One Army Wife's Blog about her Catholic Faith & Parenting
Week of Pictures
The Zelie Group is hosting a photo challenge during this Advent Season. Each day, a new picture is posted. You can keep up with the pictures daily with us by looking for these specific tags:
#thezeliegroup
#tzg_photochallenge
#tzg_advent2016
I’ve also decided to post my pictures on my blog at the end of each week – either Friday or Saturday, for those of you not using other social media platforms. Partly because they are fun, and also because they continue my theme of faith, and how faith makes its way into the seams of the fabric of my life as I parent!
The prompt for Day 1 was “Bird.” At lunch, I informed my son I needed help finding a bird to take a picture of for this challenge. He looked at me, excitedly exclaimed, “There’s a bird!” After his insistence that he had truly found a bird, I turned around skeptically. He was correct – there was a bird – on top of a Corona box. So, instead of the natural bird in flight that I captured later in the day, I chose this bird, since there was family effort put into this one.The prompt for Day 2 was “Candle.” Candles light the way in darkness, and Christ is our candle. The plate in this picture was made by my husband’s aunt, prior to my meeting my husband. It comes out every Christmas. I paired with a candle gifted to me this year by my “Advent Angel” (think Secret Santa, with a religious twist, from my Catholic Women of the Chapel group).The prompt for Day 3 was “Prayer.” All relationships take work, and the relationship with God is no different – prayer sustains the relationship between God and His people. I took a picture of some of my favorite prayer prompts – Rosaries, a “Prayer of Surrender” (given to me by a priest for penance once), a Mother’s Book of Prayers, and my all-time, quick, favorite prayer (“Jesus, I trust in You” <– seriously, the prayer is that quick!). The Rosaries are kept on the tray inside the door; the prayer cards are kept secreted in a drawer, so little hands won’t help themselves!The prompt for Day 4 was “Path.” We are all on a journey along a spiritual path – some of us are at different points, and some of us might be traveling different paths. Some parts of the path may be more difficult, others smoother. But, it’s my firm belief that it is how we respond to our path that helps us figure out how we need to best address making the most of our relationship with Our Lord, and getting to Him with our arms outstretched, to embrace His loving, outstretched arms.The prompt for Day 5 was “Waiting.” I could think of no better depiction of waiting than my two lovely, opposite pups, waiting for their food. One waits reverently, quietly, and calmly. The other waits impatiently, loudly, and without a modicum of decorum. But, they both represent how we all wait at various points in our lives – sometimes we are quiet, other times we are excited. And, there is no right or wrong way to wait! The point is that we eagerly wait for Our Lord, and the time we get to meet Him.The prompt for Day 6 was “Evergreen.” Evergreen is symbolic of life. As I thought about this prompt, I realized I want my life in Christ to be “ever green.” I want to always have faith, love, and trust in Our Lord. I don’t want my relationship with him to ever weaken, and instead want the color of my relationship with Him to only deepen with age. Nothing is more fitting than an image of evergreens, which withstand the test of the seasons, strong in their green. This Advent, I want my faith to continue greening, amidst the hustle and bustle of the secular holiday celebrations.
It’s not too late to join The Zelie Group’s photo challenge on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook – just use one of the hashtags (a.k.a. pound signs) above if you join in on the fun!
I really enjoyed your pictures !! 😊
Thank you! They’ve been fun to take!
The bird picture made me giggle. It would probably win the prize for most unique among all the snowy cardinal pictures. 🙂
Haha! I’m glad it made someone else giggle, because it brings a smile to my face every time I think of it! 😂