Kim's Images

(1 Samuel 2:2) "No Rock Like Our God"
El Capitan in morning light, as my hubby and I were leaving Yosemite National Park, CA. (February 13, 2017)
Scripture Pictures www.scripturepictures.co 1Samuel 2.2 Kim Haugen
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(Ruth 1:16) "Your God Will Be My God"
My patient sweetie took me on a search for what we call "bluebonnets" back in Texas, which are known here in California as lupine. We drove out east on Carmel Valley Road waaay farther than we'd ever gone before, but alas, no bluebonnets. However, off to the left, there was this spring-green field with a simple road leading off into who-knows-where! (April 7, 2017) Ruth could have stayed in her native Moab following the death of her Israelite husband of ten years and found another husband to care for her, but she was determined to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi and return to the land of Judah. Somehow, Ruth was attracted to Naomi and her God — because God always draws His children to Himself. This time, Ruth's faith in the one true God was also God's way of providing for Naomi, who had lost hope and become bitter in her circumstances of losing her husband and both sons. But God was setting in motion a story of redemption...
(Ruth 2:4c) "The LORD Bless You!"
This photo is from our recent trip out to the Lake Tahoe area. Interestingly, my patient sweetie took me on another photo adventure, this time out US Route 395 looking for "fall color" and a new place to hike. We found both! This area is known as Conway Summit. By this time at 3:00 the afternoon, having compulsively stopped many times already, I was now sort of in a hurry to get to Virginia Lakes for a discovery hike, so I didn't want to tarry here. But David pulled over right as the sun peeked majestically out from the clouds to illuminate just this now-glowing golden stand of aspen! I only took a few photos, and we were on our way again with just enough time for a great hike in a new area. Some days, God gives us the best of both worlds, all in the same day. (October 4, 2018). To find food for herself and Naomi, Ruth was gleaning barley a the field that turns out to belong to Boaz, who through no surprise to God was a kinsman of Naomi's husband. Boaz (the son of Rahab, the prostitute that hid the Israelite spies in Jericho), is clearly a genuinely compassionate and generous well-respected man of good character. When he had returned from Bethlehem he greeted his harvesters, "The LORD be with you!" Their response, used on this Slide, was an equally tender and hopeful, "The LORD bless you!"
(Ruth 2:12) "Wings of Refuge"
Great Egret taking flight near the Jetty Road bridge over a part of Elkhorn Slough (a tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay), Moss Landing, CA. I used to carry my camera to BSF so that I could stop here on the way home; sometimes cars parked at that bridge mean that the cute little otters are hanging out at the bridge. No otters this time, but oh what a huge, magnificent bird... and great lighting! He had just taken off to change fishing spots and flown right toward me, surprising us both; this was when he veered off to avoid me. With my 200mm lens, he was so close I couldn't even fit him in the frame! The clarity of the feathers is sharp because the image was taken at 1/8000 sec, and I actually got the focus correct as he was moving. I'm not usually that good with subjects-in-motion; must have been a God thing! (November 18, 2013). Boaz had heard of Ruth's reputation for hard work in the fields, and how she had left her own people to remain with Naomi and care for her. The words of this scripture are Boaz's hopeful prayer for God to reward and care for Ruth. Amazingly, God will use Boaz to answer his own prayer — Boaz nobly fulfills his role as guardian-redeemer to Ruth by marrying her! And even more amazing is that although she had apparently been barren during her previous marriage of 10 years, "the LORD enabled her to conceive" and they have a son together... which now provides Naomi with a redeemer, too! And even more amazing that THAT is that this grandchild named Obed will become the grandfather of King David. AND, this lineage was recorded at the end of Ruth chapter 4 — a thousand years before anyone ever knew that this would also be the lineage of Jesus, the true Redeemer! So when I read this story, I now see it from the perspective of God's plan always being much bigger than what I see Him doing in my own life. It goes back to last week's clarity that it is our duty to tell our God Stories to our children, because God's gifts to us are really for our descendants, too! So, I write these stories, and I email them to my children (and to you). I need them to know and remember that God has redeemed me from the poverty of my unbelief, and assured the riches of my inheritance in HIM! He continues to change me from the inside out. He will do that for them, and for you too. His Great Redemption Story, of rescuing us through His Son, is His way of drawing others to Himself, by offering His love and hope to a broken and hurting world. Will you ask Him for the faith to place your hope in Him, even when you cannot yet see the results?