While working inwardly to develop a personal faith relationship, I found my faith in nature and in the ordinary routine of everyday life. Not the “going to,” but the 1:1 internal aspect with a focus on prayer and stillness. I think many people can miss the inner faith component and spend attention on the external of going, doing and being somewhere. It’s easy to go somewhere. It’s harder to be disciplined, devote time, and effort to be.

As an adult I occasionally went to church. For many years my worship was bike religion, in the form of cycling and the pursuit of road bicycling, training and amateur racing for 8 years. I let that go as it wasn’t rejuvenating any longer; I wanted to slow down, enjoy a slower pace and take walks. In my early 40’s I found myself in a deep valley after a broken relationship left me in an uncertain and upside-down place. I didn’t know how I got there. I was at a low in life, felt hopeless and focused on what I could control— the time I spent on my faith. In early January 2016, the words the bubbled up within me were ” Live, Breathe, Alive.” I didn’t know what it meant. A few weeks later I started taking photos of crosses (formed, traditional crosses). I was actually compelled to take photos, as it wasn’t an idea, or an option. I had to stop and capture the image of the cross.

Taking walks outdoors, I would be praying and thinking how I could something “more” with my growing cross photography (insert: and how I could help a girl and her family in Cuba) and I started seeing an everyday cross— those formed in the unformed. Each I received as a gift. I was at a such a low point, that to see a cross, caught my attention. I took a photo of them because they were significant to me, with no intent to do anything with the photos. God kept showing up in these signs and symbols of faith. A relationship was forming. I’d talk to him and he would talk to me. These everyday crosses were signs and nuggets on my path, timed and placed for me with the message, “Amy, keep going. I see you. I AM with you.” Each I received as a gift. I kept taking steps of faith. I wrote what I saw the spiritual message in them or what I was learning about faith and share them one at a time on social media to help others see the same. At the time I didn’t realize I would see such a vast number. So many that I had to turn them into a book so others could share the spiritual experience.

Because I had so many photos of everyday crosses, I knew it was for me to do something with them. In May of 2020, I told God I would obey and create the book, In Plain Sight: Faith Is In The Everyday and then I was done. Yes, I sure did say that aloud to him, while using the non-verbal hands brushing together, hands-up move. But, I wasn’t done. Another idea came which I knowingly accepted creating, Sights of Faith: The Cross and Clouds. Then my third in the series of photo-based devotionals, In Plain Sight, Volume II: Finding Extraordinary Faith in Ordinary Days, with an added component of our connection to a community faith. My photography, books, and speaking connects people to the presence of God in everyday surroundings.

Finding these divine symbols helped me step out in faith, trust in the signs received, and believe in faith. Seeing the cross in everyday moments grew my faith and transformed my life into a Christian author, speaker, creative entrepreneur with my photography artwork to help people find faith in everyday life — to know, to see, and to follow faith. It transformed my life and can do the same for you. Through a lens of faith the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

A little more:

• Born in Macon, Missouri, grew up in Springfield and live in Kansas City (MO, since 2000.)
• Professional experience/career: Bachelors’ degree in Business from Missouri State University, Masters in HR Management from Webster University and held senior-level strategic human resources leadership positions for 20+ years in the private, for-profit sector, (LinkedIn). I’m not trained in photography.
• Prior to starting my own business & HR consulting practice, Arbor Grove, LLC in 2014, I was Senior Vice President, HR Director at Arvest Bank, for the Kansas City market.
• In 2016 I found myself taking photos of crosses while deepening my faith
• Inspiration catches my eye on a walk or what comes across my path in the normal course of a day.
• Although I’m not a theologian nor a biblical scholar, I read my Bible every morning. In 8 years, I’m on my fourth reading, cover-to-cover; a different translation each time (current read: Revised Standard Version-1952, my father’s Bible). My books are based on biblical principles. The Bible is the original motivational speaker.

Fun Facts:

• Motto: The little things in life are big.
• Favorite activity: Walking outdoors with no ear-buds, no noise in my ears so I can stay attuned to God’s surrounding beauty in sight, sense and sound. Time in nature is one of my favorite forms of worship.
• My love of rural America, and my artistic perspective of seeing nature’s extravagant beauty in simple objects, originates from time spent on my grandparent’s farm (the place where my photography journey began in August, 2015. The Rural Collection).
• The first everyday cross photo I took was at my grandparent’s farm. Of course, I didn’t recognize, or “see” it at the time. That’s how good God is, always there, just waiting for us.