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The summer before that life-changing trip to Mexico, I decided to attend summer school and squeeze in a few of the "electives" required for my engineering degree. Somehow, I found myself in a photography class trying to figure out how to use the brand new SLR I had just been given. This was before digital photography became mainstream, so I spent a ton of money that summer on film and a ton of time in the darkroom. I also spent hours and hours out in the hot North Louisiana heat shooting just about anything that crossed my path.
What I didn't know was that God was laying the groundwork that summer for the big changes He was about to implement in my life. That photography class was just a part of it. The hours spent alone waiting on the right shot or working in the darkroom provided such a perfect environment for quiet reflection on the convictions that come from the Holy Spirit.
Fast forward a few months... I was in Mexico, lugging around a film SLR, with still no clue how to use it and no idea what kind of photos were going to come out of that new camera once I got home... and having no idea just how God was changing me, awakening me.
One day as I walked down the street, I came across these two women deep in conversation.
Dressed in the typical style of the area, they remind me of all that happened on that trip --- the warm welcome the locals gave us, the way the women served us daily with delicious meals, the way they loved us even though we were complete strangers to them, the way they created an environment where I could sit and listen and hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
When I look back at this picture, I smile remembering that wonderful trip, that first camera, and how He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus!
Photo :: "Street Conversations" (Merida, Mexico • original February 1996, digitally edited April 2011)
