Circa 2012: I shoot portraits, travel, events, and little bits of every day of life, in both film and digital, ever since I could afford to develop rolls of film at the 1 hr photo store.
Throwback to a day with friends and sisters at the Tyler Rose Garden in Tyler, Texas, and The Foundry Coffeehouse (one of the best coffee shops in East Texas!)
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. Apart from me, no one comes to the Father.”
In Jesus alone is the gift of eternal life, given to us freely but purchased by His own blood on the cross.
When we put our trust in Him, we are redeemed, we are set free, and we are adopted into the family of God!
Mom and I have been talking about the beautiful thing it is to be part of the family of God. Even when we meet complete strangers who also love Jesus, you can sense that we share the Spirit of God in us. (And my Mom and I experienced that this very morning… at the IRS office! God works in amazing ways.)
There is such joy in knowing the Lord and walking with Him. And it is His love in me that compels me to love the world like He does.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” – John 3:16-17
When I glimpse the incredible love that God has for the world – and I understand how many people have yet to hear the name of Jesus – my heart breaks.
More than 2.7 billion people in the world today (about one out of five) have never heard of Jesus. They’re without salvation and hope, for both this life and the next. And that means that they are on their way to hell.
It is chillingly clear in Scripture that those who do not choose Christ will not inherit eternal life.
I was struck by the analogy that I recently heard about this. If you are planning a trip to Disney world, and you’re packing, planning your road trip, and start driving there, you’re on your way. A few things might come up that deter you for a minute, but you are still on your way.
If it is true that those without Christ are on their way to hell, like the Scriptures say, how does that impact how I live today?
This is a sobering and challenging thought that the Lord is teaching me through right now.
I’ll close with some lines from a song that has been playing in my head, ‘O Come to the Altar’ by Essential Worship:
Are you hurting and broken within,
Overwhelmed by the weight of the sin,
Jesus is calling.
Have you come to the end of yourself,
Do you thirst for a drink from the well,
Jesus is calling.
O come to the altar,
The Father’s arms are open wide,
Forgiveness was bought with,
The precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes,
Come today there’s no reason to wait,
Jesus is calling.
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy,
From the ashes a new life is born,
Jesus is calling.
Oh what a Savior,
Isn’t He wonderful,
Sing hallelujah Christ is risen,
Bow down before Him,
For He is lord of all,
Sing hallelujah Christ is risen.
Read more: Elevation Worship – O Come To The Altar Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Learning to develop black and white film was one of the best things that’s happened to me. I love shooting film, and have loved it for a while. Learning to develop it on my own made it so much more awesome.
Last semester I took Daniel Rodrigue’s News Photography I at Brookhaven College. I had cool assignments that weren’t really work, because taking photos is awesome and fun. My kind of class, for sure. I made a camera out of a can, I shot with instant film, and spent hours in the school darkroom. Brookhaven has a black and white photo lab, and all of the equipment and space you need for rolling film onto reels, pouring in the chemistry to develop the film, and making enlargements and prints of your photos.
One Thursday I was at the photo lab at Brookhaven, developing film. (Standing at a sink for an hour and shaking a film tank intermittently is not the most interesting thing it the world. It’s a little boring [except that you know that what you’re doing is making photos, so it’s worth it.] I have small hands, so my fingers cramp up from holding onto the film tank. Then there are chemicals spilling, and dripping onto your hands, and then drying just enough to make it uncomfortable. [I’m making this sound horrible. It’s not really this bad.])
So I was at the lab, developing film. I decided that I would instagram the different steps of developing film, just for fun, and for something to do while I wait. I decided that I would hashtag it all #photolabthursday to group all of the photos and tweets together.
And, now I’m going to share the film developing process with you, via my instagram posts. Just a fraction of all the photos that I posted though!
Elicia Wetstein 