Through New Eyes – A Photo-Essay

 

A year ago today, I was baptized in relationship with Jesus for the first time. Since beginning this relationship, God has really opened my eyes to the true beauty in all His creation, from the incredible colors in nature as He paints the sky every morning to His children who shine His light daily.

This photo-essay is meant to be a visual representation of how Jesus, whom the glasses in each photo symbolizes, has transformed how I view His beauty, and how I can find it in anything and anyone. He radically changes lives and perspectives for everyone who makes the choice to trust Him and live for Him. It’s not “He can;” it’s “He will.” God shows us more love than we could ever even begin to imagine, and He fills us with a joy that can’t be found through anything else–not money, sex, or even relationships. When we depend on these things to fill an emptiness inside us, we are still empty and don’t understand why. However, when we accept God, we feel filled in an indescribable way, and we realize what we were searching for all along was Him.

Contrary to some belief (I know I believed it at one point), we don’t “just need Jesus.” We were created to live alongside each other, encouraging each other in our relationships with Him. The following people, collectively and individually, have shown me what true friendship looks like and what it means to have a community. They have all shown me grace, kindness, and love that can only come from God, and therefore, I see God in their very way of life. Living life with each of them has truly been a blessing, and I thank God for giving me the new eyes He did for me to see it.

Note: These are in no specific order. Also, you may notice some people are in more than one picture. This is solely because they are in the photo with someone who may not be in another in this photo-essay. No favoritism is shown, I promise. (I take credit for taking/creating all of these photos)

Not the greatest quality, because it was taken on my phone, but these people are important to me too. I just don’t have non-phone-camera photos of them.

Again, not the best quality for the same reason, but the previous statement still stands. These guys rock.

Another phone picture with beautiful people (the three on the left specifically).