God brought a special family into my life when we moved to Arkansas.
Not only a much-needed friend to Rayna, but a much-needed friend to ME as well!
I recently brought my camera along and, in between mine and Jennifer’s conversations about Jesus and pasta, I snapped a few pictures of these sweet, sweet girl who now feel like part of my own family!
The idea of JOY is absolutely fascinating to me.
I’ve had wonderful seasons where I experienced true JOY every single day.
I’ve also had seasons where I was numb; yet terrified I would never, ever feel joy again.
I’ve had times when I’ve allowed comparison to steal my joy.
Ironically enough, I’ve also witnessed many times when my own greatest joy was found in giving away joy to others.
Although I have not mastered the recipe for JOY (which I’m convinced includes God’s will, unique gifts and passions, emotional well-being and loving others), I know what JOY feels like to me:
Dropping by my cousin’s house for a few minutes to hang with her and take a few pictures of Cohen! So, so fun!
No matter the season, for the past five years, I’ve been intentional to make a note of what brought love, joy or happiness to my day. Here’s the wonderful journal I use: “The Happiness Project”.
It was a cold morning in Georgia and the winds were stronger than I had ever remembered. I considered calling the Tangs before their session, but I knew this was our only day to capture the family photographs she had waited so patiently for. Before pulling into their driveway, not only did I specifically pray for the winds to calm down, I text Matthew asking him to please pray as well.
As much as I wanted to give the Tangs the photos they desired, I could feel the wind growing stronger and temperatures dropping even more. However, shortly after Anjolie started to cry and Christine and I began to discuss the possibility of having to cancel their long-awaited session, I noticed something…
The wind drastically calmed down.
Hair was no longer being blown out-of-control.
Instead of frigid winds, the gorgeous sun started to peek out from behind the clouds.
We played!
We laughed!
The time flew by as we captured LOTS and LOTS fun, Tang memories!
On a side note, although I normally LOVE to share personal stories on my blog, doubt and insecurity crept into this story and I had decided to simply post these images without sharing the answered prayer. My heart changed when I woke-up and read an early-morning text from Matthew’s dad with this ‘random‘ verse, Job 37:5-7:
“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.”
As always, THANK YOU, Sean & Christine, for allowing me to photograph your family and watch your super-special and beautiful girls grow-up!
There was no reason for me to be nervous. Not only was I getting to photograph my FAVORITE subject (children), I’ve enjoyed photographing Meredith and Nick before and consider them friends. Yet, I was STILL anxious for some reason.
As I talked to my sister on the phone about my feelings, she reminded me about the importance of totally RELYING on God in EVERYTHING we do. As I thought about the idea of DEPENDENCE, I started praying God would allow me to capture memories that would bring happiness to their family. Within a few minutes, my worry quickly turned into JOY and excitement.
YES! JOY and EXCITEMENT over enjoying a beautiful night with this wonderful family! What FUN we had together chasing kids, horses, leaves and light! SO FUN!
I may not always remember how old I am or how much my kids weighed at birth, but I DO remember all of my photography sessions. Each one has been special; but, naturally, there are a few which marked me in a deep way.
When my church recently planned a fundraiser for ‘Saving Grace’, I was super excited to offer photography classes and donate a session. When I met Thipp and she told me she had won the session, we were both really excited to spend an evening together and capture memories of she and her daughter, Addison, together. Although we did capture great milestones, I walked away from their session feeling like God had given me a special gift I would always treasure. To me, watching Addison running, playing, twirling, laughing and swinging, felt so ENCHANTING!
When I first met Kim and her daughters at church taking care of babies, I was so impressed with the love and gentleness that naturally flowed from each one of them. When the girls told me about their brother (who would officially be part of their family in a few weeks), I was not at all surprised that this wonderful family had opened their hearts and welcomed another child to love!
I’m so happy because TODAY is GAVIN’S Adoption Day!
As I look back at my life, I am constantly amazed at the unique ways God blesses me with wonderful friendships. The Logans are a very special family that I’ve gotten to know through church. (Ironically enough, Matthew went to church with their family too when he was just a little boy!)
Tim and Leslie are both incredible people. So, when they asked me to photograph their visiting grandchildren, I already knew their grand-kids would be JUST as sweet!
And I was right…
Sweet Evelyn… 
Elton was so gentle and kind to Evelyn and Eliza… 
I think she loves him a lot… 
Aren’t they sweet?!?
Gotta’ love those LIPS!
A construction project won’t get in our way! As a matter of fact, aside from throwing rocks, I think it was Elton’s favorite part of the session!
Thank you, Tim & Leslie!
I enjoyed meeting the littles.
