NIV – Exodus 32

I love this passage – Jared and I recently came upon it in our devotionals and it struck us both as interesting. I shared it a few weeks ago with our PK during our bible reading time.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

I asked Jared – why did God listen to Moses – who was Moses to say to God – HEY remember what you said – think about it again – don’t do it – and God said – okay Moses – I won’t. How did Moses feel confident enough to say what he said – I know that it isn’t translated perfect – but I don’t see the word please in that paragraph. I don’t see Moses whining for his people. I see Moses having a firm word and saying – God – You said …

And God did. He repented of His anger. I wouldn’t think that anyone – not even Moses would be able to change God’s mind. We pray for God’s will to be done – but we also pray for the things that we want – the things that we think we need. We pray for God to change His mind. I do. Moses asked God to rethink His decision and He did. We can do that.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

I find it strange that Aaron KNEW that God delivered them – he was there and saw it with his own eyes – and yet he made a calf for the people to worship – to thank for bringing them up out of Egypt. Aaron knew full well what God had done for them and what God had commanded of them – not to worship idols.

How many times do we do those things that we KNOW are wrong – that God directly commands us not to do. We all sin and fall short – and Jesus is the Saving Grace that leads us back to the Father – again and again.

This passage tells one of the biggest second chances in history – God was angry – God said He would consume His people – and Moses – MOSES – said God – don’t. And God didn’t. I find encouragement in this passage. I find forgiveness in this passage. Encouragement and forgiveness that we all need – that I need.

Tuesday night we incorporated our Matt and Johna time to include Amy and Jim time too. Pizza and wings on the deck – with entertainment.

*E* – the four-year old – is all about being a princess. And boy does she know her Disney princess trivia. I had to act out scenes with her – but it seems that I was always the evil step-mother, the witch with a rotten apple, or the growling beast. She knows all the princesses and their princes. She knows all the villians and what they do.

I haven’t gotten to hang out with them much lately so it was nice to have time with them. The twins are getting so chatty – naming body parts and animal sounds.

*E* and the new sweetie – *M*

She is such a doll baby.

*M* – the “younger” of the twins.

Jared and *A* – the “older” of the twins.

*E* was so excited to hold the babe.

She was also excited to take a picture of us.

I have updated my website – as you may have noticed.

Please refresh your browser if you don’t see the bride and groom at the top of the page.

Thanks to all those that visit barden photography and help me achieve my dreams.

I also have TONS of new packages

engagement – seniors – weddings – babies – pregnancy – family – you name it.

I have a kindred spirit. I have written about her before. She is a strong, Godly woman whom I admire and respect greatly. She is one of my biggest supporters with my photography and life in general. She is a mother, a wife, a daughter, a child of God, a soon-to-be grandmother … She is my Aunt L. She is one of the smartest women I know and love.

You know those personality quirks that we all have – and some drive others crazy – even ourselves crazy?

Mine is sympathy – or the lack thereof.

Empathy is identifying with or experiencing the feelings of another.

Sympathy is sharing the feeling of others.

I find empathy to be MUCH easier than sympathy.

The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I think sympathy is a fruit of the spirit that God is molding in me. I know that most of the reason I am at the job I am in now – not the photography – but the secretary portion- is to teach me sympathy. Working with the public requires lots of sympathy. I also deal with sympathy struggles outside of work – the lack of responsibility for people’s actions – AMAZES me.

God amazes me with His approach to teaching us the things that we need to shape us into the men and women He wants us to be.

Every year our church has a picnic in August – and of course I took my camera along this year.

The kids collected apples and then I arranged them in stacked piles – mostly because I LOVE organization. One of the deacons in the church and I got into a conversation about geocaching – something that I didn’t know existed.

This baby bird was at the base of a tree by then pond – I thought at first he was injured but as soon as I took the lens off him the first time – he jumped up and stumbled off toward the water. I don’t think he liked having his picture taken.

At Tanglewood – they have a pavilion with an old fridge and stove in the back – I LOVE the old appliances.

Every year at the Troy Fair and Tioga County Fair – NCA has a booth with peach shortcake – and LUCKILY there were leftovers. Make sure to get to one of the fairs next summer and have some shortcake – SO GOOD.

Another beautiful sky …

The cermony ended with the bride and groom taking a ride around town in the back of the old FORD truck. We stopped on the way to the reception on a hilltop to take some bridal party shots.

I LOVE the shadows in this shot.

Tyler and Julie were arriving at the reception as I was taking some shots of the cake – WHAT A SHOT.

Julie could not keep the smile off her face all day …

PM – my assistant for the day.

Kudos to PM for thinking up this shot.

The sun was shining right through the cake cutting – and I thought this shot was so cool with the rays coming right through the kiss.

Julie had charms hidden under the cake for the bridesmaids – friends – and family. The girls all pulled them out together and then Julie read what they each mean. I thought it was such a unique thing to do.

Julie and her dad.

Tyler and his mom.

Holding the bride for ransom – instead of a dollar dance – such a cool idea.

Shield your eyes …

I hope the tuxedo rental shop has some good detergent – those ring bearers had TONS of fun playing in the dirt.

Such a beautiful day for a wedding.

Tyler and Julie – I had a GREAT time at the wedding – thank you for trusting my vision and for being up for some crazy ideas. Thank you for allowing me to capture this memory for you. May God bless you richly in your marriage.

It never fails that I cry at weddings. I love the vows and the looks that the bride and groom give each other. I love capturing memories of that day for the bride and groom to look back on and tell their kids about. This wedding was no different.

Some of my favorites from the first half of the wedding pictures –

I photographed a wedding Saturday in Canton – and PM came as my second shooter. The weather was beautiful, the church was beautiful, and the bride was BEAUTIFUL.

Here are the moments PM captured throughout the day –

She used the fish-eye lens while hanging out in the balcony – then she got creative with the next two shots –

We had a great time and I didn’t even feel like I was working – which is how I KNOW that THIS is what I am supposed to do – I LOVE THIS JOB.

Mara – you were a GREAT help and I had so much fun – and you caught some GREAT shots.

Friday night we went to the Tioga County Fair with PM and Clarice. The demolition derby was the event of the night and we thought – why not – it’ll be fun. And of course – I had to take my camera. Usually I enter pictures in the Troy Fair and the Tioga County Fair – but this year we were on vacation both Saturdays for drop off and pick up for the Troy Fair – and then I had a wedding both drop off and pick up days for the Tioga County Fair – and seeing as how I am digital now and took over 25,000 pictures the first year I had my camera – I couldn’t pick just a few to enter.

This baby goat was so sweet – and so soft.

PM and Clarice – excited for the derby.

It was a fun night – other than inhaling about 2 packs of secondhand smoke – and the sky was AMAZING at the end of the evening.