I just want to make the world a better place; I want it to matter that I existed, she said, twelve and full of lofty, romantic ideas. Then life happened. College, career… Marriage, moves, babies… Growing and nurturing, changing and becoming, dinners and laundry shopping and bills planting feeding playingwalking runteachtalklisten obeypunishreadaskwonderprovidearguematuredecideforgetsuccumbsubmitchoose waitwaitwait packunpackcleanschedulecallopenundoforgetlistmowmakebaketake waitwaitwait...
you look at the four people around you and say
“well, look there. i’ve been making the world a better place all along.”
xoxo
I completely agree with Cathy. You have made my day brighter with the photographs and words. Don’t over analyse – it will get you nowhere.
What Cathy says is true…the family you have raised, the husband you have loved, the friends and strangers you have connected with…each moment that you have shared your fullness with the world, each time you have acted, loved, offered a word, a prayer a touch compassionately…you have indeed made the world a better place…you only thought you were waiting…but you weren’t Patty…you were fulfilling your twelve year old dream all along.
Patty, funny how life happens and changes all our plans…. the idealism of a 12 year old comes in contact with reality. It’s a hard one…. I say, take a risk! (and say lots of prayers)
oh how this resonates!!!!! (altho, cheekily, can i say i’m so sorry it’s snowy there as i’m surrounded by spring? but that snow… so beautiful!!!)
mamas we are, and we see sort of short-sighted sometimes don’t we? we have memories of college and feeling smart, or we long for the fresh romance of our husbands, or we feel mired in the fact that laundry simply will never, ever, ever be done. or dishes. or, well, life a a mama.
oh, yes. this resonates. i love the final question, the what do i do now, b/cs that’s IT…. it’s the “as we are going” and growing these babes and loving our men, and the yes, neverendingness of laundry (surely there’s a spiritual discipline in there somehwere?)
Lovely narrative and as the saying goes, charity begins at home. One safe, inspiring, happy home can do so much good for the world.
Beautiful photos, I’ll never look at snow and ice the same way again!
Wonderful narrative and images to accompany it.
If the Lord is calling I say definitely go for it.
(The snow never looked so beautiful to me.)
You have changed the world by raising a daughter that wants to change the world. Job well done, friend.
It feels like our job nevers end, we don’t get a 10 year award, we can’t see what we have accomplished or if we have done anything well…yet, if we perservere, if we don’t grow weary, one day I pray we will see the fruit and hear God say well done. God bless you Patty!
I agree with the others here. You have already touched those around you and made a difference. You continue to reach out and bless others with your words right here on your blog. I have been inspired by you many times.
Ruth
oh patty… with every word, with every click of the camera, you make this world better. even in your weakness, you do, for then, he is strong. you have made my world so much better. that girl, the one who dreams big, she is beautiful, and i see her in you.
it’s funny how some people make the world a better place without even realizing it. I count you in this category.
By the by, I love how you made the words blend together. It’s how my brain runs sometimes, tripping over words mushed together. I really related.
I say this every week, but truly I mean it every week, WOW, those pictures are just wow. Is that 3rd from the end snow in shadow? Gorgeous. As for the post, I know He will lead you and I pray that you are able to follow well. I do have to agree with the other commenters that you are already making the world better by loving day by day. Not glamorous or obvious but still concretely improving our broken world.
Your words are lovely, and the pictures are beautiful! I love the way you captured the snow.
Amazing photo sequence. Your words cause me to think, but I have no coherent answer. I liked it though. 
What everyone else has already said is so true.
But I hear you – I really do.
I sense you are torn..
it’s hard. I imagine someday in the not too distant future we will ( my husband and I ) embrace this more than we do now.
I feel guilty that I’m “only” doing family and community … but only briefly because I know how incredibly important that is too.
ISO 125, f/5.6, 1/2000, 70mm We’ve just returned from skiing in Utah, and I’m afraid I didn’t do much reading on photography this last week. {I am, however, reading Same Kinda Different as Me, which is incredibly moving. I’m sure people between Salt Lake City and the Tri-Cities in Tennessee are all worried about a...
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That last one is just amazing! Wow.
My exact words what Dina said about the last shot. WOW! That’s amazing! All are beautiful, but that last one is Rock Star!
Thanks for encouraging me to learn how to shoot in Manual! Your photos always inspire me!
These are beautiful! And, thanks for the tip on the White Balance. Thats’ not a place where I have ventured much!
I love Same Kind of Different As Me. The author, Ron Hall, was in Greenville last year at a luncheon, and I heard him speak. I was able to have him sign my book as well. I have not read the sequel yet…but it’s on my list.
Hugs!
Susan
Stunning photos! The white balance tip is from the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I just read that tip a couple of days ago so it’s fresh in my mind!
I love the softness of your first photo and the drama of your last photo. All of them are beautiful!
Great tip about the white balance. White balance is something I forget to change until several photos in. Sometimes I like to take the same photo with different white balance settings to get different looks and to give me more room to play.
I finally joined you -yay!
But didn’t realise that this week was themed – oops!
Love your pics as always girl x
Love the photos, but glad you didn’t bring the snow back with you…it’s so much prettier on your blog than in my yard
I am reading the same book – and the author will be here in Morristown next month.
Beautiful shots and good tips …
Cool shots my friend. I’m so excited for you. 
I know you, my friends in the northern hemisphere, are celebrating spring and I’m sure you are all snapping away, capturing spring’s glory… green leaves, pink and white blossoms, yellow daffodils. But my daughter and I just tagged along with my husband to a professional conference in Snowbird, Utah… And my many spring photos look...
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Love the snow pictures, especially that third one. very neat! we skied in Idaho last week, too! Spring comes late in the Rockies, doesn’t it?
I adore the 5th photo! L.O.V.E it!! {don’t get me wrong; the rest are great,too. But her in her “gear” reminds me of days we took our eldest son boarding. (His hair is strawberry blonde)} love the vibrant colors!
be blessed!
t
Beautiful Patty! I live your thoughts on joy. So true and so artfully put.
Meant to say “love” not “live”.
Great photos, specially loving the third shot. We are not celebrating spring here in Finland, it is snowing in fact. Here it takes a month until snow is gone and spring getting to start.
Have a great week:)
These are stunning, Patty! I’ll definitely be back tomorrow.
I started out reading and thinking “I haven’t see any Spring yet” and then “wow, that looking like my view.” And sure enough it is…well kinda. You totally should have emailed me I would have met you at the airport for a Starbucks and a chat. Looks like it was beautiful up at Snowbird. I’ve woke up to fresh snow in the valley twice this past week. The sun is shining here today, but it’s still cold. They say we are suppose to warm up to 60 tomorrow or the next…I sure hope so. Hurry up Spring!!! Love the photos!
so intense .. each photo is magical !!
What a lovely place to spend time with your girl!
There are a number of Aussies in my 365 Project group so there are all sorts of seasonal photos being posted that don’t match my location. I like it, it’s very neat to see how things are in other places.
Patty – beautiful witness to the border of winter and spring and the joy that life so tenderly brings amidst moments of awe and wonder.
Spectacular…snow in spring!
What a gorgeous day you had!! GREAT captures!!
I get really excited when I see you have posted. I love your photographs…and the way that SPRING is WINTER and WINTER IS SPRING! It’s all so exciting.
Wow Patty! Your dancing snow and sun are so beautiful. I can feel the peace of the snow through your photos.
Thanks for joining us at Life: Besprinkled!
love the pics patty. jeff just got back from snowbird and alta and deer valley and park city as well. i will have to show him these pics. karen
Clouds come so easy, drifting in softly and quietly without notice, until light is dimmed and darkness birthed. It’s so much harder for light, which is easily deflected, diffused, stifled. Clouds of~ sneak in and suffocate, wrapping quietly into shadow. Light does not sneak. It is bold, and penetrates, piercing darkness, warming, nurturing, lifting up....
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Love these captures of the rays of light.
So beautiful Patty! Your words and photos are so perfectly married. I thought I would try and link up today at Imperfect Prose as you have inspired me. But, alas, I think Emily is not hosting today’s link up so I will have to come back another time! Thank you for your beautiful prose!
Beautiful pictures, moving words. This should be the cry of our hearts.
Ruth
Beautiful.
amen.
Patty it’s just breathtaking, as usual. I’m running out of adjectives for beautiful over here.
Beautiful light and tones in these images.
these are incredibly beautiful shots…and words:)
always such beauty in the clouds ..you are such an amazing sky watcher
Your heart is beautiful. When I was a child and saw the rays of the sun through the clouds like that, I would imagine God sitting on His throne just beyond our vision. Sometimes it would frighten me, but mostly it made me stand in awe. You’ve captured it so well here. Makes me stand in awe of a sky I didn’t see with my own eyes.
Breathtaking! I spend so much time with my head in the clouds…such beauty!
These are just amazing!
ISO 400, f32, 1/500, 70mm Congratulations to AMY from a The Avery House. Amy’s name was drawn by my daughter Sunday evening, as the winner of her choice of an Eclectic Whatnot dSLR camera strap. Thanks to everyone who participated–wish I could offer you each one! ISO 400, f/32, 1/500, 70mm I’m working hard at...
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Oh Wow Patty! I am so excited! I can’t believe I won the camera strap! Thank you so much! I want you to know how much I appreciate your weekly Photo a la {Mode link up as well as the work and effort you put into your photography and sharing your skills with us here. I am excited about practicing sun bursts and probably should do it today because it is supposed to start raining tonight and tomorrow. I think as the Field of Dreams movie saying goes,”If you build it, they will come.” You ARE building this Photo a la {M}ode forum week by week. It is a place of quality and learning and I for one am getting a lot out of it. I have also noticed more and more participants. So keep it up, Miss Patty! You are rockin’ the manual mode and you are taking us along for the ride! Thank you! I’ll let you know in e-mail which camera strap tickles my fancy! So, So, EXCITED!
I love the sun flare! also great tutorial!!
I can’t wait to start photographing sun bursts! Thanks for the tutorial. I’ve always gotten them by chance and am glad to know how to manipulate my camera to get them when I want.
I need to remember to join your meme. Problem is, your Wednesday is my Thursday when I am doing my Project 2011 update. As improving my photography is one of my goals, maybe I should add a manual pic in future as a combined post…..
gorgeous as usual. isn’t sunflare fun?
Patty, those photos are breathtaking. I love starbursts. I got one during the snow days here and it’s one of my favorites. I would link more, but I’m not fully manual yet. I’m doing well just to set the aperture correctly right now! Thanks for teaching us through your blog.
[...] your readers. The more, the merrier! 3. This week, we’re linking starbursts because I gave a simple tutorial on shooting starbursts last week. Some weeks we’ll have tutorials, some weeks, guest bloggers, some weeks, [...]
A 31 Days Series on Nurturing Her Self-Esteem
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