Photos for a Cause- Compassion Sale

I absolutely cannot believe that it is already the Holiday season. It is my favorite time of the year by far, but it always seems to sneak up on me.

One thing that always seems to burden my heart this time of year is gift giving. I love to give gifts. It is one of my favorite things in life, especially when you know that what you are about to give someone is something that they are going to cherish. What an awesome feeling! But if you are like me the question is always... what does this person that I want to buy for need... usually the answer is... absolutely nothing. I know if you asked me right now what I wanted or needed for Christmas it would take me a few minutes to even think of something I wanted that I don't have or can't get pretty easily. Think about it for a second... what do you really need. Make sure you are defining the word need the way it needs to be defined. Hard isn't it.

I was blessed to travel to 8 different countries this year. Traveling is my favorite thing to do. I think the Lord wired me to move around... go places... see things. Along with travel comes exposure. Exposure to life. Not the American life that I see everyday, but life where things are not okay. Life where enough and plenty is not a common concept. Life where people die everyday from lack of the most basic of things. Food. Water. Clothing. Things I take for granted every single day. We are a blessed nation. A blessed group of people. But not everyone is as fortunate... in fact... the majority are not as fortunate.

Now this would normally be the part where I would throw some statistics at you to make you see how bad off people all over the world really are. But if we can be honest for a minute I think we all already know. I have seen it first hand. Up close. You may not have. And that is okay.

But we all know that not everyone has enough. Enough food, Enough water, Enough shelter. So this Holiday season I would like to propose an small and humble alternative to the normal gift giving.

Last year I had this idea and it turned out way better than I could have ever expected so I thought why not try it again.
For the month of November and December you can go to my website RachelJonesPhotography.com and purchase any print from my galleries and 100% of the profit will go to Compassion International. Also this year, 100% of the profit from any shoot booked for the month of November or December will go to Compassion International.

What is Compassion International you ask?
Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

Founded by the Rev. Everett Swanson in 1952, Compassion began providing Korean War orphans with food, shelter, education and health care, as well as Christian training.

Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 25 countries.

For more info on Compassion International you can visit www.Compassion.com

So for those of you who are fans of bullet points (like me) here is how it works:

- Browse through the galleries
- Find a photo or photos you would like to purchase
- Click on the Compassion Sale option at the top of the home page.
- On that page you will find a paypal button. Follow the steps from there and chose your size and quantities.
- After you have completed the paypal process then go to the contact tab at the top of the home page of my website. Simply put your name, email address, and then in the comments section put;
1. The name of the gallery in which the photo is found
2. The number ID of the photo(s) you ordered (photo ID is the number located in the top right corner of each photo)
3. Quantity of each photo.
Click Submit and you are done!
Your photos will ship to you within 10 days of your order.

Thanks for taking the time to even consider helping out in this way.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Very Merry Christmas!

Pictures of Egypt

No explanation necessary.

Life.

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I"ve learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
Caught between the promise
And the things I know


If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

Sara Groves

The First Job

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas, When He said, "Be perfect," He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; harder- in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a wild bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad....

This is the whole of Christianity. There is nothing else. It is so east to get muddled about that. It is east to think that the Church has a lot of different objects- education,. building, missions, holding services. Just as it is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects- military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden- that is what the State is there for...

In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.

Clive Staples Lewis.

He Holds My Hand

The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

Psalm 37:23-24

Hello Atlanta

Change. It is here. In full force. My sister wrote a blog yesterday and it made me realize I haven't written a blog in a while... and a lot has happened.

I am now a resident of Atlanta! Man that's weird to think about. Moving to Atlanta is something I wanted to do for a while now and finally I am here. I feel the Lord is going to do great things. I can't say that I had absolute clear direction to come here. I prayed, surrendered, and followed a desire. I have no idea what God is going to do. I may have made a huge mistake and end up back in Birmingham before anyone knows I am missing. But I would never know if I didn't try. So here I am! Trying! I am waiting to hear back from a few retail jobs. I am so thankful to have a good group of friends here... I don't do well by myself :) I do miss home. A lot. I miss my family the most. And my friends too of course :) It's a little scary to have the future be uncertain... but, in all reality, even when we think it is certain... it really isn't. For we don't know what tomorrow will bring... even if we think we do.

So yeah thats my big change as of right now. I'll make sure and update as life unfolds here.

Now for a few random thoughts:

Friends Gag Reels are the best. Period.

Chris Tomlin's Christmas Album came out this week. You should buy it.

I am so tired of painting... I've been "painting" my room for 2 weeks nows. I. give. up.

I bought a t.v. I haven't owned a tv in like 5 years.

I think I might starts wearing brown again. Might is the key word here.

I really want a Great Dane. Really bad. It's name would be Jake. Or Oliver.

I really like the name Audrey.

That's all folks.

Mishka

That is the name of the Artist I am currently listening to. His song Above the Bones may be my new favorite.

I just cleaned out my closet. What a great feeling.

I am unfaithful. He is faithful.

My eyes have not seen it all yet.

Passion City Church starts back Sunday. I. Cannot. Wait.

I love Candy Corn.

And Hot Tamales.

It just started pouring rain. I love going to sleep to this sound.

I am a terrible blogger.

We've got to let go

We've got to let go of our impoverished, circumcised, traditionalist, legalistic, human perceptions of God and open ourselves to the God in Jesus Christ. If we will, the promise is that we will be filled up with the fullness of God. That is truly good news!
-Brennan Manning
The Furious Longing of God