VincentStrangiOstore.com
Title
Dog T Shirts: Unique designs from VincentStrangioStore
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- About Me
- I had always operated under the assumption that "The person with the most toys wins!" as the famous saying goes. And at age 30 I should have won. I was 30, single and a Vice President of one of the largest money management companies in the world. I had a great house, a great car, plenty of dates and absolutely no worries about money. According to society's rules, I had won...I didn't feel like a winner, though. Something was definitely missing. I was never a religious guy so I didn't know too much about religion. For some reason I decided to read the Bible and see what it was all about. I got one I could understand (the New Internaional Version) and after reading just one of the gospels I was floored. Everything in here was so true! It explained not only my condition but the human condition perfectly. There was absolutely no way this was not the word of God. It was absolute truth. Well, the first thing I had to realize was how lost I was. I was fumbling through life on my own, thinking I knew the deal, when in reality I was clueless. God had a plan for me just as He does for all of us. A reason He created us which will fulfill us completely and a job/mission which only we can do because He created us specifically for that purpose. Never once did I stop to ask God what that might be. I just went along on my own getting farther and farther off track. I knew, now, that God is the most important thing in the world and that I had to get right with Him. I decided to go back to church and after the very first Mass I attended as a true believer something great happened. That Sunday night in October 2000, I was half asleep and I had a really strong dream or vision that I was supposed to be a photographer and work with animals. It was so strong that as soon as I got up Monday morning I went right to the store and bought about $7000 worth of photography equipment. (I had no idea how to even change a roll of film or what I was buying but thats beside the point). Over the next few months I constantly practiced and read photography books and started making some awesome pictures. I knew I had always loved animals but I never new I had an eye for art- but I did! After a few months I decided to quit my job and start a pet photography business. I had to quit 3 times over a 5 month period because each time I tried to quit my company, bosses, friends, etc. would talk me out of it saying I was crazy. But May 31, 2001 was officially my last day as a mutual fund guy. Since then things have been slowly growing and moving in all sorts of directions but I am very sure this is going to lead to something great. I keep feeling that God wants to use me to help make Pittsburgh a no kill city, then Pennsylvania a no kill state and eventually the United States a no kill country. It might take 50 years but that's OK. As long as I can make a living taking pictures of cats and dogs I am not going anywhere. I collect money with each picture I do for animal welfare groups and the proceeds of a calender I made are helping also. But I think this is just small stuff. I am just waiting for God to open up some big doors so we can raise a lot of money. I start and end every day now by praying and reading the Bible and trying to follow what it says. Many times I go off course and feel guilty but each time I repent and God puts me back on track. The hardest part is actually believing that God will still forgive me even though I've done the same stupid thing for the 700th time! But He will and when you realize that and that He will not let you fail if you keep turning to Him you can do things you never thought possible. I look at these pictures and am so amazed because I know that just 2 years ago I didn't even own a camera and thought the whole world revolved around the stock market! Every time I feel my faith getting weak I look at these and have to believe! I really don't like calling myself a photographer because thats not fair to real photographers. God gave me a unique style- my pictures are a mix of photography and painting- many people think they are paintings. Its pretty cool to watch people stare at them and try to figure out how I made them. I just thank God for giving me this business and opening my mind so I can believe. If you are unsure about God, read the Bible! He revealed Himself to us through the Bible! If you have never read it how can you possibly come to any conclusion about who God is and what you believe in? I used to be one of those people who said: "I belive this about God but not this...and... God will forgive me because I know in my heart I'm a good person". I was a complete moron who knew nothing and was talking a bunch of garbage. And everyone I know who still says that has also never read the Bible and is just as clueless as I was. The Bible is the truth. Not parts of it, all of it. It is the most popular book of all time because it was given to us, for our own good, by our creator so how can you go through life not reading it? It tells us how to live and make it through this fallen world and to our real home in Heaven!......I'm serious, it does!!! -Vincent Strangio
Languages
English
