My nephew is very good at web design. He runs a successful company that builds custom websites and they look great. He has also developed a template for Wordpress that I understand is selling well. On top of that, he is an excellent photographer. He has an eye for what looks good and knows how to compose a shot. He’s done wedding photos and plenty of beautiful pictures of nature.
He has advised me on a number of occasions about what I need to be doing with my website and how I can make it better. I have been a little slow at following his advice, but over time I have learned that he is right. He can identify trends and he just has that eye for what looks good. One of his pieces of advice was that I needed to hire a professional photographer to take some better pictures of myself for my website. What I was using was good for the time being, but if I want to step it up on my website, I need a better picture.
Near the end of the school year, I ran across a newsletter that had an article about a teacher at my school who had started a photography business with her boyfriend. I talked with her about what I wanted and they agreed to meet me one evening. They suggested Hurley Park. I know Hurley Park is a great location for prom and wedding pictures, so I imagined we could come up with some good shots.
When we met I told them that I wanted a new picture for my website and for the back of my new book which I hope will be coming out this summer. I brought a dozen shirts and some ties because I didn’t know what would look the best. They picked out a blue shirt as the best choice.
The photographer and my co-worker were excellent and I would recommend them to anyone. They helped me to relax and to enjoy the experience. They got me to pose in various places, both sitting and standing, so I would have plenty of good choices for my book and website. I haven’t seen the pictures yet, but I can’t wait.
Afterwards we talked for quite a while about our faith, dreams, hopeful projects that we would like to do, our deep desire to be positive and to encourage people in their walk with Christ, and our shared vision to reach out to the lost. I think we could have talked for hours as we encouraged each other in our faith.
As we were finishing up, a bride and her photographer showed up to take pictures. Hurley Park offers brides some beautiful backdrops for their pictures. As I saw the bride to be it made me think about the church as the bride of Christ. This young lady’s gown looked beautiful from the distance, and I wondered if we are getting ourselves ready for our big day.
If God sent Jesus back to get his bride, the church, before the end of 2014, would we be ready for Him? Some folks who are riding the fence would need to make a decision. There are some people who are going to church but haven’t really prepared their souls for eternity. No one knows the day or the hour when God will tell Jesus to come and get us…so we better get ready.
So how do we get ready? Asking Jesus to be your savior will confirm your reservation at the wedding. If you want to be the bride of Christ, that requires lordship.
When we make Jesus Lord, we are taking our desires, our direction and our will for our lives and giving it to Him. We are allowing Him to direct our lives which will lead to a much more fulfilled life. We live by His wisdom and allow him to have sovereignty over every area of our lives. It is difficult to lay our will down but in return we get His love, peace, joy, forgiveness, grace and mercy, and the list goes on.
I want to encourage you to make sure you are ready for eternity. You can know for sure that you will be with God when you take your last breath here on earth. It’s all about being ready because you made the right choice while you had the time. Today is the day of salvation. You can make that decision right now and know from this moment forward where you will spend eternity.
I hope we are all ready!

Doug Creamer teaches Marketing at East Davidson High School. His website is located at www.dougcreamer.com Contact him at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or email doug@dougcreamer.com