Gotta love the oldies…
Last week, we had the opportunity to make a really fun promo for our upcoming church series, At the Movies. In the series, we edit our pastor into a movie that contains Biblical truths… basically, we try to create modern day parables. To promote the series, we like to produce funny ads that give a little bit of info about the upcoming series. This past week, we produced an old, fifties style scene.
We shot it all entirely against a green screen and then placed the actors in backgrounds that matched perfectly to the angle we shot. It was a really fun project that took a little more work than the norm but was well worth it in the end.
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Good for the Soul
I’m a coffee lover. There’s just something about sipping that hot goodness out of a cup that really soothes my soul. It really doesn’t matter what time of day it is, I’m good to go on a cup of joe. Even during the summertime, I drink two cups a day minimum.
We collect mugs and thermoses at the Burns house. For years, we’ve picked them up here and there, got them as gifts, and used our Starbucks gift cards to rack up on our coffee cup collection. Different situations call for different containers to hold that precious, warm, black gold. When you’re on the go in the car, nothing is better than a good thermos to keep your coffee hot and secure in your rocky ride. Nobody wants burns on their hands from small bumps in the road. When you’re in town, a good thick paper cup does the job just fine, but when you’re in the comfort of your own home, nothing is better than a good old fashioned mug out of a french press.
No matter how it comes or what I drink it from, coffee is something that I’ve grown to love more and more over time. There’s something even about the process of having to make it that adds to the activity that is drinking coffee.
Filed under: Food | 2 Comments
Tags: coffee, french press, mugs, starbucks
ESV Journaling Bible
Despite our rule this year of not getting each other an anniversary gift, Mandy couldn’t resist and still got me a small gift for our third year anniversary. The gift is the ESV Journaling Bible. The translation is my favorite and the type of Bible she picked out is really unique. It looks a lot like a Moleskin notebook with its squared black, simple look and elastic strap to keep it closed.
Each page has two inches of journaling space, which I plan on using on sermon notes and other thoughts during daily Bible reading. My study Bible is just too large to be carried around conveniently. This Bible is a much more manageable and has a great look and feel to it.
Filed under: Books | 4 Comments
Tags: anniversary, bible, esv, gift, journaling, review, translation
Mama
This sad, depressing photo is the look of a boy who’s just waiting for his mama to come home from the grocery store. Anytime Mandy leaves the house, Shawn immediately anticipates when she’ll return. When he hears a car drive by, or any noise from outside when she’s gone, he whispers, “Mama” thinking it could be her. Even as I type this, Shawn is still laying down, asking for his mama.
Filed under: Shawn | 2 Comments
Freelance is not free…
This past month I’ve had project after project of side video work come through the door. Usually I’ll get a project every couple months or so, but in May, I had five projects on the calendar and I haven’t had much spare time. After lots of debating, I decided it was time to sell my older laptop and buy a more high-powered computer where I’d actually spend most of my time working and not waiting for things to load. Even though my computer cost the majority of the money I made from side work, it will make me much more efficient when I sit down to edit.
Though I love the money that comes with freelance, it doesn’t come without costs. Many nights I’ve had to spend at a computer screen rather than with Mandy. A few weekends this month I had to travel away from my family to shoot video. I’m not complaining… I’m just saying that it’s not all positives when you’re making lots of money on the side.
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Mississippi
I’m in Mississippi… and I’ve eaten myself sick with junk food from the snacks that were waiting for me in the hotel room.
I’m shooting a wedding this weekend for a friend of mine who I did camp with in the summer of 2007. I don’t particularly enjoy shooting weddings, but I do find it fun when I’m shooting the weddings of my friends. I’ve done too many now to count, but every time I do, it’s really pretty enjoyable.
The part that makes it great is knowing that no matter how many years have gone by, they can pop in their wedding DVD and go right back to one of the most special days they’ll ever have. I begin the process of this one in ninety minutes.
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Honor
This week at work, we had the opportunity to honor Mr. Robert Hodges (Mr. Bob), the Church Administrator, who has been an amazing leader in our church with special exception in the area of our finances.
At Highlands, we have VERY strict protocols when it comes to finances. Budgets for each department must be made and kept, every receipt must be turned in within 15 days of purchase, and perhaps one of the most well known in the office, all purchases over $250 must be requested and approved by many levels of before buying.
I could go on and on with details, but just know that with all the rules, approval processes and paperwork, Mr. Bob instituted them so that God’s money would be protected and spent cautiously and wisely. Because of these practices, which were instituted at birth, Highlands’ financial condition is very healthy and lives in good stewardship.
After ten years of service, the time has come for Mr. Bob to retire and to honor him we had a retirement dinner with all the staff and leaders within the church. To play our part in the evening, the video team produced this video along with the help of the rest of the Highlands staff.
ps… that last little line is just for fun on this blog post 😉
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Why Do I Want?
Why do I want so many things? I have a list, and it’s a lot of stuff. The amount of stuff that I want to buy totals up to be a lot of money… and I’m not talking about a deep list, I’m talking about just the stuff I realistically want to buy today!
- Canon T2i w/ some lenses – $1300+
- Pimped out iMac – $1850
- iPad – $500
- New phone, HTC EVO4g – $199 (plus a two year contract of course)
- Lots of new furniture – $1000+
Granted, a few of those items I could actually justify purchasing based on the amount of freelance work I’m currently working on, namely the iMac, which of course happens to be the most costly item on the list… Looking at this on the surface level, one would think, “Of course you want all those things. Those things are nice! In fact, there’s an even better cameras you buy and a better version of the iPad you could want.” But when I think about all those things that I want and I look at it on a deeper level I see the potential for a very bad thing in myself, that if it gets out of hand, can lead to problems.
Usually it’s easier to spot materialism first when looking at someone other than yourself. For example, when I hear Mandy talk about how she needs more clothes, I’m quick to point out that she already has a closet full perfectly fine clothing that at some point, she thought was good enough to purchase. It’s easy when listening to people talk about needing the nicer accommodations of life for me to think of our children that we sponsor through Compassion International. I think to myself, “Would Addis or Samuel not be satisfied until they had more of this or that?” I’m quick to tell Mandy that Addis doesn’t need a coat or a bag to go with different shoes or seasons, however in my own life I am very quick to justify why it’s okay for me to buy the things I want.
Yes… it is natural for me to want the nicest camera with all the best lenses at my disposal. It would be great to have the slickest computer and an iPad to go along with me when a desktop computer can’t be at my side… and just in case my iPad or laptop isn’t portable enough, I need my smartphone so that I can access the internet at just about any place at any time.
Though having wants is not necessarily a bad thing, I think that it’s a good practice to keep watch over your desires for possessions and think on verses like these:
Luke 12:15 – Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Romans 12:12 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
1 Timothy 6:9 – But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
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A Day
Even though I get a lot done most days at work, when looking at what I physically do in a day, it’s actually quite sad. I pretty much stare at a screen all day with little breaks of talking, eating, and going to the restroom with coffee stops. This video sums it up:
In that time period, I finished up three videos, placed an order for a new camera lens, and read some blogs on various things from video to music. Tomorrow, my day will likely look physically exactly the same.
Filed under: Church of the Highlands, Video | Leave a Comment
Visual Journal 