The Teacher

We worked in silence most of the time, not because we had to but because we were concentrating hard on the 16x20 oil painting we were supposed to complete during the eight-hour session. As the instructor began to move from student to student, someone called out, “Help! I need the magic brush!”


Soft laughter erupted, and then several others said, “Me, too!”

That continued throughout the day. But while we waited our turn for help, we’d look more closely at the instructor’s painting that was projected on large TV screens and try to do what she had done.

Applying the paint to the canvas had looked so easy—effortless, actually—when the instructor had shown us how. But whenever we tried to paint the same part of the picture on our canvas, the clouds or the barn or whatever we were painting at the time didn’t look as wonderful as hers. So, we’d cry out, “Help! I need the magic brush!”

As soon as the instructor arrived at our easel, she’d make a cheerful comment and then take a long-handled brush like the one we were using, load it with some of the paint we’d mixed on our palettes, and then deftly apply it to our canvas. Within seconds she’d transform our round blobs into natural-looking rocks or our un-natural-looking water into a flowing, shimmering creek. Then she’d move on to the next student in need of the “magic brush.”


Actually, it wasn’t the brush that made the difference, else those of us who were using a brush like hers could have painted beautifully without any assistance. It was the teacher’s ability that brought about the transformation. Had it not been for her, many of us would have gone home with a mess rather than a beautiful oil painting we were proud to display.


Now, she didn’t do all of our work for us. Quite the contrary! We tried as hard as we could to do exactly what she had done, but whenever we called for help, she’d come right alongside us and show us what to do. Not once did she reprimand anyone for not listening carefully, for not remembering what she had said to do, for not trying hard enough, or for not being able to paint as well as she could.

She knew we wanted to learn. And even though some of us had to be told and re-told what to do, to be shown and re-shown, she remained patient.

As I reflected on that experience, I began to see how it paralleled, in some ways, that of Jesus and His disciples. What He did looked so easy, so effortless. But when they tried to perform a similar miracle, they couldn’t do it. More than once, they had to call on Him to do what they couldn’t do.


Naturally, they were terribly upset when He told them He was going away. However, He assured them they would continue to have a Teacher. “But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you” (John 14:26).


An ever-present teacher! What a gift! And there’s more Good News: the Teacher is always with you and me, too, enabling us to be and do far more than we (or anyone else!) ever thought possible.

© 2006 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill, http://www.jgaskill.com/. Scripture quoted is from the New Living Translation.

Essence

I’ve taken lots of “people pictures” here lately. Some have been documentary— the kind that shows the subject in a particular setting and could be used to accompany a newspaper or magazine article that further explains the “who, what, when, where, why, and/or how.”

Other photos I’ve taken have been less documentary and more “expressive.” For example, while attending a kite flying activity at the University of Georgia’s Research and Education Garden in Griffin, GA, I took several images of a mom, her two sons, and their grandparents. After taking one particular close-up image of the younger son, I checked the LCD screen to make sure the image wasn’t blurred, as can often happen when hand holding a camera.

“Oh, look!” I said to the grandmother as I held the LCD screen so she could see.

“How sweet!” she said.

As I showed the image to the boy’s mother, she asked, “Is there any way we can have copies of these?”

“I’ll be glad to share them with you,” I told her. “Just send me an e-mail at the address that’s on this card.”

When she contacted me several days later, I sent her an invitation to view the photos I’d uploaded to a private album on an on-line site and gave her instructions for downloading the ones she wanted.

She wrote back saying, “I LOVE the pics!!! Thank you SO much….This was an unexpected treat for me and my family…we appreciate it so much! ”

I replied, “So glad you liked the photos! I really love taking pictures, especially of people in “unposed” situations. Their heart/essence really shows during such times—for example, the sweetness/innocence on the faces of your handsome boys. I photographed at my grandsons’ baseball games last Saturday and captured some of the most precious expressions on their faces, too!”

That set me to thinking about other “people pictures” I’ve taken that have become favorites of mine. So, I decided to post a few of them in an on-line album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnniegaskill

As I selected the photos, I realized I liked them because they conveyed each subject’s essence—that is, his or her uniqueness or what I like to call “specialness.” The photos I selected also portrayed an emotion each of the subjects was feeling at the time I took the photo. Thus, each photo is a once-in-a-lifetime image since it cannot be recreated. Even if I were to photograph the same subject again in the same setting, the facial expressions and the lighting and even the angle would be different.

So, I love capturing those one-of-a-kind images that convey a subject’s uniqueness. And I do believe that each person has a God-given “specialness” that is to be acknowledged—and celebrated! If I, as a photographer, can capture even a glimpse of that awesome “specialness” then I am, indeed, happy!

I pray that all of the photos I take, not only of people but also of landscapes and flowers and animals and… will convey what the psalmist said to God many centuries ago: “Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it” (Psalm 139:14, New Living Translation).

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

Spring Will Come!

If I were to describe today, I could echo what Charles Dickens said years ago: “It [is] one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when the summer is in the light, and winter in the shade.”

The sun is shinning warmly enough (63 degrees, according to the thermometer), yet the brisk wind is bone-chilling. If I stand in a sheltered area, I don’t need a jacket; but if I walk out in an open space (such as my driveway), I need a coat, scarf, and gloves.

But soon it will be spring, for sure. The daffodils are finally blooming, albeit later this year than usual, and are dancing in the breeze. The ready-to-burst-open buds on the forsythia and other shrubs and trees will soon show off their colors.

Since spring has been delayed a bit this year, folks are saying this will be one of the most beautiful springs we’ve had in a long while. Rather than spring coming “here a little, there a little,” it will arrive all at once. Won’t that be delightful?

This winter has seemed to drag on and on, hasn’t it? Even folks here in the south have grown tired of it and are longing for spring. We are so ready to go outside and dig in the dirt. We long for sunshine’s warmth on our backs as we play and work outside. We’re eager to feel warm breezes blowing through our hair as we walk through neighborhoods ablaze with color.

Perhaps we love spring so much because, as Virgil A. Kraft said, “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”

In addition to beauty and comfort, spring brings hope—hope that God can and will make something beautiful of our lives and of the lives of others, hope that He will make something beautiful out of the ugliness that’s all too often seen and experienced in our world, hope that He will….

We know that no winter, no matter how long it lasts or how bitter it is, will last forever. Spring will follow, even if winter delays its arrival for a longer than usual time. Knowing that spring will come, one of these days, renews our hope that God will make all things beautiful in His time.

Consider, for example, the prophet, Jeremiah. He experienced a terrible winter of the soul, brought on by severe afflictions and frustrations that seemed to never end. After mentioning many of the things that caused his pain, he said, "The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’” (Lamentations 3:19-24).

Having said that, Jeremiah then added, “The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So, it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD” (v. 25-26).

Waiting during a long winter is so hard. But that waiting is made easier when we have hope that God will change things for the better, which He surely will. The coming of spring reminds us once again of that great truth.

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. Scriptures quoted are from the New Living Translation.

There's Wonder All Around!

Everywhere I look, I see things that fill me with awe. For example, one mid-February afternoon, I went out into the yard to photograph. I had no idea what I’d find that would make a good subject for a photograph, but I felt confident I’d find something, even though the landscape was composed mainly of shades of brown, gray, and black.

With pleasure, I noticed that the tender daffodil shoots had survived the snow that had blanketed them a few days before.

Normally, I could find lots of beautiful camellia blooms to photograph, since we have several bushes, each producing a different kind of bloom, but all the blooms and buds had been “burned” by the bitterly cold temperatures.

“Maybe I can find one that looks good,” I said to myself. Sure enough, I found one in a sheltered spot near the bottom and center of the bush. So, I picked it and then placed it in a spot on the bush where I could photograph it more easily. It looked very natural there, so I set to work.



The 12 mm extension tube I’d added to my 50 mm lens before placing it on my camera greatly magnified what I was seeing through the viewfinder. So, I literally caught my breath as I noticed, as if for the first time, not only the beautiful pale pink color of the petals but their gently curving edges and the way they fit so perfectly together, layer upon layer. Amazing! A true work of art!

Enthralled by its loveliness, I lingered there, capturing thirty or more images of that one bloom, from various angles. Finally, I forced myself to leave and walked around the house to the holly tree that was loaded with red berries. I sprayed some of them with water, watching eagerly for a single drop that would form at the bottom of a berry or leaf. As soon as I spotted one, I set to work, hoping to capture the surrounding colors reflected in that tiny drop.


Once again, I gasped with wonder at the image in the viewfinder. Such perfection. Such beauty in the bright red berries and in the deep green of the leaves themselves and also in the tiny droplet.

I felt a similar sense of awe as I photographed nandina berries in the front yard and a tightly encased bud on the Japanese Magnolia tree.

When the cold compelled me to go inside, I didn’t want to lose the sense of wonder I’d felt. So, I moved a 6-inch pot of tulips into better light and began to photograph their centers. With window light lighting them from behind and “fill flash” from my camera lighting them from the front, I captured amazing details that I would have missed if I hadn’t slowed down to take a long look.

Experiences such as these remind me that wonder is, indeed, all around. Whenever I see it, it leads me to worship the One who created such wondrous details. I’m thankful I can do that. According to Romans 1:25, some folks worship the things God has made but stop short of worshipping Him. How sad to miss the joy and blessing of worship! But far more importantly, how unfair to deprive Him of the praise rightfully due Him!!


(c) 2010 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill. These photos as well as others on this blog are for sale. To purchase, please contact Johnnie.

Blessings in Every Trial

For over two months now, I’ve been experiencing round-the-clock nausea. While my doctor has no definitive answer, yet, as to why, he has told me I do have gastritis and esophagitis, which he attributes to acid reflux. He wants me to have more diagnostic tests to find out for sure what’s really causing the problem.

In the meantime, I continue to feel miserable. I am sick of being sick! Increasingly, I’m giving up activities, like photography, that I used to engage in because bending over, even slightly, produces more nausea.

One weekend, when the nausea was particularly bad, I spent all day Saturday propped up on the couch, trying to stay as still as possible. I watched a photography CD that inspired me so much that I played it again and again, longing for the images I take to convey the beauty and wonder of the Creator’s work.

Sunday, I felt just a tad better, so I spent most of the day at my computer, which didn’t require much bending (other than when I got up and down). Although I couldn’t go outside in the spring-like weather and photograph the daffodils, I spent many pleasant hours designing 3.5 x 5-inch note cards.

To create them, I used photos I’d taken some time ago. By late afternoon, I had several designs that I really liked. One of the last ones I created (shown here) had a pastel pink background (that was actually a close-up of a camellia bloom I’d taken weeks ago).

As I worked with that quote—changing the font size and color, creating a border for it, etc.—I realized God had indeed given me “a blessing in each trial,” several blessings, in fact! For example, if I hadn’t been too sick to do other things, I probably wouldn’t have designed the note cards. And the persons to whom they would have been sent (whether by me and/or by those who purchased the cards) would have missed out on much-needed encouragement.

Another blessing I’ve received during this trial has been “a faithful friend to share” it. Actually, I have many friends who are concerned about me and are praying, as I am, that I will soon be well. Although none of my friends can make the nausea go away, their support helps me endure it.

As I reflect on this current problem, I realize anew that others I’ve encountered have also contained blessings of some sort. Initially, some were not obvious, but as I look back on various trials I’ve been through, I can see God-given blessings in each one.

That’s why I remind myself often of Romans 8:28: “God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them.”

Although the “things” themselves aren’t necessarily “good” (my nausea, for example), God takes all difficulties and distresses and extracts blessings from them. I do not understand how He does it, only that He does!

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

Stay with Your Subject

While attending the Georgia Nature Photographers’ Association’s first annual Expo, held at Callaway Gardens, I received many excellent tips for improving my photography. For example, during the Saturday afternoon session, Nancy Rotenberg, one of the keynote speakers, said, in essence: When you see something that interests you, don’t just press the shutter button and move on. Work with your subject. Figure out what captivates you most about your subject. Then photograph it in such a way that the viewer will see what you saw and understand what your photograph is “saying.”

The following morning when Nancy met a small group of us at the Cecil B. Day Butterfly House for a guided photo shoot, I decided to take her advice. As I walked down a paved path bordered by beautiful plants, some blooming, some not, a cluster of small blooms growing on a vine caught my eye. So, I set my tripod near the orange blooms and began looking through the viewfinder to figure out the best way to “frame” them.

The longer I stayed there, the more I noticed the details, which made me more eager to photograph their beauty. So, I’d take a shot, check it on my camera’s LCD screen, realize I’d not captured the image the way I wanted to, adjust a setting or two on my camera, and take another shot.

When other photographers passed by, I’d ask them for advice. Even though their tips improved my images, I still couldn’t get one that made me say, “Yes!!!”

When Nancy passed by, I asked her for help. “What is it you want to photograph?” she asked.

After I’d pointed out the little orange blooms, she said, “In three words, and only three, tell me what captivates you the most about those blooms.”

I replied, “Tendrils, colors, and shapes.”

“Well, let’s zoom in and focus on those three things.”

I did what she said and was able to place those “elements” inside the frame in a way that pleased me. But each image I shot had problems: the color wasn’t right or else the focus wasn’t as sharp as I wanted it and so forth.

Since I was determined to get the image that had formed inside my head, I stayed with my subject, as she had advised. Although I was aware that other photographs were capturing images of the beautiful butterflies, I stayed with the blooms.

As I lingered there, all sorts of thoughts went through my head. Just give up on this and move on. After all, you’re supposed to be photographing butterflies!

But I stayed with my subject, changing a setting on my camera and checking each image to see if I’d “nailed it” yet. If not, I’d change another setting and press the shutter button again.

As the photo shoot was ending, I tried one more time. As I looked at that image, I said, “I got it!!!!”

I love that photo! Not only is it beautiful (in my eyes, at least) but it also reminds me to “stay with” whatever I feel passionate about and to try again and again to figure out what will bring the desired result. Doing so will bring success—and gladness!


©2010 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill.

Additional Note: As I look at this photo, I am reminded that the Creator has placed incredible beauty all around us. I pray that we will pay attention to it--and to all the intricate details contained therein--and, in doing so, that we will realize, as He does, that His work is "very good."

The Testimony of the Tree

Every year as I prepare to decorate our tree with ornaments that are showing their age, I consider either buying or making new ones. After all, those crafters on TV who demonstrate how to make lovely ornaments out of all kinds of materials make the process seem so simple. Yes, I tell myself, next year I will definitely do something new. But when it's time to decorate the tree the next Christmas, I have neither made nor purchased any ornaments. This year was no exception. But when I hung the old ones on what our firstborn daughter calls our "sentimental tree," I realized that the assortment of ornaments said a lot about our family's history and our values. (Funny, I'd never thought about that before.) 

This year, as always, I got misty-eyed as I hung ornaments made by our daughters when they were in kindergarten and elementary school. Although the construction paper had faded a bit and some of the handcrafted ones weren't very attractive, I enjoyed them because they brought to mind the sparkle in Jennifer and Jena's eyes when they rushed home to show them to me. 

During the years the girls were still living at home, they helped me decorate the tree. I enjoyed listening to them as they reminisced about classmates and teachers associated with the making of those ornaments. 

While I trimmed the tree alone (again!) this year, I smiled as I hung whimsical ornaments we'd bought in order to help raise money for PTA projects. Other ornaments had been made at times when I'd volunteered to assist Jennifer and Jena's teachers with art projects. Those simple ornaments reminded me of two of the many ways we participated in the children's education. Some of the school-made decorations included photos. I held them in my hands a long time and reflected on the way the children were "way back then." 

As I hung ornaments given to us by my college roommate (who is still one of my best friends, even after all these years) and by ladies in Sunday School classes I'd taught, I was reminded of the love and friendship I've enjoyed all these years. 

While hanging some of the various kinds of ornaments I'd made through the years, I thought, You know...I can be creative--whenever I have time. 

As I hung a lovely "store-bought" one that Jennifer had given me, I remembered the handwritten, heartfelt note she'd included in the box with it. 

As I trimmed the tree, I gave thanks for the blessing of having a full and happy life and for having a heart that's content with simple things.

Now that I've finished the decorating, I love looking at our "sentimental tree" even when daylight reveals the age and condition of the ornaments. But each evening I catch my breath when I plug up the lights and see the magical transformation that occurs.

As I see how the light hides the imperfections and casts a beautiful glow on each treasured ornament, my heart echoes these words of David: "LORD, [in like manner] you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness" (Psalm 18:28, New Living Translation), and then I whisper, "Thank you!" (c) 2001, Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. All rights reserved.

In the Beginning

In the beginning
God created
the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1, NLT

As Vast As the Heavens

Mount Rainier in Washington

Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the ocean depths.

You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

Psalm 36:3-6, New Living Translation