Holy smokes! THESE TWO! All I can say is wow... you two are naturals in front of a camera, especially together. Thank you so so much for letting me photograph you guys, it was such a special shoot to get to see the love and ease of your relationship. This was my second couples shoot EVER so it was pretty intimidating for me, and these two made it so easy and comfortable because they were just being themselves, fully in awe of each other.
Our main focus was supposed to be working on couples posing, and little did I know... they needed almost no direction. Everything was easy and comfortable, and half the shots were simply reacting to sweet moments that were unplanned and unexpected ;)
Kait, I am so blessed to have you as my friend! Thank you for your support and for being so open and comfortable with the idea of a couple shoot. Dallas, you are a natural and I love how much joy you bring into Kaitlyn's life! Thank you both!
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Big changes are on the horizon for Redeemed Hearts Designs! If you haven't already noticed, I have temporarily halted SALES due to a new venture that has stolen my heart-- PHOTOGRAPHY :)
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any custom orders for faith based or Aggie signs, accessories, or children's apparel... I still LOVE creating these treasures, but am looking to shift my time and efforts more towards portraits and getting back to writing. With that being said, I am using the month of September to practice, practice, practice with some BEAUTIFUL models. I can't stress enough how amazing my models are... most of the girls featured on this site are friends and former colleagues, that just happen be stunning on-camera. Today's featured model is my stunning friend Maranda. A big thank you to Maranda for being SO fun and lighthearted with this shoot... the pictures turned out amazing in my opinion and your personality shined right through. Can't wait to photograph you and Chandler next time! Love, love, love to you sweet girl! “The church must constantly fight the tendency to make rules and policies more
important than people because when that happens we are no longer following Jesus.” –Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman I’ve sat on this topic for months now, and each time I come to this blog my heart stirs up with righteous anger. Let me preface by stating that it is VERY rare for you to hear me refer to my mother as a widow… the truth is that she is a widow, but she is SO much more. She is a selfless mother, a cherished friend, a woman full of grace and love, and a beautiful role model of the type of woman I hope to become. What stirs the anger in my soul is the way mother has been treated by the church; I am having a hard time seeing grace anywhere to be found in the lens I am viewing her recent circumstances through. She was asked to leave her job of eight years teaching preschool because the church didn’t agree with how she was living her life. She was given an ultimatum: get married over the summer (because her lifestyle – living at her boyfriend’s country home was not biblical), OR to lose her job. Let’s back up…in April she put our family home on the market to save herself from the debt of the mortgage she had been paying in order to keep her youngest daughter in the house she grew up in. After plenty of thought, prayers, and trusted sources of wisdom and valued input, she moved in with her boyfriend of nearly two years. And she’s happier than I’ve seen her in the last three and half years. In fact, I’ve gotten my mom back. To those who were so very affected by my mom’s "lifestyle" that you passed judgment, condemnation, and then hid behind the Bible that I love and honor: You didn’t see the mom who hardly ate after Dad died. You didn’t see the woman who had to walk past the spot where her husband literally stopped breathing and pretended like life was okay. You didn’t get messages from your baby sister telling you that your mother was up all night crying alone on her anniversary. Your heart didn’t break like hers did, like mine did. So you don’t get an opinion. It’s that simple. I wish I knew the right way to handle my emotions on this topic, but sitting around and doing nothing has gotten me nowhere but built a wall of frustration around my heart. I’ve prayed for the situation, for my mother, for all involved, but the fact is that hypocrisy and judgment have been swept under the rug by the very church body that should be uplifting her. So here is the question I will pose… am supposed to turn my back and pretend that she hasn’t been “burned” by the church twice now since becoming a widow? Doesn’t scripture tell us to care for the widows and orphans (James 1:27)? Didn’t the cross set us all free? Where is that grace? I don’t want to settle for anything less than the type of grace Jesus offers to his followers, which is why I struggle with this topic. Why did my mom get asked to leave when she is doing the best she can follow Jesus following the most difficult loss of her life? Because according to their logic, the entire staff should be without jobs. While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and fire everyone who has ever been divorced, who has had sex outside of marriage, who has viewed pornography, who has lied, who has made an idol out of money, success, or any other worldly pleasure. Oh that’s right, we’ve all sinned. Is that too uncomfortable for you? If not, answer me this… what makes her “sin” different than yours? Where did you get the power to judge her for it? The judgment seat of Christ belongs to no one on this earth. “…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God...” (Romans 3:23). To get back to the Word, 1 Corinthians is very clear in the position of marriage, regarding widows “A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he most belong to the Lord” (1 Cor. 9:13). Bryant is a man of God. He loves and respects my mother in the most honorable ways. And when they choose to get married, I will support them wholeheartedly. But that decision is not for anyone to make except for them, with God’s will and timing. You see…for a full year after my dad passed away, I prayed every single day for my mom to find happiness again. And my God is the God who provides. I have told Bryant that God answered my prayers in a very unexpected yet beautiful way by sending him into our lives. To my mom and Bryant: I love you both very much. Keep pursuing God first and foremost, and may this be yet another testament of your faith. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him , graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39) So the original question comes full circle… where is the grace in this situation? My focus is beginning to shift away from the places where the grace is not, and towards the places where it abounds. The grace is hidden in my mother’s heart where Jesus placed it; the grace is in our Sovereign Lord’s Kingdom and promises. Because the most beautiful thing about grace is its very essence… you can’t do anything to earn any more than what is freely given. The grace I am blessed with today will be the same grace as tomorrow and the next day and all of eternity. Lord, help me to extend that same grace to others that you have so freely given to me. Let me surrender my heartache in this fallen world to You. Amen. |
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September 2018
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