Author: Amanda Tero

Music has always been a part of Amanda Tero’s life–from her mom singing Steve Green specials to her dad honking out the rhythm of “Jingle Bells” in the driveway. She began teaching in 2007 and fell in love with sharing music. Amanda started arranging hymns for herself in her teens, with fast and furious advanced hymn settings. Then, as her students began requesting hymns at their levels, she branched out to hymn arranging for pedagogical reasons. Because of Amanda’s interest in various genres, in her shop, you will find hymn arrangements of various levels embracing classical elements, light jazz style, Southern Gospel flair, and more.

Psalm 119:38-40

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Psalm 119:38-40
(38)  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
As God’s servant, am I eager and ready for every word He might give me? am I looking and waiting for when He might show me more of His word so that I can abide in it? Am I willing to be stablished – settled – in God’s Word? Devoted to Him?
(39)  Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
God is a just judge, and yet He is merciful. But, will He turn away our reproach just because we ask Him? I think this verse is connected to the verse before: if we are stablished in God’s Word and devoted to His fear, God will extend greater mercy than if we are stiffnecked towards God’s Word and resistant towards Him.
In a way, it makes me think of Psalm 19:9, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
 (40)  Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Not only does God’s Word quicken (Psalm 119:25), but His righteousness quickens us as well.
In these few verses, we see that God is able to:
– Stablish His Word
– Turn away my reproach
– Quicken me in righteousness
However, we must also acknowledge our part:
– Devoted to God’s fear

– Longing for God’s precepts

Playing with Fire (Shutter Speed)

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I know, I know… “Don’t play with fire.” But…I’ve gotta admit, I had a ton of fun playing with fire the other night. Don’t worry, I kept my distance!

For those of you who aren’t interested in all the technical details of shutter speed, ISO, and f-stop (aperture), I’ll start you off with one of my favorite pictures of the night (it really was hard to choose!).

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3383)

There are three important elements in shooting with DSLR cameras: ISO, shutter speed, and aperture (f-stop). I don’t have these mastered, but I have fun playing with them.

One night, we had a fire going and I decided to play around with shutter speed (aka Mom called me outside to take some pictures because something in the fire looked neat and I got distracted — like 137-pictures-later-distracted).

The best teacher, for me, is example. So I will just post some of the pictures that I took and give you the details at which settings they were taken. A quick observation: the slower the shutter speed (as in 1/30), the more “blurred” the flames were. The faster the shutter speed (as in 1/4000), the more translucent and “separated” the flames were.

(ALL IMAGES ARE COMPLETELY UNEDITED – I just changed them from RAW format to JPEG and added my watermark)

ISO 800 | f-stop 2.8
800 is the highest ISO I chose (the general rule for ISO is “the darker the lighting, the higher the ISO” – but here I was dealing with bright fire in dark night). I swapped between using f-stop 2.8 and 5.0 but will keep those pictures separated.

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/160 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3379)
ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/800 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3382)

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/1000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3381)
ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3383)


ISO 800 | f-stop 5.0

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/2000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3415)

I’ll admit, I got hung up a how cool (ha!) the flames looked with the super fast shutter speed of 1/4000…

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3416)

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_341)

ISO 800 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 2.8 (IMG_3420)

ISO 100 | f-stop 5.0
And the lowest ISO I played with: 100.
These are listed in order from slowest shutter speed to fastest.

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/10 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3399)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/25 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3390)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/25 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3403)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/60| f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3404)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/400 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3405)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/800 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3385)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/1000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3406)

ISO 100 | Shutter Speed 1/4000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3408)

ISO 200 | f-stop 5.0
And here is where I had to really work through my pictures. ISO 200 is where I settled and took the most shots. Hence, I had to narrow down which ones I was going to post. 🙂 As in, my first “narrowing down” left 31 pictures.

I’ll start with one angle and the different shutter speeds I used (slowest to fastest).

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/10 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3457)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/15| f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3458)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/40 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3459)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/80 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3461)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/200 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3462)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/500 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3450)

ISO 200 | Shutter Speed 1/1000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3449)
Now for other random ISO 200 pics:
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/30 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3425
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/60 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3477)

ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/125 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3422)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/250 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3441)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/400 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3478)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/640 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3431)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/1250 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3485)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/2000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3410)
ISO 200 | Shutter speed 1/4000 | f-stop 5.0 (IMG_3421)
What have you been playing around with on your camera recently?

~*~*~
“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” Ephesians 5:8

Word Wednesday #61

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“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5

The Christian has no reason to refuse love. If we have the Holy Spirit, we have love.

Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog!

 
 

Psalm 119:36-37

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Psalm 119:36-37
(36)  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
The Hebrew word for “covetousness” is (OT:1215) betsa` (beh’-tsah); from OT:1214; plunder; by extension, gain (usually unjust):”
Another verse with this word is Ezekiel 33:31, “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.” Here is an example of a congregation who outwardly did the right acts, but inwardly, God saw their true nature: covetous. A heart that is inclined to God’s testimonies will dowhat they hear. But the heart that is set on covetousness might “hear” but will never do. Where do I fall? As one whose heart is inclined to covetousness? or inclined to God’s testimonies?
(37)  Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Turn away – OT:5674 `abar (aw-bar’); a primitive root; to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation):
Vanity – OT:7723 shav’ (shawv); or shav (shav); from the same as OT:7722 in the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain):
Quicken – OT:2421 chayah (khaw-yaw’); a primitive root [compare OT:2331, OT:2421]; to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:

Many of the verses in this chapter seem to be a prayer – a request for God’s help. It is acknowledging that we are weak, and He is strong. For instance, this verse; if I take it to heart, then I realize that as much as I try, I will be unable to keep my eyes from seeking vanity, unable to truly be revived in God’s way – I must seek God’s help in this issue.

Ponderings…

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It is sobering when your own writing convicts you. That happened the other day, when I was writing out a scene in my novella-in-progress:
_______
Taking a deep breath, Marie ventured to ask, “Do you find comfort in prayer?”

Mr. Bowles looked down, his deep brown eyes looking seriously into Marie’s. “Yes’m, I reckon I do. Comfort…” he looked away, “Peace…assurance…”

Marie let silence come between them. The thought of prayer scared her. Repelled her. Though in her heart she longed for the peace, she feigned defiance as she looked back at Mr. Bowles. “I find no comfort in prayer.”
(“Journey to Love,” chapter Eight)
______
As I wrote it, the question slapped me: what is prayer to ME? I had to stop writing for a full minute to ponder my answer. I didn’t have as good of an answer as I wanted to, because, truthfully, my prayer life has been sporadic. By God’s grace, He is helping me in this area of my life, but I am far from where I should be and would appreciate your prayers in this area of my life.
What is prayer to you? (Don’t answer publicly–just take a moment to do some heart-searching)

Word Wednesday #60

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“And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Acts 9:6

God gives us step-by-step directions. First, we must seek to know what He would have us do. Then, if He simply tells us “go and wait,” we must go  even if we cannot see what lies ahead.

Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog!

 
 

Weary Not in Praying

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By Karen and Amanda Tero
(This is a poem that I wrote with Mom (though she was the main person who wrote it. I only contributed to the last phrase)
Are you troubled in your heart,
For family or friends,
Who travel through their time on earth,
As if it will not end?
They never quite have time for Christ,
As they work and as they play.
How will they ever turn about?
Oh Christian, you must pray!
Praying without ceasing,
Giving thanks in everything.
Crying out to God on high,
Our Savior and our King.
His love for those we care about,
Is greater than our own.
So we must never cease to bring,
Their names before His throne.
 Weary not in praying,
For that loved one or friend.
Your faithful intercession,
May be blessed in the end.
Be patient for God’s loving work,
To draw to Him that one,
For whom you have been praying;
Then the vic’try will be won.

Psalm 119:34-35

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Psalm 119:34-35
(34)  Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
How important it is to follow God and His ways with our whole heart! Here, we are encouraged to observe (hedge about, guard, protect, attend to, etc.) God’s law with our whole heart. This is not half-way piddling in God’s law, but seeking, studying, and applying it – daily – to our lives.
“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” (Psalm 119:2)
“With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.” (Psalm 119:10)
(35)  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Psalm 142:3 reminds us, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.” God is watching over the path we’re trodding and He is offering us the path of His commandments. But until we delight in His commandments, we will not desire to walk in that path.