do what they do on the iPad really well. Read more…

(acrylic on canvas)

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  – Romans 8:22

Like so many, when I hear the news or think about things that are going on around me, I get pretty overwhelmed—as in my previous post, Moving forward, where just taking another step on this journey requires a great amount of effort.  It was shortly after writing Moving forward, that I read the above from the book of Romans…and it gave me a lot of comfort.

Creation is active.  It didn’t just happen, it continues to happen.  This is why I love this passage–because it highlights the creation that is happening right now, in the present time.

Like a woman giving birth, there’s pain in the midst of creation.  And just like in the moments after both of my children were born, there is hope.  Hope for their future, hope for our roles as parents.  Hope and joy.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. – Romans 8:24-25

It is through hope that we are able to take another step.  Hope isn’t seen.  Hope finds itself in faith.  Hope and faith are linked at the most basic level.  Hope is found in the depths of creation—in the reality of life.

And hope—is not hope at all—without patience.  It’s this patience that is present in the midst of the pains of creation.

The thing about trying to walk in mud in the midst of a storm, is that the steps I’m trying to take are so labored and yield very little progress.  When I stop moving forward and look up at the storm, I become more exhausted from the chaos that surrounds me.

The rain pours and whips around.

The wind howls and pulls from all directions.

I cannot see where I’m going even as I squint and shield my eyes.  Battered and beaten by the storm, my eyes sting and my step falters.

So, I look down at the mud and with all of my might, pull my knee up to the heavens and free my foot from the earth’s tightening grip.  Just one more step.

And then…

One more.

Lead Without Authority is a site where,

Our goal is to be a leadership resource so you can effectively lead from where you are. We want to create a portal, a resource, and even a community of people who really want to make a difference and learn how to lead from the where they are right now. With the country calling our for leaders to come forward and solve the problems, right the wrong, and actually lead, now is the time to do what we can to ensure everyone has the opportunity to learn how to lead better and make a difference.

We are still working on this site, really hoping to build up the content.  But in talking with my daughter I have realized that I need to keep writing…for me.  Like everyone out there, I have thoughts, dreams, prayers and memories.

I’m not quite sure where I want to take my writing next…but I will take it one day at a time, and just write.  I’ve written a lot on faith the past several years.  (This blog has been going on for more than 4 years now!)  I think, though, I want to share more of my story—whatever comes to mind.

If you stop by, thanks, and take care.

No, what’s been keeping me from writing on my blog, has been my blog.

Every time I would open my browser and go to my blog, I was distracted by my blog’s look.  It was driving me crazy.  I didn’t want a standard banner and multi-column look.  I wanted a different look.  I wanted to work with a WordPress theme where I could create my own look.  If you’ve visited this site, you might have seen several different versions of my blog this month.  Maybe you even stumbled on my site you might have seen that sometimes I was working on a trial and error basis.   This went on for days, then weeks.

I had created a design for simplybridges.com and employed a design on a WordPress installation on the site.  I had worked this design for a while and it seemed to work well for us on that domain.  Since simplybridges.com is one of my domains for our coaching and consulting business, I decided to use some of the design elements on my blog here–mostly, the cut paper look and color scheme.  While the first version of the design is working well for simplybridges.com , only time will tell if it will work for my blog here.

Hopefully I won’t keep getting distracted from writing.