Have you waded through streams in summer with tripod in hand? Have you biked trails in winter till your camera just quit working, it was so cold? Have you slipped on yellow-leaf-littered asphalt on a rainy day in autumn? Though I have never trekked the Michigan wilderness in spring, there is no doubt that Northwoods is a photographers bliss year round. Every season, it is completely different.

And herein lies the secret to it’s beauty.

Every photographer knows that one place can become a "completely different place" if it is just given some time. Add to the seasons some other natural elements: sunrises shed light from a different direction than sunsets do; sun, moon, stars, and artificial light all play a role in reconstructing a vista; storm clouds, cumulus clouds, altostratus clouds. . . no clouds! each component makes the biggest difference in any single composition. It makes one dizzy to think of the possibilities! No doubt, it is these irregularity that makes the Northwoods so beautiful.

Is this not strangely similar to our walk with the Lord? Does He not lead me to mountaintops and through valleys, into forest glades and across desert tracts? The scenery of life changes constantly. Sometimes He feels close and I feel encouraged. Sometimes He seems distant, and I grow discouraged. Changes in my surroundings are what makes life exciting because it allows me to see God work in different ways. Hardships on my journey is what makes me grow, for when through temptation, failure, grace and victory a summit is reached, I am able to see more clearly the next ridge I am to scale!

God is composing a beautiful picture. It’s the irregularities in the journey that make it spectacular!