Inspirations

I’ve been going through old photos in my spare time.  My latest project is making digital images of some slides taken by my grandmother, Anna King, many years ago.
Anna delighted in taking pictures of just about anything her rather unique mind thought was important.  Often the subject of the slide was off in the corner, or a head was cut off, or some such other problem, but that is part of the fun of viewing these Kodachromes.
One such picture is of a bear coming across the road directly toward the photographer (I presume it was Anna) at what appears to be a firm gait.  I can only imagine what that scenario was, and have to wonder how long it took her to roll up the window, get the car in gear, and get out of there.
Henry, her husband and my grandfather, was a preacher.  He was an old-time preacher, often itinerant, and often preaching for whatever offering was collected that day.  They never were wealthy, always working at something (farming, raising chickens, etc.) to make ends meet.
Yet there are slides of them at the Petrified Forest, the Pacific Ocean, Rockome, Illinois (where they lived for a period of time, in the “Amish House” as it is known today) and of course the bear slide.  For their day and time, and no more money than they ever had, they were well-traveled.  They saw a lot of this nation from the window of their train car or their automobile.  They traveled east as well as west, and expanded their knowledge and experience base by doing so.
I remain impressed with their lives and their example as Christians, both to me and countless others.  They remain an inspiration, and shall be so throughout my life.