A Year of Changes

Before I can go into answering “Why are you in Norway?” and “What is Captured by Compassion?”, I thought I’d do a recap.

Last year was life-changing for me to the point that I don’t recognize myself one year later. Maybe I haven’t changed much to my friends, or from the persona you see at church, but on the inside I feel a great shift has taken place. The year began in uncertainty as I resigned my position at the newspaper for which I had worked the last 5 years. It was a decision that took six months to make and six more months to accomplish. My fear of losing my security was slowly overcome and with God’s help I headed out into travel, ministry, photography, and beyond.

So in that frame of mind, this was the beginning of the blog last year, before leaving Montana for 4 months of world traveling.

God made it possible to leave, and there were so many blessings on that happened on the first half of the journey that I often forget that it nearly ended in disaster. But we missed the earthquake, got my camera gear back, and made it to Cambodia. A huge sigh of relief, right?

Then on my first day in Cambodia, I met a young woman who was passionate about God and about people. I’m not going to tell the story on this blog, but feel free to ask me about it sometime. I like to tell it.

Three months in Cambodia were filled with experiences I’ll never forget and forever be thankful for. God opened doors to serve with several ministries and to teach English, and He made me do alot of thinking.

Then God really worked me over on the issue of poverty.

I left Cambodia with a lot to digest, spiritually and mentally. Back in Montana, I started doing wedding photoshoots again, this time with the purpose of supporting an orphanage in Uganda, and a medical ministry in Jerusalem. This led to weddings across three states – Montana, Minnesota, and Illinois. In between them, I drove a taxi for some extra income and some great chances to pray with people. I was ecstatic to have a chance to put on two photo exhibitions, as well – one in the local area, and one in Chicago.

Then I had a date in Paris, and a visit to a special someone in Norway… ahem.

Back in Montana, with wedding season slowing down, I moved my stuff back to Eureka and prepared for where I now believed God was taking me… an even greater year of adventure, ministry, and surprises.

And so far, I haven’t been disappointed. I’ve been in Norway for the last 3 weeks, celebrating Christmas and New Year, and getting ready for India and Cambodia.

My next blog will elaborate on what’s been going on in Norway, and what’s about to happen in India.

Thanks for reading, be blessed!