November - Stillness

"Be still, and know that I am God..."

Psalms 46:10

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

Ok, so this picture didn't turn out exactly as hoped but I hope you get the gist of it.

My life is crazy.  

I am always stressed.  

I don't have enough hours in my day.

I have big "grown up" type decisions to make.

I expect perfection of myself.

I deal with health issues, emotional issues.

Some days I feel like I just can't handle it all.  And then I realize that those are the days I have not been putting my trust in the Lord, putting my faith in to His plan, His timing and letting him work peace in my life.  I can be a bit of a control freak and maybe a bit impatient too.  Yet, when I look back over my life I can see how I have been guided, protected, loved and blessed by the Lord.  So I need to remember to Be Still; to let myself trust in the Lord and to make sure I am letting Him guide me through my everyday life

And I pray that whatever your challenges, trials, imperfections may be that you too will be able to feel the Lord work peace in your life.

October-Be the Light

"Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

 

I love light houses, and I love this verse of scripture, so they naturally go together for me.  

It is a personal goal in my life to "Be the Light", to use kindness, understanding, patience, love and service to be a help and a light to those around me.  But it really hit me today as I was thinking about this, that it is much easier for me to show that others outside my family; my co-workers, a stranger at the grocery store, friends, the people at church, but where I really need to be showing it is in my home. 

“The most important work you will ever do is within the walls of your own home.”

Harold B. Lee 

I need to remember that even at the end of a long day, the most important people for me to share the light of Christ with are my family members.  It is good for them to see me "Be the Light" for others, but the best and most positive way to love and teach them is to make sure I am remembering to "Be the Light" for them too.

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Rachel Chaney

September - Waters Fail Not

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually,

and satisfy thy soul in drought,

and make fat thy bones,

and thou shalt be like a watered garden,

and like a spring of water,

whose waters fail not."

Isaiah 58:11

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

I love this scripture simply because I want my life to reflect that of a spiritually watered garden, lush, green, beautiful, a place I want to be, where others want to be.  I want to have the kind of faith that is strong and flowing, like waters that never fail.

August - Patience

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 5: 1-5

I must admit I do not feel like I glory in tribulation.  I don't like tribulation, it's hard!  But ever since I heard this scripture several weeks ago I have been thinking about it.  Trials are inevitable in our lives and as much as I wish my life was peaceful and easy, the trials do serve a purpose.  I know that the hard times in my life draw me closer to the Lord and give me a real appreciation for the reality of the atonement in my life.  But I really love what this scripture teaches me about tribulations.  They bring patience (and I can always use more patience in my life) and that patience brings us experience and that experience brings us hope.  I do love hope.  I love having hope in my life.  It brings me happiness and peace.  

Taking this picture was not a tribulation, but it did require patience.  It took me a half an hour, while using the car door windowsill as a makeshift tripod, while my boys slept in the back seat.  I really wanted to be able to capture the beauty of this sunset storm.  To me it represents the beauty that a storm can bring, and the promise of beautiful skies after it clears.  

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

July - Love

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; 

and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."

1 John 4:7

This month I could not help but post about love.  I got married last Friday to a wonderful man, who has put the love of God first in his life, and makes it a priority in our home where our children (6 combined!) can learn of His love.  I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me and has given me such wonderful blessings!  I am grateful to be able to share that love with those who surround me. 

 Love is a little piece of heaven on earth.  :)

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

June - The Way To Go

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it"

Proverbs 22:6

I worry so much about my boys.  They will grow up being raised by two different sets of parents with two different sets of moral standards.  This is something that has weighed heavily on my mind this summer and I have been searching for constant inspiration on.  I gain strength and focus from this scripture.  I pray that I am training them, giving them all they need to make good decisions for themselves as they grow up.  I need to remember to put my trust in the Lord, that He will help me help them, and that He will always be there with them, to guide them, even when I cannot be. 

May - Of Roses and Thorns

"Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, 

and I did praise him all the day long, 

I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions."

1 Nephi 18:16

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

Trials and afflictions are a part of this life, 

there is no avoiding that simple truth.  

But there is another simple truth, 

and that is that life is full of beauty and blessings.

They make it all more than worth while.  

I cannot avoid the hard times, 

but I will praise the Lord for all the beauty in my life.

April - The First Fire Code

"Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: ..."

Proverbs 26:20

 No Fuel = No Fire

In this verse in Proverbs it is talking about the cessation of strife.  

The end of the verse is, "... so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth."  

(I am thinking that this will be a fabulous object lesson to share with my boys).  

But this verse has always resonated with me in a different way as well, 

as a reminder to keep my self spiritually fueled 

so that I can keep my light burning brightly.

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Sunny Wright Photography

March - Let it Go

"Then came Peter unto him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

And Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times seven: but until seventy times seven"

St Matthew 18:21-22

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Sunny Wright photography blog

I have always thought of this scripture as one person being hurt by another over and over and over again.  But I have also come to realize that it can apply as well to one single hurt.  The kind of hurt that goes deep and is hard to forgive.  The kind of hurt that takes time to heal.  Learning to forgive that kind of hurt is a process.  I am finding it necessary to forgive in steps and that just when I think I have dealt with it, some other aspect of it comes up to bite me.  This may well take me 70x7.  But the biggest lesson I have learned is that even thought it takes time and effort, it is so worth it.  Because every time I let go of another piece, I free that piece of my heart and it opens more room for happiness and light in my life.  Ultimately forgiveness is not for the one who has wronged us, but for us personally.  Forgiveness allows us to let go of things that would weigh us down, and allow the full light of the atonement into our lives, into our hearts, and for us to draw closer to Christ in humility and gratitude.

February - Treasure

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also"

St.Matthew 6:20-21

To read about how I was inspired for this picture keep reading below.

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

 
Last spring I participated in the Marin Headlands Golden Gate Half Marathon with a big group of my family.  The best part of the day for me was getting to have my 2 boys there with me, waiting at the beach near the finish line for me.  They crossed the finish line with me.  My oldest boy, who was 8 at the time, has a very competitive spirit.  He even said in his prayers the night before "and please bless mommy that she won't come in last".  I didn't come in last, thank goodness, although I was much closer to last than to first (much, much closer!).  Afterwards he came up to me and handed me a perfect sand dollar he had found on the beach.  He said to me, "Mommy, I know you won't win a medal, so I got this for you instead."  His sweetness and sincerity had me in tears.  I kept that sand dollar and I put it in a place where I see it daily.  It is reminder to me of the truly important things in my life.  One of those most important things is my role as a mother, to nurture, to lead and guide my boys in the ways they should go.  As I sometimes struggle daily to be a good mom to my boys it helps me to remember that it is worth it for I am forging one of my most important treasures, my relationship with my boys.  And as I learn and grow as a mother, my relationship with my Heavenly Father grows as well.  I pray that my boys will also learn to have a strong relationship with their Heavenly Father as they learn and grow.  Because some of the most beautiful treasures we can lay up for ourselves in heaven are the relationships we develop here on earth.

January - It's the Little Things

“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. …

“… And by very small means the Lord … bringeth about the salvation of many souls” 

Alma 37:6-7

To read about how I was inspired for this picture keep reading below.

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Sunny Wright Photography Blog

 I was so exited to be asked to join this circle of such talented women, but with that came the pressure of finding the perfect scripture and then interpreting it in an amazing and thoughtful way.  All this month I knew I needed to be focusing on finding the scripture that spoke to me but hadn't been having any luck.  Then while sitting in church a week and a half ago the scripture above from Alma was read, and I immediately knew it was my scripture.  It is one that I have always liked, have always felt hope and encouragement from.  Before I could even start to formulate how I was going to express it in a picture, the speaker went on to relate this following story from a talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard . . .

"How can we free ourselves from this tangled web of challenges and uncertainties to find peace of mind and happiness?

Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”

I was captured by the story and the seed for this picture was planted.  The necklace was a gift to me from my Grandpa when I was a girl.  He panned the flakes and made the necklace.  It has always been special to me and I love that now every time I look at it I will be reminded of the message of this scripture and be lifted up.