I Believe...😌

😌 Blogger describes this emoji as a relieved face. I think it's more of a "Thank you, Lord" face. Yesterday I blogged about my total frustration with a photo book website. They had changed so much that I couldn't figure out even where to start in spite of having used their site over the last decade to design nine books. I was trying to create two pictorial documentations of road trips we took last fall to the Canadian Northwest and the Northeastern USA. The changes were so radical that I was at a very frustrated place. 😡 This was the pouting-face emoji I used in my previous blog to describe my feelings.

I closed that blog asking God 🙏 to send my guardian angel to guide my technological efforts as I investigated a different photo book website. God did it...again! With his help by the end of the day, I had created two photo books with no frustration, no pouting, and a real sense of fulfillment. He promises, "Ask and you shall receive." He even threw in a 70% off coupon code. It was like getting two books, shipping, and tax for the price of one book. Don't even try to convince me that was a coincidence! The posted deadline for taking advantage of that offer was midnight May 12, 2020.

photo by Zoltan Tasi on unsplash.com

I've always believed in God, in guardian angels, and the power of prayer. After yesterday's events, more than ever. God took me from  😡 to 😌 in a few short hours. There's a country song that's been a favorite of mine for two decades. Angels Among Us was written by Don Goodman and Becky Hobbs and first recorded in 1994 by the group Alabama. The lyrics express my sense of relief and even victory over technology and change during these recent happenings.


Feel free to sing along. You might even find a recording of it on YouTube. There are about a gazillion.

Angels Among Us

I was walking home from school, on a cold winter day. Took a shortcut through the woods,

and I lost my way. It was getting late, and I was scared and alone;

But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home. Mama couldn't see him,

Oh, but he was standing there; And I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers

Oh, I believe there are angels among us; sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours; to show us how to live,

To teach us how to give, to guide us with the light of love.

When life held troubled times and had me down on my knees,

There's always been someone to come along and comfort me:

A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand;

A phone call from a friend just to say, "I understand."

But ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road,

That someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope.

Oh, I believe there are angels among us; sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours; to show us how to live,

To teach us how to give, to guide us with the light of love.

They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places;

To grace us with their mercy in our time of need.

Oh, I believe there are angels among us; sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours; to show us how to live,

To teach us how to give, to guide us with the light of love...to guide us with a light of love. 😇

Change! 😡

😡 Blogger's Emoji file of smiley faces states this is a pouting face. I'll admit it's my frustrated look. I seem to implode frequently especially when I'm surprised with Change.

I take comfort in the assurance of Hebrews 13:8 (NIV), "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Not so much Wal-Mart's online Photo Center! 😡

In retirement fall has become my favorite season of the year. We have taken some great road trips during the fall these last three years. For nearly a decade it has been my habit to create a photo book of these trips. This year that plan was delayed...a lot. First I returned home in October with a hacking cough that persisted for several weeks. Unobligingly I shared it with my wife. Her bout lasted about three weeks as well.

After all that cleared up we took some shorter road trips. We went to Gatlinburg and then North Carolina in December with our daughter and grandchild. This past January found us in New Orleans celebrating out 49th anniversary. following that trip, my old nemesis procrastination reared its ugly head followed by this pandemic and its quarantine.

During these last two months of safer at home, when I seem to have all the time in the world, procrastination returned with a vengeance. Yesterday I conquered it and spent several hours at the computer intending to start my fall 2019 photo book. That adventure didn't go so well.

I have created all nine of the previous volumes online at Wal-Mart Photo Center. We'd become like old friends over the last decade. I knew how to make the book: cover, layout, design, adding photos, the whole ball of wax. That candle melted at both ends when I discovered that WM had adjusted every phase of their photo book template. I couldn't figure out anything. Looking around proved fruitless. Pushing buttons got me nowhere. Change! Inevitable but dastardly 😡!

Today my goal is to investigate Snapfish. It's a rival site that children of mine have used and recommended in the past. The beauty of it is that IF Snapfish has changed, I won't even know it. I pray God will send my guardian angel to guide my keystrokes and make the process simple and rewarding...like it used to be. Before the CHANGE 😡 !

photo from brandongaille.com