Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Revelation

“He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel….” Psalm 103:7
 
You, Lord God, our Heavenly Father, are the God of revelation. You make known to your creatures what we cannot possibly learn from research, study or observation. You spoke to Abraham, you spoke to Jacob, you spoke to Moses and Aaron, revealing to them what was needed.
 
You revealed to them your acts, your way of thinking and judging, your way of loving and directing—and through these revelations, you showed your character. You spoke through your mighty deeds done for Israel in bringing them out of Egypt: the 10 plagues; the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night; rescuing Israel from Pharaoh by opening the Red Sea; providing manna, water, birds and protection in the desert—we stand in awe of these displays of your power and wisdom and majesty.
 
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious…” (Ps. 103:8a).
 
You are full of rich love, caring for your creatures with deep, overflowing, unending compassion. You are deeply concerned for each one and each situation. You watch, observe, protect, guide and reveal yourself to each, calling them all to drink of your grace.
 
You are the ever-giving, ever-sharing, ever-generous, ever-kind and ever-helping God. You provide air, sunshine, food, water, relationships, beauty, protection, guidance and wisdom. You generously pour out on us your goodness every day.
 
Every morning when we awake, you are there and while we sleep you watch over us. Your unending supply of all that is good never fails, you are graciousness itself and we exalt you for that.
 
Help us, Lord, to see and remember your goodness rather than complain, worry and fret. Help us to remember that you are moving history to its conclusion and taking us with you, so it’s ok!
May be an image of nature and tree

Psalm 35:19-23

Psalm 35:19 “Let not those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; let not those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.”
David had a lot of enemies who were jealous of his position, power, wealth and standing, people who were glad to see him in trouble. Satan has the same motives in attacking us.
We have been given eternal life,
while he is doomed to eternal death;
we have the Holy Spirit living in us, the power of the living Lord,
while he is separated from God;
we have been made heirs with Christ
while he has lost all;
and we are children of the King, members of His family, citizens of His Kingdom and partners in His great plans,
while Satan is an outcast, a loser, a reject by his own decision.
He will do whatever he can do to help us forget who we are in Christ and urges us to veer off onto our own selfish course of life and action, just as he has done himself and led Adam and Eve to do.
Psalm 35:20, 21 “They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land. They gape at me and say, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we have seen it.”
[Satan uses people with their lies and unjust accusations to pressure us to get our eyes off of God and onto the natural desires for safety and comfort, significance and fulfillment. And yet in Christ we already have a super abundance of each of these!
We must be carefully and consistently listen to Truth, recognizing the lies of the enemy. We can do this by daily reveling in the richness of belonging to Christ, nurturing our first love for Him, rejoicing in and delving into His powerful living Word.]
Psalm 35:22, 23 “O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, O Lord. Awake, and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord.”
[David here makes exactly the right move: when threatened he comes immediately to God for help, seeking input from the Rock, from Truth Himself, from the Most Powerful and Wise One.
Sadly for us, prayer is usually our last resort when it should be our first response. Forgive us, Lord, for trying to do things on our own; help us to follow David’s good example, to turn first to you, our rock, and make you, “my God and Lord” our refuge right away!]
May be an image of nature and tree

Chapter 39 Multiplying accidents and family members

From 1978
Barbara was due to deliver our baby on September 28th, her birthday. I told her that I hoped the baby came before or after so the child would have its own birthday! She didn’t agree, but since we had no control over the timing, it didn’t really matter.
 
One day when Barbara had an appointment with the doctor, I was working in the tire shop. Shortly before lunch I saw Dad walking down the lane. He looked odd and was holding one arm. I ran to meet him and saw that his face was bloody and his eyes looked strange.
 
“You’d better take me to the hospital,” he said.
 
I helped him into the car and we roared off. On the way he told me what had happened. He had cut down a tree growing on the edge of the woods. Since it had many large branches growing out towards the light, It didn’t fall completely to the ground but was resting on those out stretched branches.
 
Dad had begun cutting off the long branches so he could get to the main trunk. As He was working, the tree suddenly rolled and he was struck on the head by a branch he didn’t see coming. It hit with such force that it crushed the front of his skull, knocking him to the ground and hurting his arm. Since the bones around his eyes were broken, one eye was looking upwards and the other downwards.
 
The average person would not have survived such a serious accident but Dad was such a tough old Yankee that he didn’t even lose consciousness. Instead, he got up, shut off his chain saw and walked home in the 95 degree heat, climbing over two stone walls on the way!
 
When we got to the emergency room, the doctor called in a facial specialist. As this doctor was examining him, Dad asked him, “Are you going to have to operate on my face?”
 
“Yes, I’ll have to lift off your whole face and wire all those bones back together,” replied the doctor.
 
“Well, when you’re done will I be able to play the piano?” Dad asked.
 
“Why certainly,” said the doctor.
 
“Great,” said Dad, “I could never play it before!”
 
The doctor laughed and shook his head, “Well, we’ve got no problem with spirit here, do we?” he commented.
 
That was Dad; when others would be totally incapacitated, he was cracking jokes.
 
After getting him taken care of, I went around to the front of the hospital where Barbara’s doctor had his practice and went in to tell her about Dad’s accident. She was surprised to see me, but not surprised that Dad had had another injury. He certainly made life exciting for all of us.
 
Two of Barbara’s cousins and the fiancé of one came for a visit near the end of August. They joined in with our life on the farm and made day trips to see the sights around us.
 
They were scheduled to leave on September 26th and we planned to take them to JFK. However, at 1:30 am on the 26th Barbara woke me up and said, “The baby is coming! It’s time to go!”
 
We called my parents and made arrangements for Mom to take our guests to the airport and then we zoomed off to the hospital. The nurses put Barbara into a labor room and prepped her for the birth. I was to be in with her, so they prepped me too, handing me a gown and cap.
 
When the labor pains were close enough together, the nurse began to push the bed towards the door, saying to Barbara, “It’s time to head for the delivery room. You get a free ride there!”
 
“Oh no she doesn’t,” I said, responding automatically with my Scottish instincts, “We’re paying for every inch of it!” The nurse laughed and off we went.
 
Barbara did well, applying the training we got in the Lamaze classes we’d attended. But she has always had limited physical resources, and in the end her strength gave out, so the doctor used forceps to pull the baby out.
 
I sat at Barbara’s head, holding her hand, watching the procedures. And suddenly there was our child in the doctor’s hands. The doctor’s face lit up in a big smile as he held the baby aloft, “It’s a boy!” he shouted.
 
These were the days before ultrasound so we had not known what the baby would be. I felt a rush of gladness, although I would have been happy to have a girl, too. I wondered if the doctor was so happy with Josh’s being a boy because he’d get an extra fee for the circumcision! Those Scottish roots at work again! But I found out later that he had six daughters, so was excited for every boy he delivered!
 
After the nurse had cleaned Josh up, she brought him and placed him in Barbara’s arms. He opened his eyes and looked up at us. He had a “what are you doing in my world?” look on his face, like a little adult. And that’s what he continued to be throughout his childhood.

Picture: my sister Marcia with little josh. See how he’s looking at the world, wondering what’s going on?

May be an image of child, standing and indoor

Psalm 103:1-3

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!” Psalm 103:1 NKJV
 
You, King Jesus, the mighty Ruler, administer a Kingdom of light where blessings flow all the time. You are the One who is to be praised! Without reservation, all of my being praises you, for you are worthy of total submission, absolute surrender and whole-hearted service: you are grandly good, purely positive and persistently patient.
 
Every part of me – my mind, my will, my emotions, my spirit and my body – rejoices in you, exalts you, extols you, exults in you–for You are worthy of this and far more.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Ps. 103:2).
 
You are to be praised and lifted up for your goodness shown in how you poured out your gifts upon your enemies: you have given us eternal life, eternal comfort, eternal provision, eternal presence, eternal joy.
 
“Who forgives all your iniquities” (Ps. 103:3a);
 
there is not one unforgiven sin left in our lives—you took all our guilt, all our shame, all our condemnation, our full record of wrongs, and nullified their power to condemn us. Forgiveness sets us free, separates us from sin, superimposes your righteousness on our record. We stand in your righteousness before the great Judge who declares, “You are forgiven, enter into my joy!”
“Who redeems your life from destruction…” (Ps. 103:4a).
 
We lived in destruction, under the power of the destroyer, heading towards eternal devastation, existing only in the living death of time without you, Lord. But you bought us; you snatched us off the disassembly line moving inexorably towards the pit; you translated us into the light of your Kingdom and made us your beloved, cherished children.
 
“Who crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies.”
 
You are so kind, so lavishly loving, so gracious to us. Your gifts are many, multiple, magnificent, and marvelous. You are the God of promise, persistence and provision. We lift up your name in praise for your gorgeous heart, your glorious love, your great and good gifts. You alone are worthy of worship, all through today and every day.
 
Prayer: “May you be glorified in my life today as I live consciously in this lavish love of yours, O Lord God Almighty. Amen.”
 
May be an image of twilight, sky, nature and tree

Why Praise?

For your edification, here are fifty-seven spiritual reasons to give thanks in any and all situations.
Our God (the triune Elohim, Yahweh, Jesus) is real.
He is eternal.
He is holy with no sin, evil or negatives.
He is perfect.
He is wise beyond comprehension.
His ways and thoughts are far higher than ours.
He knows everything.
He understands everything.
He created everything ,giving each thing its complexity and superb design and did so just by speaking!
He is present everywhere, all the time.
He is Sovereign.
He is powerful beyond conception.
He is beautiful in perfection and fullness.
He loves beauty and shares it with us in His creation.
He is love.
He is light
He is life
He inexplicably loves His enemies.
He bought us back from the kingdom of darkness.
He rescued us from Satan, sin and self.
He has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of light.
He chose us before the foundation of the world to be His children.
He predestined us to hear the gospel.
He convicted us of sin and righteousness and judgment.
He revealed Himself to us through whatever means each of us needed.
He sent people to share the good news with us.
He pinned us down to listen.
He granted us faith and repentance.
He has made Himself our Shepherd.
He has made His Spirit dwell in us.
He has made us become the temple of the Living God.
He has made us members of the church universal.
He has given us a church local.
He has given us purpose and meaning, hope and a future.
He has a plan for our lives, laid out in detail, so nothing comes to us randomly.
He is running with us in the race He has set out before us.
Every bit of suffering has meaning and purpose.
He helps us in every weakness.
He chastens us when we need it (which is much of the time).
He is tender, gracious, loving and kind.
He will make us into the Bride of Christ.
When we die we will go to be with Him.
There will be no sorrow or suffering, no tears or terror.
He has given us peace and joy here and now.
He calls us to trust Him so our lives can overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He invites us to join Him in His great plans.
He has given us the gift of prayer.
We can enter His presence any time.
He has made us His ambassadors.
He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.
He has given us the three things all human beings long for: belonging, worth and competence.
He gives us rest for our souls, as we seek our refuge in Him.
Jesus loves us as the Father loves Him.
He has given us all the significance and security we could ever need.
Because He is always good, we can always give thanks to Him in all things.
And the list could go on. What a wonderful God we have, far better than we could ever have thought up. Let us be in awe, fall before Him in worship and live lives that bring Him both joy and honor.
May be an image of twilight, tree, nature and sky

Psalm 35:5-10

Psalm 35:5,6 “May [those who seek my life] be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.”
[May you, Lord, deal with those who oppose us because we are yours. May you powerfully work to make them unsuccessful and fruitless in their pursuit of your children’s death and destruction (as seen in the picture below where a mob is attacking the homes of Christians). Send your angels to frustrate them and bring them to a realization of their error and to a vision of your righteousness, Lord Jesus, and come to know you.]
Psalm 35:7,8 “Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.”
[Yes, may they be caught in their own traps, and see the error of their ways. I praise you for how you did this years ago to the Al Quaida cell in the Middle Eastern city where we lived. They had planned to kill pastors and bomb churches in the city, and had their lists and addresses ready, their weapons prepared—but were caught just before they could carry out their plans. Thank you for your protection, Lord.]
Psalm 35:9,10 “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. My whole being will exclaim, ‘Who is like you, O LORD?’”
[Yes, Lord, we praise and exalt you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, for you have given help and protection—and will continue to do so. There is no one like you, Lord God, who knows all, sees all and is able to protect from all true harm.
Sometimes you do allow hurt—believers are persecuted, beaten, driven from their homes and killed–but even in that you have a greater purpose for their lives, and deaths, in the over-arching and magnificent scheme of your plans.
You are our Salvation, our Rock, our Fortress and our high Tower in whatever may come. You are the One we can trust.]
“You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
[And this you have done for us, the poor and needy, in rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness, bringing us out into the Kingdom of Light. And you rescue us every day from the schemes of sin, self and Satan, you protect us from those who oppose you.
You have also equipped us to join you in this rescue plan: “This is the victory that HAS OVERCOME the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4b,5).
“Put on the whole armor of God that you MAY BE ABLE to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, SO THAT CHRIST’S POWER MAY REST ON ME” 2 Cor. 12:9).
Help us Lord, to join you daily in the great battle against self, sin and Satan, to cooperate with you in your plans to rescue us from evil and harm, to take up your provision of faith and armor, to obey you in what we know to be right. Rescue us from evil and harm, help us to take up your provision of faith and the armor, to obey you in what we know to be right.]
May be an image of 2 people, people standing, fire and outdoors

More from the Add-on Eskimo

A Gift from a Far-away Land
 
In July of that year, 1909, the summer supply ship, the
North Star, anchored off the gravel spit of Sivukuk Village. The Eskimos all gathered at the shore to see what would be delivered to the village.
 
As they watched, they were surprised to see animals begin jumping off the ship into the water. Men in two boats herded the animals towards the shore and as the animals climbed up on the beach, the Eskimos exclaimed in surprise. The animals had big antlers but were different from the elk they had heard about.
“What are they?” asked one.
 
“These are reindeer from a far-away country,” the teacher, Mr. Campbell, said. “Mr. Sheldon, the superintendent, has sent them for you as a gift. Now, if there is another time of hungering, you will have second source of food.”
 
There was much nodding and approval among the villagers. The four men who got out of the boats were dressed in strange, very colorful clothing and each carried a staff.
 
“These men,” Mr. Campbell explained, “Have come from that far away country, called Lapland, to teach you how to care for the reindeer. These animals live in a climate very similar to yours and can live on lichens alone. They are very hardy, and their meat is good.
Following Mr. Campbell’s directions, the Lapland herders led the reindeer by the village and up on the small mountain behind the village towards the center of the island where there was food for them.
 
Other than polar bears, there were no natural predators to threaten the reindeer, and, as they would live inland, the bears were unlikely to find them. The reindeer also could not run off with a herd of caribou as they had done on the mainland, for there were no such animals on the Island.
 
Mr. Campbell had already selected several of his promising believing students to become herders. The Laplanders, who knew some English, began to teach these new herders how to care for the reindeer, which looked quite bewildered after their journey aboard ship and swim ashore, but the Laplanders led them confidently and they followed.
 
The central part of the island had lichens growing on rocks, as well as short tundra grass for the reindeer to feed on. The Laplanders had brought their equipment to use the reindeer as beasts of burden and loaded their supplies on them to make the trip inland.
 
Several of the budding Eskimo herders led the troop up into the center of the island to an area with several fresh-water springs. There the Laplanders set up camp.
The land was similar to the terrain in Lapland, so the reindeer quickly adjusted. By the time the supply ship made its return stop before going to Seattle, the Laplanders were ready to leave with it. The Eskimos had learned all they needed to know for the care and use of the reindeer. Other than dogs, this was the only kind of domesticated animal they had seen. And domesticated was not exactly the correct term. More like semi-wild animals.
The Eskimo reindeer herders settled in an old summer hunting camp called Savoonga, which was halfway down the north shore of the island, about 100 miles from the village of Sivukuk. This spot was closer to the grazing range of the reindeer.
 
The Eskimos soon abandoned the idea of using the reindeer for beasts of burden, as they had all the help they needed from dogs. But the herders carefully checked on their charges often and at various times, several deer were harvested, and the meat shared in both Savoonga and Sivukuk.
 
So, the missionaries added another blessing to the many they had brought to the Eskimos.
No photo description available.

Humility?

 
Humility is a word we mention a lot, but it seldom gets defined. One viable definition is this: “Agreeing with God.” In fact, this is what the Greek word translated “confess” means. And the word translated “virtue” in 2 Peter 1:5.
Pride is the opposite–thinking that we know what is right, defining good and evil ourselves. This is what Adam did in eating the forbidden fruit. In contrast, humility is abandoning that self-centered thinking to embrace God’s opinion about everything.
In fact, that is also what it means to fear God: caring very deeply what He thinks, standing in awe of His wisdom, knowledge and power so much that we obey Him whether we feel like it or not.
The single time Moses failed in his humility was when he reacted as he wanted: instead of speaking to the rock to get water, in anger he struck it, thereby stealing honor from God.
Most of us would like to be humble, but if we are honest, we only selectively agree with what God has to say. The rest of the time we elevate our intellect and emotions above His Word. For instance, how often have I gone ahead and said something negative even after the Spirit has warned me not to! I decide that giving a zinger to someone is more important than obeying God—and thereby steal honor from God.
I want to touch on a point of humility where every one of us misses the mark: what we think of ourselves. A finer focus of the definition of humility is this: “seeing ourselves as God sees us, both in our holiness and in our depravity.”
Those of us who are proud or self-sufficient or self-absorbed, tend to focus on what a good person we are, missing the truth that we have an old nature where we are worthy only of condemnation, rejection, punishment and death.
On the other hand, most of us are dissatisfied with ourselves: our abilities, performance, looks and position. We focus on our lacks, our failures and negatives. We are down on ourselves, disappointed in ourselves and talk frequently about what we “should do;” because, in our opinion we never do enough. We don’t pray enough, read the Word enough, witness enough.
But how does God look at us? He acknowledges the fact that by nature we are depraved, evil and worthy only of condemnation. But He then focuses fully on the fact that we are created in His image, chosen, forgiven, cleansed, adopted into His family, into His Kingdom, and into His plan. He loves us richly, deeply, unconditionally and eternally. He delights in us, rejoices in us, sings over us and cherishes us.
If we are humble, we will agree with God about both of these, and will focus primarily on how He forgives us, accepts us and loves us—and do the same to ourselves! We can admit we are like the tree in this picture: like us, it started out crooked, but then turned about and grew upright into a fine tree, just as Jesus has brought us to repentance and made us into His fine children.
When we begin to understand how much we are loved, there will be an ongoing transformation in us. As we “know this love that surpasses knowledge—[we] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). And part of this fullness is viewing ourselves as He does. That is being humble!
So let us repent of our dissatisfaction with ourselves, repent of our focus on performance, possessions and looks, others’ opinions of us and instead, as a result of Christ’s sacrifice, forgive, accept and love ourselves as God loves us—and the resulting fullness will lead to a life of greater obedience (loving our neighbor as we love ourselves), as well as holiness, humility and honor for God.
May be an image of nature and tree

Psalm 34:1-5

 
As we face problems in life, attacks by Satan through people and circumstances, failures and disappointments, we can come to you, Lord Jesus, and ask for your help, knowing that you will assist and protect us. As David said:
 
Psalm 35:1 “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.”
 
[Whether those attacking us be ISIS, the neighbor next door, the IRS or the devil himself, they are all too strong for us to personally defeat; we desperately need your help, Lord.]
 
Psalm 35:2,3 “Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.”
 
[When David wrote this, he stood in physical danger; we more often are in spiritual danger, being attacked with temptations, problems and difficulties, which push us to act without faith. But more and more there will be actual attacks on those who follow you, Lord, as laws, government agencies and groups seek to still our voices and try to force us to conform to their worldview.]
 
Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’”
 
[I need this reminder daily, for it is easy to forget, in the jumble of events, that you only are my salvation, Lord Jesus. You are the mighty One, who delivered me from the dominion of darkness, from the oppression of the devil, from the deceit and destruction of this world. And you fight for us now, for we are your beloved children: you protect us from true harm, you stand with us in our troubles, you carry us through our difficulties. Praise be to you.]
 
Psalm 35:4 “May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.”
 
[On a human level there are those who seek the lives of Christians–Jihadists for sure, and others. In the picture below is a page from the Bible, stained with the blood of martyrs killed in a bombing of a church by Jihadist Muslims in the Middle East. May they be disgraced in their wrong thinking and evil intent. May they fail, be exposed, and be chastened that they may see the error of their ways.]
 
Praise be to you, the God of Power, the Lord of glory, the King of victory for keeping us safe, for preventing in the long run Satan’s triumph and evil people’s victories. Instead, in the midst of suffering and difficulty, we are safe in you, Lord: empowered, protected, helped and sheltered. We praise you for your love demonstrated, your power displayed and your goodness proven. To you be glory and honor today. Amen.
No photo description available.

Mission Vision

Chapter 38 Steps Towards Missions
Barbara talked a lot about her experiences in France with Operation Mobilization [a large mission group specializing in short term trips], detailing the many good things she’d learned, the difficult experiences she’d had and the vision OM had given her.
 
She was on OM’s mailing list and one day the mail brought us an invitation to a big OM conference in Detroit. We prayed about going and sent in our application.
 
At Barbara’s suggestion we began a monthly prayer meeting in our home on a Saturday night. The first hour or so was given to worship only: no requests, just focusing on giving God glory.
 
Then we would turn to intercession for the world. OM had produced a pack of cards about the spiritually neediest nations of the world. Each card gave facts about a particular nation and specific prayer requests. We would each take a card and pray for the needs of that nation.
 
This began to open my eyes to the spiritual needs of the world. Our church was very missions-minded, supporting a good number of missionaries and they all came to speak at our church at different times. So I’d had input about foreign missions, but God was about to take me to another level of worldview.
 
It was June of 1975 when we drove out to the OM conference in Detroit. Barbara was getting quite round with her pregnancy, although from the back, you wouldn’t know she was expecting; she only gained weight in the front. Overall, her pregnancy went well with very little discomfort until the end, so the trip was not a hardship for her.
 
The conference was beyond anything I’d ever been to with thousands of attendees in a large hall, seated together in a great horseshoe. There were powerful talks, clear presentations of the needs, especially of the Muslim world and opportunities to join outreaches in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. I was ready to jump right on the next plane—but Barbara’s pregnancy clearly dictated against this.
 
During one worship time near the end of the conference we were singing a song of praise when people at one end of the hall began to laugh: it was a happy, sparkling laughter. The sound moved across the room like a wind. When it came to us, we laughed too: free, joyful laughter that left us refreshed and alert as the wave passed on to others. A movement of the Spirit? I would say so: God sharing His joy from our worship.
 
On our drive back to Connecticut we talked more about going on an OM outreach the next summer and committed to pray about it.
 
We stopped at the college I’d graduated from in Gettysburg on the way home and had a good chat with one of my old psychology professor. I told him how God had worked in my life in so many ways, and how He’d answered so many prayers. “For example, I prayed for a wife, and just see what He gave me!” I concluded, putting my arm around my beautiful wife, who was glowing with the healthy bloom of pregnancy.
 
“Well, that’s certainly a good advertisement for your faith!” said the professor, smiling.
 
Picture: our harvest from Barbara’s garden that fall
May be an image of 2 people, people standing and outdoors