Never-to-be-Forgotten Summer

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

"The Focal Point of All History and Life"

I took this photo during 2014 in Oxford while our family stayed a week there at Keble College (what a thrilling time that was!). This chapel inside the college was so, so beautiful and filled with such peace. It filled my heart with awe! I couldn't help looking up at that cross, with the beautiful stained glass images behind, and thinking of the truth of this Symbol - both of Shame and Glory, Suffering and Resurrection; the focal point of all history and life. How truly is the Cross of Jesus Christ the only hope for humanity! 

A Glad Heart

Being a Pollyanna, being glad,  and "giving thanks in all things", is not naivety, or idealism. It is a matter of faith. He will work out all things together for good, for those who love Him.

Oldy Garden Photos - Spring

Spring, like a gentle smiling hand, has finally arrived in this part of the world, calling out on all the season's beautiful, warm and sunny joys: birds singing and chirping in the bush and splashing up water from the bird-baths, dazzling blue skies, and fresh-sun-kissed flowers and green-lands. Being busy with schooling as of late I haven't been outside much lately so I thought to share some old archive pictures from last Spring which I had captured in our backyard. Sometimes, the seasons come back to us suddenly and capture our hearts with fresh joy and hope. That has been the feeling of this Spring for me!

¹⁰ My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
¹¹ For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
¹² The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!'

-Song of Solomon 2: 10-13

I read, write and do Algebra ^_^

Reading Pilgrim's Progress for my    Literature course ^_^.

Writing and listening to Spotify in Dad's office

My writing Basket and Current Reads: Blood, Sweat and Tears by Margaret Geddes (fat WW2 book) Complete Works of William Shakespeare (right tome) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (green and read book), With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray (small top book on the top left) Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (green little book), Dragonwitch by Anne Elizabeth Stengl (bottom left book)

Writing on my desk...

My private journal filled with many little happy thought-filled secrets <3

Spotify  A Love that Never Fails playlist

Writing a blog-post

Library WW2 Research Books

Josephine March, my little authoress dolly guarding with scrutiny my beloved desk.

But there is always Algebra, you know.

Part/Photo 1 Island Vacation Photos

Around last year, my family and I went on a week's vacation to a holiday island off the coast from where we live. It was a beautiful time, one of those times I shall always, I hope, have a fond memory of. So, for starts, I shall be sharing sporadic photos from our time there on this photography blog; sounds good? This photo was taken from our balcony in the holiday apartment we were staying in at the time. Beautiful, yes?

O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth...!

Psalm 8:1

A Great Aim

"As Christians, I challenge you. Have a great aim - have a high standard - make Jesus your ideal...make Him an ideal not merely to be admired but also to be followed." 

~ Eric Liddell

Christmas 2012

'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the  Father, full of grace and truth.'

John 1:14

Flowers in Blossom

Yes, it isn't Spring or Summer here, and so there aren't so many flowers about. *sniffs* I do miss them a lot, even if I really enjoy this cold, sunny weather of May :). But, since I have not had a chance to share with y'all this picture of a beautiful tree (which is common in this area) in blossom, I hope you enjoy this :). 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." 

Matthew 7:7-8

Gold Clouds (part 2)

This is what the sky was like in our neighborhood one evening a few weeks back, a fiery glow of gold, orange, yellow and pink and shades of blue as the sun sank behind the hill. It was soooooo beautiful! We were going back home from swimming that day and as I looked through the car window I saw the sky! You can imagine my reaction. Well, As soon as we reached our house, I rushed out of the car, ran to my bedroom and grabbed our camera and ran back outside to take dozens of shots... 

The beauty of His creation, the swirling clouds and the sunset, they gave me such a comforting sense of God's amazing love and goodness, that I am upheld by His hand and He knows and cares. I want to praise Him and thank Him for everything, including the sunshine and rain, because He is faithful in both, and his mercies and compassions endure forever. 

 

Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
Therefore I hope in Him!"

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD."
Lamentations 3:22, 26

Gold Clouds (part 1)

A few weeks back, I saw this in the evening sky while coming out of our car by our home. I raced to the house, grabbed our camera (yes, the old one was the only one in sight), and snapped away at the sky!

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork." 

Psalm 19: 1

(P.S. more sunset photos coming!)

God's Word {Photo Challenge}

I'm entering a photo challenge hosted by Kelsey from  A Ray of Sunshine. The challenge is, in Kesley's own words, "Photo Edit. Use your creative abilities and add a lovely new look to a photo you love! Add both the before and after photos." So here is my entry challenge:

God's Word... my Light and Joy

Before.

After.

 (I edited this photo via Picasa Web Albums using the "Cross Process" and "Sepia" effect)

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

 Psalm 119: 105 (KJV)

Cathedral Serial (Part 1)

Once, my family and I visited a beautiful building of the past, that speaks of vision, determination, beauty, perseverance, hard-work and amazing splendor. It was a beautiful Church cathedral with glass stained windows, a beautiful organ and... oh, I could go into many details, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. You see, we had the occasion to spend an afternoon there once, and I got to take photo shots with our new family camera. It was really special! Anyway, I'm going to make a serial post (I know I'm terrible at remembering to keep up with serials and the like, so it will be rather sporadic, I apologize), of the photo shots that were taken from that beautiful church. Enjoy!

The Cathedral from the outside...

While visiting this Cathedral, I came to reflect on many things... it is wonderful to know, that God doesn't only listen to us in beautiful, big buildings like these, but anywhere and everywhere. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4: 21-24 KJV)

There were other things I was blessed by through gazing at the beauty of the place... it took over a century to build (I can't recall exactly how long it took, but it certainly was built in more than in one life time!). The pillars and buildings are of stone, strong and sure. Imagine how much perseverance and vision it took from the men who built and designed it, the struggles and trials of building such a beautiful church! And now the church stands, beautiful and magnificent. What does that teach us, in our own personal lives? "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galations 6:9 KJV)

Have a blessed day in Christ, dear sisters!

"The Little Things"

With the encouragement of my dear sister, Sarah, I decided to join in the photography challenge Lucia is hosting on her blog Lucia, etc. Her photography challenge is to capture the little things of life that we often don't notice or take for granted. Here is my entry:

Why don't you join in the challenge too?

A New Design, Reflective Updates...

Have you all noticed that things look a little different around here today? Yes, and that is all thanks to Bree from aeronautical graphics design studio, who did this beautiful design for absolutely free*! How do you all like the new look? I think it is simply perfect for a little photography blog like mine... simple, chic, and sweet <3. Bree's waiting list was really full last month with LOTS of orders, but she still made time to work on this design with patience and a sweet spirit. Thank you so much, Bree! 

The other thing is, yes, I've renamed this blog from Joy's Rainbow Lens to Rainbow Lens Photography. I don't know why, I just think it sounds better and looks better too without the "'s". And the addition of "photography" in the title hopefully will help viewers  know what this blog is basically about =D. Besides all that, I feel this blog needs a fresh start in what and how I post photography...

And now, I  have a question for my viewers... would you rather see me post frequent posts with just one or two photography pictures per post? Or a would a whole group of pictures in a post be better? I'm not sure which way will bring out and enhance the photos the most, and I'm very much a beginner at all this so I'd appreciate your opinion :).

I was thinking for a start, that I'll post in the coming days photos I took while my family and I were visiting a beautiful cathedral in our city in 2011. How does that sound to you?

I really hope and pray that this little photography blog will be a blessing to you in a small way, through the simple beauties of God's creation that I clumsily capture through my lens! (and if you ever have any advice to give to an amateurish, aspiring photographer like me, I'd really appreciate helpful feedback and comments =D).

*since designing my blog, Bree has started selling her designs, but still at a really cheap price. So, if interested in a simple, lovely design.... head over to her studio! P.S. Both Bree and her older sister, Elizabeth are really sweet Christian young ladies;  I really enjoy reading from their blogs as well!

Bay Flowers

Some months ago, we discovered a lovely bay surrounded by a quiet children's park and dining benches for picnics. Off in the distance, we could see the white little boats sailing on the clear blue water, and the blue and white hills of distant islands melted into the horizon.The view were lovely, a photographer's paradise you might say. But sadly, that day our camera wasn't working all too good... it was nearly out of battery and I couldn't do much zooming, so the pictures were few and some rather blurry. But there were some lovely flowers about, and thankfully I WAS able to take shots of them:

"The flowers appear on the earth; 

the time of the singing of birds is come,

 and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land..."

~Song of Solomon 2: 12

Little Shots of Beauty

In the last few days throughout the holidays, I've been able to capture some stuff on my "rainbow lens" as I like to call it, thanks to go being able to go out a bit more often and seeing things. Though sadly, our camera has been playing up a bit with the batteries so it got me frustrated sometimes....

anyway... here are some shots...

enjoy!!!

P.S. you'll notice that in both of my blogs I've made a "grab-my-button" icon. Please feel free to copy the code and place it on your blog! Thanks!

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
         Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
         And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
        Commit your way to the LORD,
         Trust also in Him,
         And He shall bring it to pass.
 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
         And your justice as the noonday. 

Psalm 37: 3-6

Blessing O' the Day

Verse:

"Come, and let us return to the LORD;
      For He has torn, but He will heal us; 
      He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 
       After two days He will revive us; 
      On the third day He will raise us up, 
      That we may live in His sight. 
        Let us know, 
      Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. 
      His going forth is established as the morning; 
      He will come to us like the rain, 
      Like the latter and former rain to the earth."

Hosea 6: 1-3

Dainty Randomness...

Verse:
For You will light my lamp;
         The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
 For by You I can run against a troop,
         By my God I can leap over a wall.
 As for God, His way is perfect;
         The word of the LORD is proven;
         He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

 For who is God, except the LORD?
         And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength,
         And makes my way perfect.
 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
         And sets me on my high places.
 He teaches my hands to make war,
         So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 

Psalm 18: 28-34

In His Love,

~Joy

Spring!!!

While the rest of the world is turning into the chilly, icy weather of Autumn (fall), and eventually winter, I can't tell you how lovely it is to have it Spring here!!!!! Oh, it is still cold, windy and yesterday we had a really powerful rainfall, but Spring is in the air, and that just makes me want to sing! Thank you Lord, for everything so beautiful! I just want to praise you today!

I thought to share with you some of the beauties I've captured of Spring:

Be blessed in the Lord this day, and may you sing for joy in His unfailing love and faithfulness!

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!"

In His love,

~Joy