A Few Updates

Sarah has taken Mary Kay rather serious. She's had to learn a lot more than just cosmetics (like what expenses there are before you have real profit, keeping good records of everything). While Sarah hasn't turned a profit yet (it cost a good bit to get going), she's done well with all she's had to learn. She is actually at a Mary Kay conference this weekend. She texted me how much she's pumped.

This morning I had planned on painting our master bathroom trim (everything that was going to be white). As I was putting down painters tapes (to avoid the paint getting into the grout lines) I saw a 1/4" hole in the molding beside the door to our walk-in shower. Turns out the spot was rotten. As I searched more deeply I found many more rotten spots and places where the sheet-rock was practically putty. It doesn't look good. I'm now working on some plans to attack, but I won't know what the real situation is until I get behind the wall and take a look. I'm expecting to remove at least 1'6" of the wall from the floor to take a look at what kind of project I'm working on. I'm really happy I had someone I was able to call and give me the skinny on what to do. There was good news and bad news, but at least I had some better direction about what to do.

My photography has been really fun. I've met a lot of people and had a lot of cool conversations. Craig's List has been a pretty good source for getting started, but I don't imagine it will be a good source for much longer. My guess is most people who go to Craig's List for a photography aren't expecting much quality. So I'm having to decide how to balance being an artist (and being perceived as one) with my goal to break some of my shyness and meet people I don't normally encounter.

Why Photography

It's officially launched. This is a big deal to me. Once upon a time art was huge in my life. It started when I was about 8 years old and I drew Garfield out of the comics of the Sunday newspaper. I remember handing it to my parents and them being amazed. I remember seeing the same drawing years later and it really didn't look like something an 8 year old would draw. Maybe it was the desire to repeat the affection I received over "Garfield" that got me to frequently draw or maybe it was something else, but from that day art became a part of my life.

Most of my early years it was just putting a pencil to paper. Over the next 15 years of my life, you can pretty much name it and I tried it: painting, sculpting, carving, pottery, metal working (although I didn't do much with this), water colors, photography, and so much more (I would love to try working with glass, but that's another blog post). I guess you can say there was a part of me that really wanted to be expressed creatively.

In college I was introduced to website designing. Even thought it was a lot like computer programming, I treated it like art. But I found where I was really limited. I was very competent in the programming, but I had no clue about graphic design. Two girls, Rachel and Rachel, who were both Bachelor of Fine Arts majors got me started in graphic design and taught me the basics. That was all I needed to get started.

A story that I could make a whole lot longer with all the details comes to this. . .

I'm taking what I've learned in 10+ years of seriously playing with graphic design, combining it with years of creative expression, and pouring them deeply into a tool called photography.

Here's the big part! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm shy. Yes I can act very outgoing and extroverted at times (especially if you see the craziness I pull off with my youth group), but deep inside I'm shy. I seem extroverted in unusual situations and introverted in the usual situations. I have a hard time meeting strangers and having a conversation with someone I'm not familiar with. It doesn't feel natural for me and I find that hard.

I'm a pastor. It becomes too easy as a pastor to fill my time only getting to know those who show up at the building and it can become increasingly more difficult to connect with those outside the church. My shyness makes this worse. I'm wanting to use photography to help me with my shyness and to love on people who I don't know and wouldn't normally encounter.

This past Friday I was able to experience that as I offered my photography to a couple for their wedding for free. They asked me at least 5 times how much I wanted to be paid. After seeing my portfolio they expressed they couldn't believe I would do this for them for free. That was a very nice compliment, but it also said that I was getting to love on them in an unique way. An awesome connection was made with this couple; the bride kept talking about wanting to meet my wife as if she was looking for a friend her age (they are the same age). And a lot of our conversation about the wedding, and life, was personal instead of distant and detached. I hope all of my photography encounters are like this.

Jackie's Wedding Dress

Jackie is a friend who got married this past summer. For one reason or another she was never able to get photos outside of the wedding ceremony and really wanted some of her in her dress, so she let me take a few shots with my camera to add to my portfolio. Here are a few of my favorites. More can be seen at my fan site on facebook.

The Sartains

This was a fun shoot. Jackie (the girl in the photos) is a professional photographer. We went out and she took pictures of Sarah and I while I got some of her husband, Danny, and her. You want to hear the funny thing. . .towards the end of the day Sarah grabbed Jackie's camera and took a few shots while I was shooting and got the best picture of the day (you'll have to talk her into posting it).

Terry Moore Photography

Become a fan on FaceBook (click here)

A good number of pictures are posted in the fan page. Check them out and let me know your thoughts (feel free to be tough and give advice).

Even though it sounds like a business, I really want to use it to meet people in the community. I'm not as interested in making money as meeting new people, although I wouldn't mind being able to get more equipment.

It would be awesome if this connects me with people I don't normally connect with.

Stretching Myself, Continued

Some of you may be thinking. . .with all that work on photography and Spanish how do you have time for church work. Well believe it or not, I plan on using both in ministry. Plus, I've learned that stretching myself in one area often gives me new life in another.

But I'm also stretching myself in ministry areas through learning and living differently. Some of this is through reading. Some of this is a result of conversation with individuals who have been having an influence on me. Lately I've been trying to be in public areas (mall, bookstores, etc.) where it's normal to meet people and talk with total strangers; I'm naturally shy so getting into a conversation with a total stranger isn't easy for me. I mean, of course I could be "that guy" that talks to whoever and annoys people, but I'm not trying to be "that guy". I'm trying to naturally learn how to talk with people outside the church about everyday stuff.

Reading the right books seem to have this stretching impact as well. . ."Present Future" by Reggie McNeal, "Deadly Viper Character Assassins: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership" by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite have been awesome!! Next on my reading list is "Lost and Found: The Young Unchurched and the Churches That Will Reach Them" by Ed Stetzer.

Stretching Myself

Something I've learned about myself is that I'm at my best in life when I'm learning new things. So I've decided to press myself to learn two things I've been wanting to do for a long time.

The first is photography. Ever since I was asked to photograph the wedding of a friend, with the crappy camera I had at the time, I was struck with the bug to seriously study photography. I've even had a nice camera for nearly a year, but never really did much with it (other than take picture of church and youth events). Over the past month I've done a lot of research and study. I'm committed to no longer use point and shoot features on my camera, but to actually learn how to properly use aperture, exposure, positioning, lighting, depth, distance, ISO, shutter speed, etc. . .to be smart with my choices to create awesome photos. I've gotten a lot of really cool tips from Brian and Rachel Henderson and Nathan Lawrenson. I'm loving it!

The second is Spanish. In January I purchased Rosetta Stone's Spanish (Latin America). For about 3 weeks I've been plugging away at it. It's tough and I still feel like I'm pretty stupid, even though my lowest grade has been a 91. I just find learning a new language to be tough. Learning Spanish is something I've wanted for a long time as well. Right now I'm really bad at it so don't even bother trying to speak to me in Spanish. Wait a few months. Right now one of the most difficult things for me to do is the double "r" sound in Spanish. Sarah laughs every time she hears me try to roll my tongue; how bad I am at it does sound funny.

Both of these, I believe, will stretch me in a good way. Anyone who knows me knows that deep within me something cries out to always be creative. Also anyone who knows me know I love to learn new things, try new things, and do new things. Both of these bring me a lot of excitement in everyday life.

5 Years of Ministry

Today marks the fifth year I've been in paid ministry. 10 years ago I would have no idea God would have lead me where He has me. I've been asked many times in my life "where do you see yourself in 2, 5, or 10 years" and I would have never thought this (I'm sure most of my high school friends would say the same thing).

I still remember like it was yesterday when Kyle Bridges let me become a youth volunteer. And I remember when Charlie Waller, Carol Edmunds, Yvonne Sternberg, and Jim Todd took a risk on this youth pastor candidate. Good grief was I ever a rookie!

It's been an awesome journey and the exciting part is it still feels like it's just beginning. I'm looking forward to what the next 5 years will hold.

Photo Shoot

Sarah and I decided to goof-off with the camera a bit. We're both experimenting and trying to get better with angles and lighting, but here's some of the ones I liked the most.

A Tour Of Our Home

As requested by Tricia (and many others, but most recently Tricia). . .

Sunday Review

Today I was the speaker at my church for the morning gathering. If you would like to hear it just click here. A quick summary, as followers of Christ we are carriers of His message. The message is what was accomplished on the cross. That's the Good News, the Gospel. But the Bible tells us that this Good News is foolishness to those who have not given their life to Jesus (it doesn't make sense, it's ridiculous). So how are we then supposed to communicate our message? Feel free to listen in on the podcast.

At night we had the choir from a local high school come and sing. There were 75 of them and it was awesome! They did such a wonderful job. It took a good effort from my youth and Bob (the only adult) to direct the cars. Our parking lot was overflowing and our auditorium was packed. I got to meet and talk with a lot of new people, mostly parents coming to see their child sing.

When I Met Jesus

Growing up I was a pretty typical kid. I never got into a lot of trouble, or at least I never got caught, but after 20-plus years of living a life that wasn’t interested in God my life began to take the natural course of searching for “fun” wherever I could find it, which led to many different pursuits (some physically harmless and some far more dangerous). 

One night, while in college, a girl I was working on a project with share something with me that led to me being forever changed. She had tears in her eyes as she explained that she had just came from the hospital visiting her grandfather. He was expected to die at any moment. She began telling me about her relationship with her grandfather and how it was her grandfather who told her who Jesus was. She looked at me and said, “I’m going to really miss my grandfather, but I am comforted in knowing where he’ll be when he dies. He’s going to heaven. And I know where I’m going to be when I die.” Then she asked the question that left me speechless, “Terry, do you know where you’re going when you die?”

I had tons of responses for religious people trying to "save" me, but all I could think about was the choices I had made in life. I realized that I wasn’t a good person and there was no way God was going to let someone like me go to heaven.

But then she shared with me some very good news. She told me how God created me with a purpose but because of something called sin I couldn’t know or experience that purpose. She said sin was all the things we do that God says is wrong. And then she shared pieces of things God said in the Bible that pointed that out. She told me that God, knowing I had done all these wrong things, sent His Son for me so that the punishment for everything I’ve done wrong would be paid for. She continued to explain that it wasn’t enough to just know these things, but you have to accept them by giving up my wants and desires and replace them with the wants and desire of Jesus, and then I could begin to see and live the purpose God has for my life, what He created me for.

That night I asked God for the strength to give up my hopes, desires, and wants and I asked Him to replace them with His. That night He became the boss of my life.

Now life hasn’t been a piece of cake since then. In all honesty becoming a Christ follower is exchanging one set of complications for another. But before I was a slave to whatever I thought would make me happy, while trying to cope with all the complications that come in life. I had begun to feel like there was this incredible weight on my shoulders, a burden that was becoming more and more difficult to bare. 

When I gave control of my life over to Jesus, He became my master and things changed; some things changed quickly and some things took time. He’s still changing me today. The change that happened in my life is best explained by something Jesus said. He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my way of life upon you. Let me teach you. For my way of life fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”

My Husband

Today Terry, his mom, and I all went to the movies. What did we see? Probably the biggest chick flick of the summer; Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Terry was the only male in the theater. He did not complain about going, he did not complain about watching, and he did not complain about the movie after watching. And from sitting beside him, it appeared that he did indeed enjoy the movie. All I have to say is, I have a good husband!

Sarah Elizabeth

To Sarah Elizabeth From Your Mr. Darcy

One year ago, we stood facing each other, saying:

I, Terry, receive you, Sarah, to be my cherished wife, a precious gift from God. I promise to walk beside you, in days of adversity, and in days of great happiness, to provide a shoulder to cry on and a heart that understands. I promise to give myself to you as Christ gave himself to the church. I pledge to you my help, my support, my leadership, my love, and my prayers. I will be the spiritual leader of our home and I pledge to remain faithfully yours to have and to hold you from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live.

I, Sarah, receive you, Terry, to be my cherished husband, a precious gift from God. I promise to walk beside you, in days of adversity, and in days of great happiness, to support your aspirations, pray with you in your trials, share your burdens, and labor with you to make our marriage a joy. I look to you as the leader of our home and I submit joyfully to your leadership. I will live close to the Lord, so you may trust me at all times. I pledge to remain faithfully yours to have and to hold you from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live.

"In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." - Mr. Darcy

My beautiful bride has kept her vows and so much more. She's been a counselor, a dear friend, comforter, companion, playmate, and lover. She is what I look forward to coming home to. You truly are a gift from God!

Sarah Elizabeth Moore, we've had an adventurous first year and I hope God gives us so many more together. Happy anniversary my love!