Hannah and Josh (My grandkds) Chickamauga Park - John Godfrey

Hey....Will You Just Look At Me? by John Godfrey

Recently I stopped at the Five Star Restaurant (McDonalds) for lunch. I was just one car away from the drive through ordering spot. I sat there patiently waiting for my turn to order my grandiose meal, and that's when I heard it. The rumbling noise behind me became louder and louder so I glanced back looking through my rear view mirror and there it was; right behind me sat the source of the racket. There, on my rear bumper looking smug and defiant, sat a big old white Chevy that concealed one of those irritating "Boom Boxes"! Man that thing was cranked up big time!

BOOM BOOM BOOM... RUMBLE RUMBLE BOOM! No music, no singing, just BOOOOOOM!

My first thought was not a nice one I assure you. You see, I was getting ready to order my much anticipated lunch and could not wait till they ask the question..."Do you want fries with that?"However, I just knew that when I moved my car up to place my order that Mickey D's would not be able to hear me at all and I would not be able to hear them! This was serious!

I thought "How rude can a person be? All he wants is for someone to look at him and to think that he is cool. Why won't he just turn that stupid thing down and yell out his window..."Hey...will you just look at me? I'm dying for attention here!" Had he done that I would have respected him much more and at least it would have made a little more sense.

After I cooled down a bit I thought about that incident and how I personally would never need to get attention by doing something so idiotic, but then I began to think of the ways we all try to get attention. It also came to me that sometimes we really don't even recognize how we scream for people to look at us! Of course there is always the obvious stuff like body piercings, nose rings and other body art, tattoos, pink or purple hair, and black clothes with chains and so forth. Some of us may look at those people and say to ourselves how silly that is to mess up your body that way. We think...do you really need attention that bad? Of course most people that do those sort of things pride themselves on being individualist. They supposedly chart their own course and do not follow the crowd, but of course everybody knows that they do follow a crowd...its just a different one than we may follow! Everyone falls victim to some sort of peer pressure and the desire to be seen as special or unique!

But ya know what? The folks that I run around with seem to have their own ways of yelling out the same question..."Hey...will you just look at me? I want to be important here!" Not that it's all bad; I want to simply make a point that even though we are different, we are all basically the same.

What..you don't think so? You say that you're a mature adult that doesn't need attention? Maybe you're an extreme liberal or very conservative, or a successful business man or woman, maybe you're a professional, an intellectual that is very grounded and secure! Well whoopie dooooo for me and you! Sorry, but teacher's, preachers, entertainers, politicians, Presidents, Dictators, millionaires, billionaires, and on down to the average Joe on the street...we all want to be noticed and we do things to draw attention to ourselves! Admittedly it kind of busted my bubble when I began to think of all the ways that I, and the crowd I run with look for attention. To be honest my friend, the ways we seek attention are almost limitless!

Lets see....uuum... why do we choose the style of new clothes we buy? Maybe because we think we will look good in them and people will notice us...ya think? (As Sarah Palin would say...."You Betcha!" ) Why do we choose that certain new tie, or shoes, or fancy cars, or big houses, or a particular brand of new furniture? Why do we spend so much money on landscaping our lawns? Why do we need to purchase those pure breed or so called"full blooded" dogs and cats (Personally I've always said that all of my dogs have been "full blooded". Just think about it; If you prick the top of their heads with a needle or pin and they bleed from the top of their noggins...then they must be full of blood or "full blooded!" :-) (okay sorry about that one)

A little further thinking...Why do you get your hair, nails, and toes done? Why do you try not to dress just like others at your work? Do you feel the need to match up to people in your church in dress and attitude so people will look at you and say....WOW he's a Christian, I can tell because he dresses and looks just like us? Face it, we all think about how we are going to be perceived or looked at in almost every daily situation that we face. Go ahead now...admit it! By the way we groom ourselves, dress, drive, live, and act we are always wanting people to look at, or notice us just like the guy wanted noticed in the Chevy with the loud Boom Box (Except hopefully we want noticed in a positive way. Besides, he will most likely be deaf one day). We all want to make an impression...and for most of us we hope it's a good one! Basically we too are saying, "Hey...will you look at me? I'm important."

We all know that children do things for attention and what do they normally say before they attempt a terrific feat of some kind? They say "Hey... Look at me!" They almost always yell it out until somebody stops and watches them don't they? The picture here is of my grandson Josh jumping off of a hay bale with his sister Hannah watching from behind. It is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. He wanted me to look at him and to take his picture too, so I did. His sister tried a few minutes later, but unfortunately she did not fair so well...she fell like a rock! Actually, she hit the ground faster than I could take the picture! Ouch! You know...I guess in a way I do this blog and do my photography at least in part so people will read and look and say...Man that's good stuff! I can only hope, but you don't need to be too honest about that. I'm sensitive you know! So you see, when you look deep inside it looks like we are all stuck in the cycle of "MeVille" to various degrees.

Jesus said "If I (Jesus) be lifted up I'll draw all men to me." The Bible also says (paraphrased by me here) that "If you want to lose your life then try to save it, but...if you want to save your life then lose it for his sake."

Got Religion? Religion is when we do everything possible humanly speaking to get God's attention. Basically through what we do we are kind-of trying to save our own eternal lives. "Hey God...just look at me! Look what I'm doing for you. Am I a righteous person or what? I do so much more for you than those other so called Christians so I know you are looking at me. Right? Now I can ask and get whatever I want from you God correct?" It's me working as hard as I can while God is watching from above. He is seeing if I can do more right than wrong... Yep that's full blown religion!

On the other hand Christian's seemingly look like to the world that they lose control of their lives and desires when they lift Jesus up. They seem to say..."Please don't look at me, but Wow, Look at you Jesus. Look at what you did for me. Look at how you have a plan for my life. Look at how you promised that nothing would be able to separate me from your love. Look at how you have forgiven a sinner like me. It's all about you and I will praise you forever because of what you have done." Those that give their lives away for His sake end up finding lives of purpose and hope. That's not religion, that's a real relationship with your creator.

One day in heaven we will look back at all the silly striving, hard work, and vain efforts that we employed religiously just to get God's attention. We will most likely realize that we really did not fathom his endless love and sacrifice for us. Of course we should work to make this world a better place and to spread the good news of the Gospel around the world, but I believe that in Heaven we will then realize just how ineffective it was for us to give the old extreme effort to gain his acceptance. That is given through His grace alone. For those of us that did put extra effort in works to get His approval, maybe we will be able to laugh at the thought of our arrogance to think that our tiny efforts got us anywhere.

God has always loved and looked at us. We don't need to turn flips and do special tricks for him, or turn up our spiritual Boom Boxes to gain his approval! The true Christian will put his faith and trust in Jesus and not in his or her own works. You will beat yourself to almost to death just trying to be good enough to gain is acceptance. You will find that kind of self-works theology in every other religion except Christianity. So if you're really a child of the king by His finished work and not yours, then maybe you should stop trying so hard to do what has already been done for you by Jesus. If you are a real Christian that owes it all and gives all praise to Him for your salvation, then you are under his sacrificial blood. So why don't you relax and smile a little... you uptight knuckleheads.. he's got you covered!

Obsession to Create - by John Godfrey

Okay, everybody listen up, this post is for those of you that have ever created anything and those that wish you could be creative.

I know that many of you just do not believe you have it in you to create anything worth while so if that describes you, hang around a minute and don't turn me off. Throughout my life I've heard several people say "I can't do anything, but I wish I could be creative like so and so, I just have no talent at all". Others seem to have it all and we admire their creativity! Great painters, accomplished musicians, entertainers, writers, politicians (?), preachers, teachers, photographers, and on and on the list goes of those that we stand in awe of their abilities and talents.

On the other hand, maybe you're like me in that there is something inside of you, something that yearns and pulls at you from deep down inside that is almost like an obsession; you have to create or attempt to create something or your feel sort-of dead! I admit it, I have such an obsession to create something, anything. that I can get a little depressed with life when I'm not involved in my own little creations. I guess that the process of creating takes my mind off the days problems and gives me a release from the stress of it all. Usually for me the process is either through pictures or words or both, and even through creating a discussion on networking sites like Facebook or this blog. Of course many do it better, but my creation is just that...it's mine whether good or bad.

If you're one that likes to be creative, do you ever get the feeling that some look at what your doing as a waste of time? Some really look at you like you're a dreamer, or that you're unrealistic about life, and that you need to get with the program (Boy I heard that one in the military bunches of times! "Godfrey...You better get with the program...now!" It never really worked too well so they took back my stripes...mean people! ).

People seem to believe that creativity is fine for those that have extreme talent, but for us everyday people we just need to get up early, go to work, get paid to feed our families and pay bills, go home, sit like a zombie for four or five hours of TV watching as we do nothing else, and then go to bed! Then for some of us we may go to church at least occasionally. Oh yeah, finally we get sick and die leaving little to nothing tangible or even intangible in the way of a heritage, or legacy, or impact on this life! One or two generations later we are mostly forgotten. Depressing huh? If you do not believe me in that scenario then right now I want you to name your great grandparents on both parents side! You see how we forget so quickly.

However, most of us do create some things and we do not even realize it. Have you ever planted a flower or made a flower garden of any size ? Ever built a deck or a porch? Have you ever made up a story to tell your children or grandchildren for the fun of it? Made a quilt, made up a song, strummed a few cords on the guitar or piano, put together special traditions for your family to remember, made a speech, spent special times with your family, had children, trained a dog? (Cats are so dumb! Okay I apologize to cat lovers. Here kitty...sit up, roll over, shake hands...uh huh?)

My point is that everyone creates something during their lives from planting, building, to memories so why not spend more time creating than you do sitting in front of the TV tube or at the office? As for TV, It amazes me that we are so satisfied watching people do "Play-Like". Did you ever do Play-Like when you was a child? My friends and I used to say "Come on...lets play-like we are soldiers, or maybe cowboys" and I'll bet many of you did too. The TV and movie people are getting paid enormous amounts of money to "Play-Like" they are something or someone else and we are so numbed down by what we see that we find ourselves believing it and almost worship those people.

When you get older you usually know more than when you were young because of life's experiences, but now no one really wants to hear it. You're out of date, old fogies, and not with it...I guess I felt the same a few years back. But now, I wish I had asked my elders more. I wish I could go back and spend more time creating instead of dead-heading my life away. I would create more memories with each of my children and my wife instead of everything being about my goals and plans. I would try to write more, sing more, read more, learn more, take more pictures and learn the craft better. I'd definitely not take Hollywood serious at all! I would look for the crossed fingers when politicians make promises. After all, except for the life and love you create what else really counts? Money, fame, power are all about me and what I want. What I do and create for others and for my God will be the only things that will last. Besides God created creativity; "In the beginning...God created..." Genesis 1:1 and he still is in the process of creating in this universe so you and I are in great company!

Now go create something today that will last and "make an impact on someone else for the better. You'll be much happier and fufilled when you do. As Forest Gump says "That's all I have got to say about that."

Kent's Hog Poster -by John Godfrey

Time for Honor - by John Godfrey

I received an unexpected but very welcomed call yesterday from a nice lady named Kim in Cedar Hill Tennessee. For those of you that do not have a clue where Cedar Hill is I'll fill you in. Cedar Hill TN is a great little country town located on the map a bit North of Nashville TN just past Springfield. My dad was called to be pastor at Cedar Hill Baptist church around 1952 so of course our family moved there at that time. I was only about four or five years old so my memories of that little town are limited. My main memory was that during hat time my mother became very ill and had to spend about three months hospitalized at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. Best I can remember the country music star Hank Williams Senior was hospitalized there at the same time. Of course he passed away shortly after on January 1st 1953, but thankfully mother survived. During her stay at the hospital, a great family from our church kept me at their home. I'll never forget "Uncle Tater" and "Aunt Tootsie" and their son Billy Hawkins...what great folks! (If there are more of you Hawkins folks I apologize for forgetting)

But getting back to the unexpected phone call yesterday from Kim. It seems that she had being trying for some time to locate our family. The Cedar Hill Baptist Church is going to be celebrating their 100th year anniversary (I hope I have the years right?) and they want to honor all of the pastors that have served there over the years. She told me that although my dad served there only one year, that God had added 64 members to the church and most of those through baptism. It may not seem much to you, but when you look at the size of the town especially back then, that is terrific! Even now some churches much larger don't even come close to that many conversions in a year.


Okay you're saying ... "Stop your bragging" and I admit that you may be correct in your assumption. But, you see, I think its time to brag and honor our parents again. Of course dad didn't do it all on his own. He had the help of some great church members, but more than that he had God's help. Only through God and His Spirit can anyone come to know and receive Him.

Time for Honor...I should say so! Like many, especially when we are younger, I've gone through times when I really felt that I was so much smarter than my parents. I really didn't need any advice from them, nor did I really care about their lives. I rarely asked about their struggles and hardships over the years and I rarely gave them honor or praise for the sacrifices they made just to raise their three children, and they made plenty. No, their lives didn't always reflect the perfect family and they made plenty of mistakes along the way. They could not give their children the things that others had because of the lack of money. It must have hurt to send your children to school with cardboard in the bottom of their shoes to keep the rain water from flooding through the holes in the soles, or having to scrape up enough change to buy a 50 cent lunch at school. I also watched as they both suffered greatly after the untimely death of my brother Barry in 1974. It was something neither ever recovered from, nor have I or my sister Patty. So in that sense life was not easy for them at all.

I must admit that when I received that call yesterday from Kim, it reminded me that recently I personally had made the commitment to give honor to my parents. Some through the years have said terrible hurtful things about my dad. Unfortunately that happens when you are a pastor. Some church folks expect perfection from a pastor and his family as well. He was far from perfect and of course his family fell short too, but I was reminded by Kim's phone call of how God used him in many different places in spite of his human weaknesses. If you look at the characters in the bible you'll see their failures and weaknesses as well, but God still used them too. God is the only true judge of our lives and he knows what has built us up and what has torn us down throughout the years. He has the full picture of our lives so He and only He can be our judge, so maybe its time we leave that sort of thing to God.

So today....I give honor to my dad Elbert Dale Godfrey and my mother Audrey June Godfrey. I'm sure that my sister will join in to honor them as well.

Although you both have passed from this life, maybe God will give you a nudge on the arm and say..."Dale...Audrey... take a look at what your son just wrote." Maybe God will bring Barry over too and let him see. Hey who knows...at least I can dream! Of course Barry will say I copied it or that I'm just trying to get out of trouble with my folks! :-) I miss you all more than you know.

Here's a Toast to a great Dad and wonderful Mother! Today you are honored as you should have been all along.

Left to Right

Barry, Johnny (me), and Patty
Cedar Hill Tennessee 1952

Meet Izzy - by John Godfrey

Here she is...Izzy (short for Isabella). Pardon my English, but Ain't she pretty? She is a hound/Pitt Bull mix which means that she can sniff you out and when she finds you....well, she can just chew you up! As most of you know, that is the reputation for the Pitt Bull breed. They are supposed to be mean, aggressive man eaters! Sorry, but that's not Izzy.
(unless you're a burglar :-)

When Izzy meets you she instinctively runs up to you as fast as she can, then with all the energy she can muster she leaps up at you as she begins her dog dance! Her doggy dance consist of a few precise moves. Frantically she keeps alternating back and forth between her leaps, licks, and spins. She can spring up off of all four of her feet simultaneously while rising up into the air to get within inches of your face! You gotta be careful here because her big old tongue tries desperately to get to your mouth! After a few minutes when she finally begins to settle down a little, she then begins to lick at your hand in an attempt to keep your attention as best she can. I promise, the licks would never stop unless you make her get away. To say the least Izzy is one sweet loving dog.

As sweet as she is, Izzy does have one slight problem...actually it is a major problem that I have tried desperately to solve, but I'm sorry to say it has been without much success. You see...Izzy is a runner! This girl will run away at the drop of a hat...or maybe I should say at the drop of her leash! She knows no boundaries at all, so once she is loose there is absolutely no telling where she will go or if she will find her way back. We keep her in the house most of the time but as everyone knows there are critical times where the outside is a necessity! And... since we do not have a suitable fence to keep her from roaming outside, we simply use a cable system that allows her to run in our back yard, how be-it there is only a limited area available for her running before she is yanked back to reality by the unforgiving cable! I'll bet she would love to just bite it!

At first we connected the running cable to her collar...well she pulled that off over her head with little effort and off she went! Next we placed a nice red body harness on her and connected the cable to that...again she thought it through and figured out how to wrap herself around a post in order to pull herself backwards until she finally became free of the restraint... and yep, off she went again! So I finally had a brain storm....I thought to myself..."Self...I'll put a clamp style stop on the cable in order to keep her from reaching the post. She can't use the post for leverage against her harness and that will fix the problem" Am I smart or what?...NOT! Once again she found a way to simply put herself in reverse long enough and hard enough until the harness came off! I've tried verbal abuse, whippings, chokers attached to the body harness, and she still wants to be free to roam. I have found her on the street and even a half a mile away on the hill at Lane's Funeral Home. When I arrived, there she was standing in the parking lot while offering her condolences I guess. To beat it all she did that after crossing a busy four lane highway. It looked like she was headed further south big time! No food, no water, no clothes, no bags! Little did she know how close she came to needing funeral home services herself. If there had been just one car in the wrong place well...oooooh!

So whats the problem? I pet her, feed her, play with her, protect her, wash her, and tell her that I love her and that she is a good dog (okay not always the good dog part). Why can't she be like other dogs and just lay on my big front porch. I wonder why in Heaven's name she can't see that I do everything for her good, including the punishment. All of it is for her own good and for her protection? I want her happy, healthy, useful, and alive! I'm not looking for a robot, but I do want a good relationship with her!

I guess I'll never know the answer to the questions above, so all I can do is hope that one day she will realize that her freedom can only be obtained by trusting and obeying her master...of course that would be me.

You know, it kind of reminds me of the way we are when it comes to God. We don't want his restraints or so called restrictions because we naturally want to run free on our own. So we pull and push and growl and go backwards trying to get loose from His control. Sometimes we do manage to get free like the prodigal son in the Bible only to find out later that we are in a real mess. I've done it over and over again with the same disastrous results. But then...because I know who my Master is... and I know how He is always waiting for me to come to my senses and back to Him, I finally return to the place that I know is home, a place where forgiveness and love are. Before I even get to the door I know that my Master is running to meet me with His loving arms open! He has always been there for the asking, but I keep forgetting for some reason. Sadly, I'll most likely try something stupid again in the future because that is my human nature to go my own way. Forest Gump always said "Stupid is as Stupid does" and honestly that just about describes the way I act at times until I get deep enough into the pit of despair.

So how about you? Are you fighting the one that loves you more than Heaven and Earth? The one that wants to help you through the tough times of this life? The one that stretched out his arms for you on the cross? I guess a more serious question would be...who really is your master? The Christian life is not always easy and glorious as some try to make it seem. Some have lost everything and even today in this world some have lost their very lives because they stood for Jesus. Another thing..I do not give Izzy every thing she wants just because she acts cute and begs me for it. I give her what I know she needs and I throw in a few treats along the way. Likewise, Christianity is not a "name it and claim it" deal either from the rich God above. Just ask those that are believers but yet they are homeless, or sick and dying. Satan brought sin into the world and no matter how we may want to cover up its effects on our lives and say we have conquered it all, it is still part of life...yes at times it even affects believers. If you think not, where are the faith healers from the 1800's? Everyone will pass from this Earth if the Lord tarries His return...regardless of how strong your faith. That is a real effect of sin on each of us.

However, when you are walking close to your Master you know that no matter what happens He is there and He is with you. Actually, some say God is their Master when in reality they have no relationship...sadly He doesn't know them because what they have is a superficial relationship. You and you alone need to realize your need for the Master. When you acknowledge Him and truly allow His control of your life, then He will not only be your Master and Lord, but you find that He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother. I can almost guarantee that you will mess up every now and then along the way, but He knows that in advance and loves you still. Stick with Him and keep asking for His forgiveness and guidance. This Master that loves you will see you through.

Okay...now all you Izzy's...Sit, Roll Over, Bark! (sorry I had to do that. Its just my human side coming out!) so I'll stop now with this. Maybe you should just ask God to be your real Master and ask for His help in controlling the "Izzy nature" that is within you. You'll find the peace that you were looking for and a purpose for life much easier than your pulling away ever will.

Shoot...I think I have fleas! :-)

"Old Homeplace" St Augustine -by John Godfrey 08

Field of Dreams - by John Godfrey

Not so long ago, at least it seems that way to me, I was young and around every corner there was a new adventure awaiting. Life was simple then. Now I watch my grandchildren as they head out for their adventures. My heart beats with love, anticipation, and even a bit of fear for their future. Tomorrow they will be grown and I may be with my maker. Now is the time to love, lead, teach, hold, pray for, and protect the ones I love. Tomorrow will be too late.

"Photography is about time standing still for a brief moment. Its about lives and moments that are important to each of us, and they should never be forgotten. Photography is our link to the past and it’s an open window that allows the present to flow through to generations to come long after we’re gone. No its not just a photograph, it is life that we are looking at and it should be cherished!" John Godfrey (c) 2008